Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station FX-888D FX-888 (blue & yellow)

Good for just about anyone as long as the price works for you, feels like it should cost more

This soldering station is a dream! Coming from a cheapie Radio Shack station, the difference is night and day. It reaches full temperature (650 f) in under 10 seconds and more importantly it stays hot while using it. People complaining about the lack of analog controls havent spent the time to properly set the iron up. Its designed to be used with presets. For example, I have 3 presets: 650, 700, and 750. Cycling between them is extremely easy. Having a digital display to show you what temp the iron is is really nice too. Spend 5 minutes to set your iron up before you complain about it! The soldering iron stand is 100% ceramic and metal. I expected most of it to be plastic, but its not so you dont have to worry about melting anything accidentally. The brass sponge is extremely effective at cleaning the tip. I havent used the wet sponge yet. The power control base unit is super sturdy and just the right weight to not move around during use. The cord for the soldering pen is extremely flexible and stays out of the way. Also to note that my iron came with a fine chisel tip, which I actually prefer. Some might prefer a round tip (but you shouldnt really) so be aware of that and order a replacement tip. Altogether, this is the perfect iron for any level of skill or experience. At work we have very high end ($600+) stations and in my opinion this is every bit as good. There isnt a thing I would improve about it. Its rare to find a flawless consumer product, and this truly is one.

This solder station is a great upgrade to a plug in hand held Weller type from your big box type DIY stores. What this solder station is not is something along the lines of an all day every day use station. This is a solder station for light to medium use at home or a small shop type setting. When I purchased this I researched a lot about fakes and was skeptical about this purchase before it arrived. I checked online with the video from 2016 about the differences and I am comfortable to say this in my opinion is a genuine Hakko solder station. What I found in my research while confirming its authenticity is that a very large brick and mortar, as well as online now, retailer is selling a very obvious knock off of this very same model with just the Hakko name removed from the front. The model is even named FX-888D and it costs $79.99 currently at that place that rhymes with ALLMART! Really shocked places that well known and established are allowed to sell obvious counterfiet items. Anyhow, I feel this is real. The solder station itself is really great once you are comfortable using its less than welcoming controls. Why Hakko decided to put just 2 buttons on this I have no idea other than for cost savings and to annoy people learning to use it for the first time. With that said, I did have to watch their low budget video tutorials to learn how to use the 2 button commands. I highly suggest you do as well as you can set the station to a setup mode that effectively will lock you out until you command it out of that mode as another purchaser stated in another review. The iron heats up and cools down extremely quickly with a digital display rapidly counting up or down a single digit at a time so you can see the precise temperature it says it is. I have no reason to believe the temperature is off at all yet as it seems correct when melting certain materials with it. The iron stand is great for the price total but it is a little light and could be tipped over if bumped hard enough. The base unit for the power supply and temp control is heavy and solid and sits firmly on a table or desk. The materials on all parts except the power cord to the wall is top notch materials wise, but the power cord is off the wall generic hard plastic cord, no big deal though. The iron cord and rubber base at the bottom of the iron where it meets the cord is soft and allows for easy manuevering of the iron in one hand. The iron cord does not roll on itself like cheap cord does which is great. One thing to add is that I forgot to grab some extra tips and assorted tips. This only comes with a small chissle tip which is great but not for every project!

Using an iron almost everyday and 2 cheap-o irons broke. Decided to get a nice iron and heard good things about the TS-101 but just seemed like it would be better as an iron you don’t use all the time so I bought the Hakko. My goodness this thing is amazing. The flexibility of the cord was the first thing I noticed as the cheap-o cords are very ridgid. Heats up within 10 seconds. The name brand tip is amazing and evenly wets vs the cheap-os. The stand for the iron is all metal and solid. This thing is amazing.

