I've measured the output power and it will supply 200W into cartridges with a low enough impedance. T12 cartridges are generally limited to around 80W, but the JBC C245 cartridges will get the full 200W
Is this station built to any standards? Is it production grade? This is more than enough for R&D prototyping or may be even consumer electronics repair. Can you do a followup video detailing the power supply, controller and various inbuilt protection or lack off?. The outside is great quality no doubt but it's the inside that matters and Chinese instruments seem to have this trend where they look polished on the outside but the inside is like idk... Edit: Had a reality check
My unit arrived today and it does certainly take 200w from the wall under full load, something i noticed was that under consistent heavy loads, the cable to the handpiece gets quite hot to the touch, as does the grip (actually, the grip gets uncomfortably hot), however i experience this with the standard jbc handpiece as well so it isn't the T3As fault. There are a few things about it that interested me; When it arrived, it came in an AIXUN box, well packed, with two well packed boxed for the station and handpiece/cartridges, a bit better packaging than I expected. The included tips are awful - not the manufacture, but the shape, the only half decently shaped one is the knife, and its still pretty bad. The iron holder needs some delay or filtering before heating up when removed - its easy to bump it and the iron to be at setpoint straight away. The power supply gets very hot under full load, the internal temp seems to be measured on the front PCB, so there is a bit of a disconnect between the reported temperature and the actual temperature
I'm on a budget and I don't like my t12 stations for smd and I want the t245 version. I'm just a hobbyist. Would you recommend it. In Canada it's 250 after shipping and customs
This looked so good I was initially too skeptical to give it a try. This is almost the exact copy of what I envisioned my next gen unisolder to be, except the bare internals. My only concern now is reliability and fault protections. Hope you do another video on it.
Just to let you know, the rubber plugs for the handle are available from Kaiser Tech albeit in boxes of 10. The JBC part numbers are: OB1000 for the T210 & OB2000 for the T245 and T470 I bought a box for my Aixun T245 and they're perfect.
@@juliusvalentinas It can't be double insulated SMPS. With the Y capacitor, the secondary ground will be half of the mains voltage. It may damage the parts you are soldering.
Clearly superior to the KSGER T12 stations: you have nicer design, nicer GUI, better build quality and obviously superior performance due to the better C245 cartridge tips. I would have liked a short look at the internal PSU though, that's another place where they usually make compromises.
What about SMPS PSU used? Is it double insulated? Or do I need to remove Y caps between GND? The GND wire certainly is danger to Electronics since most countries use TNC-S wiring systems without true ground separate from 240V altogether.
Depending on the model, you can talk about the design, but not about the soldering performance. The performance of a real oder good cloned t245 like unisolder 5.2 is much better than any t12 soldering station and the original Hakko.
Thanks for the very thorough review. Especially the comparison of the clone and genuine JBC elements. I have a nice collection of original JBC elements, rescued from a work's clearout, and looked for the rest of the kit to go with them. So have just ordered a T3A station on the back of this review.
@@neo256mb the jbc elements are compattible. I do recall seeing a teardown of the clone handpiece (might have even been this video) that showed that they were not as good quality as the brand ones. But good enough and could be tweaked to improve. Not sure if the jbc handpiece has the same plug as the clone one. But should be easy enough to change. I only have jbc elements, work were not generous enough to chuck a new handpiece out!
@@gonzo_the_great1675 someone else told me opposite today that you can not plug in the JBC handle connector to the Aixun T3A. could you please confirm for sure you have an actual JBC handle/cord plugged into this directly? your post was not clear. by Element do you mean the Tip cartridge? my question concerns the handle /cord since I want to know if I could order the Cord handle from JBC and stick it directly onto the Aixun. thanks
@@neo256mb OK, just to clarify..... The jbc tips will work in the Axiun clone handpiece, which is how I use the system. I doubt the jbc handpiece will plug directly into the Axiun base directly. But you should be able to use a jbc handpiece if you change the connector to match the Axiun base. There are only three connections to make off. And the connectors are available online. Search for "5 Pin GX12 Aviation Plug"
Just received mine based on your review. Mine came with software revision 1.18, default language was chineese. It took me a while to change it - the rottary encoder is somewhat hard to use. It does change the menus when rotated, but you have to press the set/ch buttons to actually change the setting, which is counter intuitive, because the encoder itself is clickable. Another remark is the sleep cable. The jack/terminal is not fitted to the stand and I had to mount it myself. The paint on the stand prevents it to have a good electrical connection, so the sleep mode did not work properly until I scraped some of the paint off of a stand before fitting the 4mm jack. Also, my unit came with what seems to be a NZ plug, instead of EU one. There was an adapter, but that one does not fit the EU style socket. Anyhow, with the correct power cable fitted, the station seems to perform correctly. At this price it is a bargain. I will be ordering some jbc tips from welectron now to see how it performs with those.