I used to use Wellers professionally, but its been a long time, and so as a non-professional, Ive been using cheap crap for the little jobs Ive needed. I decided to splurge on this Hakko instead of a Weller mostly because theyre nearly identically placed in the market, but I have a bunch of heat set insert and other tips that will work on this Hakko without having to buy new ones. My god, how fast this heats! Its ready to go pretty much by time I get my jar of flux open. Im not sure what everyone is complaining about with the UI. Maybe the under 30 crowd thats only ever used touchscreens? Its a classic UI used on professional test equipment and industrial controls since the dawn of the microprocessor. If youve never used either of these types of equipment, it might be strange to you, but its certainly not hard to use. If youre over 30, its a bit nostalgic! I wish Id gotten this years ago.

Yes, the build quality is good, and yes, it does the job well. Theres something you should know before buying it, though. I wish I had known. Other reviewers have been very charitable in describing the controls as not intuitive. For the sake of forewarning future buyers, Ill be blunt: The user interface is a steaming pile of... um... garbage. You get a three-digit display and two buttons that each serve multiple functions. That design decision alone was foolishly stingy, as others have noted. A knob and another digit (for displaying short words) would have done wonders, and I would gladly have paid the extra $3 in hardware costs. Especially since these controls are required for even the simplest of operations, like setting the temperature. The two buttons you get are labeled: UP and ENTER, but those labels are misleading, because neither matches the corresponding buttons function in the devices normal operating state. If you find your way into the settings menu (which you cannot do with the buttons alone) the four top-level categories are represented by mysterious, disjointed numbers: 01, 03, 11, 14. Even if youre a programmer who habitually translates decimal numbers to binary, this menu is still meaningless. Its all the more insulting to discover that letters *can* be displayed, as they are in the submenus; just not here, the menu where they are arguably needed most. Want to raise the temperature while youre working? Pressing the UP button wont do it. You must hold the ENTER button for a while, then wait, then repeatedly press the UP button until the first digit of your target temperature appears (and then nine more times if you overshoot), then press ENTER, and then do it again for each additional digit, until the display shows your target temperature and you press ENTER a final time. Its like having to program a 1970s/1980s videocassette recorder... just to adjust the temperature of your soldering iron. Okay, that madness is not the end of the world, but adding injury to insult, can you guess what happens if you accidentally (and understandably) hold the UP button instead of ENTER to adjust the temp? It takes you through the same procedure, making it look at first like you succeeded, and then reverts to displaying the original temperature. Want to know why it didnt work? That was the procedure to recalibrate the machines temperature control. Congratulations: Now every temperature the machine displays is wrong, and will remain wrong even after a power cycle, because the machine tricked you. Oh, and it doesnt tell what happened, so its very possible that youre now soldering at a much higher temperature than you think. I hope you didnt damage any components. What if you somehow figure out what happened and you want to fix it? Too bad. The manual doesnt tell you how. It doesnt even mention that it can be done. Youll have to wait until you can reach Hakko support, or else find a note online from some other unfortunate soul who was also burned by this unforgivably awful excuse for an interface. I hope it happened during business hours and you have a phone nearby, or youre someplace that has internet connectivity. For the record, here is the secret factory reset procedure: 1. Turn off the power switch. 2. Hold the UP and ENTER buttons. 3. Turn on the power switch with those buttons still held. 4. Wait until the display says A. 5. Release the buttons. 6. press UP to make the display say U. 7. Press ENTER. I hope that saves someone some trouble. Dear Hakko, Please do better in the future.

I have one of these that finally broken down after 6 years of daily use. Replacing the soldering iron wand part was nearly the same as buying a new one, so I just bought a new one. And I couldnt be happier, Hakkos gear is just as solid as its always been. People complain about the temperature control interface and I get it -- its awkward. I dont need to change temps a lot so its fine, but if you do you change temperatures frequently you may want something else. If youve used cheap soldering irons because you couldnt quite justify the cost, Ive been there too, and I can assure you its worth it to get a quality soldering iron. You can go faster, the work comes out more consistent, and youre never fighting with the equipment.