"chineese. It took me a while to change it" - use power of google lens, Luke! 😆Just point smartphone on the chineese scribbles and you can easy see translation!
I was troubleshooting some hakko equipment for apparent temp inaccuracy when measured so I called the vendor. He told me hakko, jbc and pace cartridge systems would very commonly have the appearance of inaccuracy when tested in this way, because of the lack of load. Told me I had to add a very large blob of solder when testing with this style of tip termometer otherwise the station would not register a load, and have significant deviance or constantly jitter up and down 5-15 degrees ish. And that this was why these sensors are sold cheap in 10-packs, because that big blob will mess them up very quickly, you might only get 2-3 tests out of one, so they're definitely consumables.
Would’ve been cool to slide out the main power board and make sure everything is properly seated on heat sinks and laid out well and see what brand of capacitors they decided to use. That’s about the only thing I changed in my KSGER units when I got them was a few capacitors. However I did buy the more expensive KSGER stations that had the big thick half inch billet and engraved aluminum front… And everything was just done to a higher standard than their cheaper $40 stations. However I have seen several of the cheaper $40 version and they are really incredible value for the money. You just might want to pull them apart and do a bit of quality control yourself when you get them home But even the nice ones like mine were only about 80 bucks. I haven’t touched my pace or JBC soldering equipment much at all since getting the KSGER units a few years ago
Just got one of these stations and also purchased a thermometer to check. With a chisel JBC tip, I do see the massive overshoot you're talking about - I see the station jumps to 100% every now and then and then temps jump to +50C over the setpoint. With the Aixun knife tip, I don't - or it's much less obvious. What tip are you using here? It looks the Aixun knife one? My station was not as nicely calibrated as yours though.
So, is there a fuse after all? Also, in case of any maintenance required, you'd have to have and fiddle with a heat gun. Still, pretty impressive unit.
Looks nice. Thanks for the review. Could you please try this hand piece with the a KSGER unit running the custom firmware, to see if the trouble you had with the high thermal mass board was due to the cartridges or the board. Some sellers in China are selling the hand piece without the station, if the performance is similar between the KSGER and this one using the JBC style hand piece , it would be a good idea to get just the hand piece for those with a KSGER board.
Hmm I doubt the performance is going to be the same. But you'll definitely have more than enough performance with the t12 bits too. But I am very curious how T12+T3A compares with T12+KSGER.
@@therealb888 @Ahmed Friends, there is no point of comparison in JBC technology against Hakko, which is what KSGER uses, on the tip is the magic and if you use original JBC it is better.
Actually I wanted to upgrade to a T-12 based Soldering iron but now I'm happy I'm hung on to my ZD-987 and didnt. Since this one is way more compelling
Interesting video. Thanks for showing it. I'm looking to upgrade my KSGR to something a bit better. The only thing I wish they did for this Aixun is made the base a bit more heavy. Does it tend to move around when placing the hand piece back into it?
The rubber feet do a pretty good job of stopping it slide around. You could probably find an offcut of steel on eBay to attach to the bottom of the sponge dish to add more weight.
..... I would epoxy the stand on top of the unit, mount a brass wool cleaner where the sponge is. Elevate the front of the unit 30mm, magnetic holder on the side for tips, holster on the other side for solder sucker and flux syringe.
Love the coin tests and also this new station is by far the best value for money seen on your channel so far. I’m so impressed with the MX5200 ability to dump heat so well into the coin and I’m curious whether it’s because the PID has had more time to learn and adjust its parameters seeing this is your daily go-to station. Just curious.
Ordered 2 of them will see how they work out they did tell me the only difference between them is the handle and tips I asked the company directly they said it detects which handle supposedly when you switch the handle don't have them yet to know for sure but it seems you can buy the 245 and use t12 when u want to as well if this is the case edit: Yes I got the 245 version unit and ordered the t12 handle from the same company and both work fine on the same station. They sell their version handles separately now.
Thanks for your review. I already order it. Can you tell us the value of electrolitic caps inside this unit, because I want to change it with good Japanese caps. Thanks.
AIXUN T3A soldering iron station with 2.4 inch color display, 100-480 ℃ temperature adjustable, with real-time dormancy, supports 936, T12, T245 handles and soldering iron tips for mobile phone soldering repair.
@SDG Electronics Just bought one of these to upgrade from my KSGER T12. Are there any particular T245 tips you recommend for general SMD soldering? I've been looking at the chisel tip selection from JBC and there are many options.
I've now put some serious time on this iron - the very first thing you need to do is replace the cartridges with genuine JBC cartridges with decent shapes - i've found all of the included tips to be almost useless, you simplify can't move enough heat through them. The most useful tip, the "knife" tip, still struggles to load the station beyond 20% (i just got a sheet of copper and tinned the corner, then tried as hard as i could to solder to it, tip temp set to 500 just to move the heat, no luck), the other tips you'll not load the station beyond 10%.
Might grab one and see how far I can push it. The buck converter seems to be a MP9942, rated to 36V and the PMOS is rated to 30Vds with 25Vgs max, can't spot any other regulators so somewhat assume the buck converter is straight to 3v3 and the opamp runs from that too. With how the gate of the PMOS is driven, adding a small zener diode is relatively easy and will protect the gate from higher voltages, so swapping to a 40V PMOS, putting a zener on the gate should make this relatively safe for 32V input. Those PSU modules are relatively cheap and because they're designed for universal input voltages, on 230V, adjusting the FB resistors on the TL431 can safely net you a fair few more volts on the output. Would definitely change the caps on it though, they're probably insufficient as it is, let alone pushing them.
Never mind about the PSU module, that appears to be the low end version of the one I was talking about; it isn't designed for universal voltage, but that said, it isn't designed for 200W either. I will get one of the higher spec modules and turn up the voltage a bit and see how it handles it.
Also RE: JBC PCB complexity - As JBC decided to go with a mains frequency transformer the board needs a fair few more parts - it needs at least 2 MOSFETs to switch both halves of the AC, and it uses optos to drive the MOSFETs because its the easiest way to level shift the signal, it needs the bigger caps to smooth the 60hz, the SMPS doesn't, it needs a bridge rectifier to power the DC stuff (it doesnt *need* it, a single wave rectifier would do, but that makes the next part hard), it needs some form of zero cross detection to know which FET to switch, it has the current shunt for power specific regulation/monitoring (i think the clone uses values taken from the control loop to calculate load rather than measuring it) it has the fuse on board because the transformer doesn't have active over current protection like an SMPS does, I think it also has a linear regulator for the opamps, but thats not really needed and DSP can take care of any noise there, you already have the MCU for the display, use it for digital filters too I think the only thing in the JBC that adds to safety is the output fuse.
Why would you need to push it though? Resistance of a T245 tip is something like 2.5R, so that is already 9.6A/230W peak. I can see wanting higher voltage for a T12 tip, I may try that, since the clone tips are around 8R which limits the power going in to well under 70W.
@@jaro6985 because that would require software modification and i don't have the source for it and don't care to write my own from scratch. I am assuming the device doesn't provide anywhere near 200w, since the power supply inside doesn't provide 200w, that means the software is limiting it to less than 200w. How would you actually make it provide 200w, without software modifications, without increasing the input voltage and hardware mods?
@@bgdwiepp ah so you think its not providing the 200W, that was not clear to me. Well if we wait hopefully SDG will perform some power measurements when he has time. But I wouldn't be surprised if that internal PSU is indeed capable of close to 200W. If not, your idea should work well, maybe slight affect on the feedback regulation.
Is the station with the JBC T245 Handpiece ESD safe? The "earth" cartridge connection is effective for the T245 (3 contact arrangement with heater and TC) as a dedicated ground off which the TC is measured. From what I can tell this then requires a fully floating heater circuit relative to the TC earth reference which is the JBC station approach but using AC. The alternative which I think makes more sense, but not any less expensive, is a 3 contact arrangement where the earth (usually with some small series resistance) is dedicated to the cartridge tip metal shell and the TC and heater are in series with no connection to the shell. Hear again a fully floating heater supply makes the most sense AC or DC.
Could you measure if this station actually outputs 200w (peak). I think this is a great station for modding it to be able to work with the JBC T470 (heave duty) hand piece if it can actually output 200w. [edit] It seems the C470 cartridges have a working voltage of 48V, while the 245/210 use 24V. Still, it might be a nice project to modify the station for this.
Will do. I ran out of time before but I need to find out anyway - the coin test as it stands isn't particularly scientific, but it appears to briefly outperform the JBC DDE Station
@@samthenerf I can't find anything on AliExpress that looks like a module to actually drive C470 cartridges. Do you mean some cheap 48V switch mode power supply?