The price on this unit was more than I usually like to pay, which is why Ive struggled most of my life with inadequate soldering irons. But one day, while trying to take some capacitors off a circuit board, holding the iron on there endlessly in frustration, I decided enough was enough. I scoured the reviews in Amazon, initially looking at a Weller unit, but someone pointed to the Hakko unit and I was impressed by the number of positive reviews. So I plunked down my hard-earned cash, and waited. One week later, I unboxed the unit, noticing the solid construction. And after trying it, I knew I had reached soldering iron nirvana! Here are the features I really appreciate: 1. Hot in seconds flat. Theres a little red LED on the front that tells when the iron is heating. When it goes off, the tip is ready. I didnt time it but turning the heat dial up half-way only takes about 5 to 10 seconds before the tip is ready. Wow! so different from what I was used to. 2. Performance. Most soldering can be done at about half temp. A few times Ive cranked it up all the way, to melt some stubborn joint, and it really works! 3. The brass tip cleaner. I really like the little brass wool that you can rub the tip on. It works very nicely and is much more convenient than water/sponge (although you can use that too). 4. Good stand. Its solid and doesnt fall over easily. Same with the transformer-temp control unit...its really heavy. 5. Flexible cord. Dont you just hate it when you get a tool that has a stiff plastic cord that never seems to straighten out? Well this one doesnt have that. The cord from the iron to the controller is nice and flexible. 6. The heating takes place so quickly that as soon as Im done a joint and have a break, Ill just dial the temp down and leave it on low, knowing that I can get it back up in less than 10 seconds. Im sure that helps the tip last longer. Theres really nothing not to like about this unit. Well, the tips are a bit expensive (about $10), but they look like they will last a while. Ive also seen some sets of tips on eBay for less...not sure about the quality of these though. Im in my early 50s now, and am a bit ashamed that Ive been doing occasional electronics work for about 30 years without such a good tool. Im pretty sure, unless my unit suffers from a defect, that this will be the last soldering iron I buy for the rest of my life. Should have bought it a long time ago...

I went through 2 cheap soldering stations that lasted a few months before they failed. This was highly recommended by a knowledgeable Utuber and I am still impressed after owning one since 2018. I dont understand the complaints about the user interface as it is very simple and easy to use. Only thing I can think of is some of the reviews are for a different product, something that is pretty common here, as this doesnt have a touch screen and the controls are separate up/down buttons to change temp and an on/off rocker with on the side - how can that be hard to use? I dunno. I have yet to need to change the tip and I use mine a few times a week. If you want a good iron soldering station this is it, period.

In order to reset the HAKKO FX-888D back to the factory default settings, hold down the UP and ENTER buttons and turn the power on. The display will show A (for Asian defaults and display in Celsius) or U (for US defaults and display in Fahrenheit). You can press the UP button to toggle the value shown between A and U. When you have made your selection, press the ENTER button and the factory reset will be complete. NOTE: When resetting the unit to factory default settings, it may be necessary to re-adjust the tip temperature so that the unit is within specifications for tip temperature accuracy (±15°C/27°F). To make the tip temperature adjustments, you will need a device that can measure the tip temperature (such as a HAKKO FG-100 Tip Thermometer) or other thermocouple measuring device. To perform the tip temperature adjustment: 1.When the HAKKO FX-888D is on, hold down the ENTER button to set your tip temperature to 750°F. If you are using the Celsius, set your tip temperature to 350°C. 2.Clean your soldering iron tip and apply a fresh coating of solder. 3.Measure the tip temperature using your HAKKO FG-100 Tip Thermometer (or equivalent device) and record this value. Be sure your device is measuring in the same temperature scale as the temperature display of the HAKKO FX-888D. 4.Hold down the UP button on the HAKKO FX-888D, and program in the value that was recorded from step 2. 5.Repeat Steps 2 through 4 above until the measured temperature is ±12°F of the set temperature of 750°F (or ±7°C of the set temperature of 350°C) If after resetting to factory specs. the Preset Mode doesnt work see this YouTube video........... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5ymGXuowU8