@@samthenerf Looks like an interesting module. There is very little information to be found about it tho. I'll probably order one and check it out. Thanks for pointing this out :)
Honestly i was originally thinking of building a station and just buying the handles from jbc but seeing this video i don't think i wanna do that anymore as this seems to be way more cost effective
Is there a limit to the number of soldering irons one can have. I've about 3. one from 1976, one from about 1980, and the last about 2018. I think that even low power irons work OK for soldering chips on, even quite large chips, but it's a whole different ball game when trying to remove them.
I bought the T210 unit by mistake I wanted the T245, the connection on the T210 is different than the T245. Would you please verify if this is the case otherwise its false advertising and you should know this.
Did anyone have checked the tip resistance for the C245 cartridges supplied by Aixun against the original JBC tips? Is there any significant difference? I am trying to find out if you can use any other clone tips from other suppliers in the Aliexpress like "Kiludo"
Looks very nice and similar price to a hakko. Good looking display and like the flat top and bottom. Good for a small bench. If I was a student again I would buy over a hakko any day. Nice review Steve
I wonder why the manufacturer doesn't embrace opensource more. If the firmware was hackable it would aid interest in the station more. They seem to take more care with the hardware construction than most items out of China. Preset physical buttons would of been nice.
I imagine most stations like this are aimed at the domestic chinese market (they need good soldering stuff too, after all), and the western market / aliexpress is a bit of an afterthought. So probably little interest in opensource firmware from the manufacturer (and keeping it closed source slows down clones showing up.) But there's nothing stopping people making their own firmware (just like for TS100, T12...). It has an STM32 compatible MCU after all, fairly standard looking LCD, even the USB firmware update should be simple enough to figure out if you want to make something that people don't have to open it to install.
There is an enormos amount of software tools and firmwares behind language barrier on CN resources. They share a lot of work, would not be surprised to find out that this project has got its own thread somewhere our search engines do not reach.
Any idea what the pinout is on the T3A? I have a 936-style handle with red,white, black, green and blue wires I'd like to use in addition to the 245 handle I have, but can't find any info on the wiring.
Thanks for the great video. Could you please let me know if there is a per tip calibration like in the Ksger stations? I mean that you can save the profiles one by ine and just select them when you change tip. Thanks in advance.
I don't think it has per-tip calibration, however I checked on the 3x supplied cartridges and the two JBC tips used in this video and they were all within 5°C
Great videos, but I still not sure which station I need :). I used Weller WSP80 with WD01 station at work. But I need a budget friendly setup at home. What did u recommend KSGER or this Aixun T3A?
Up to Minute 11 I thought " First solder job that really nice and good looking station gets is to remove the beeper from itself .. but then you said it ^^ I sometimes wonder if the firmware is open source. like available on git.. I am pretty sure there must be a setting that defines the maximum allowable overshoot when trying to compensate for temperature drop on the tip. Maybe there is a better method for high thermal mass compensation tests, like with the hotend of a printer, or any block of a known material (for temp coefficient) and mass (to calculate delta Q) with a thermo couple in it. (and have a nice graph on the oszi or pc ;) Anyhow, thanks for the review ! PS: just though, one of those Aluminium PCBs with one defined pad to use for all tips and stations and a couple NTCs on it might totally do the job :D
There is no setting for this station. But with the ksger and custom T12 firmware you can set PID constants. I can't see how you'd directly choose an overshoot level, but for JBC to offer three tuning values would be sufficient: fast (significant overshoot), normal (minimal overshoot), slow (no overshoot). He has temp sensors on the PCB, but that would give a very slow/delayed response. Might be interesting to see, but, imo the most useful is thermocouple right on the tip, since this will actually represent the temperature inside say a 0603.
@@jaro6985 Ah, I see.. thanks for the info ;) Well.. I just thought a board with NTC (or any temp sensor) would give a nice reference across all stations and tips. But it's a lot of work, I'd give you that ;)
@@tinygriffy I ordered a board a bit like what you're suggesting on 4 layer just before the Alu PCB date got brought forward. It should work similarly though.
Looking decent. But I still wish there was a good open source version for the T245. Something in between the complexity of a crude DIY ardunino and the unisolder. A shame it's a 24V output and not a 12/24V input. Also a shame it has a different plug than the original. The thought of cutting off the plug on an original handle (I already got one) feels heart breaking.
@@sdgelectronics Do you know if an original handle could even be used? From what I found in the forums there might be some differences - but I cannot imagine why it shouldn't work.
@@sdgelectronics Do you know of any 24v "heat gun" or rework type device that can make use of this 24v auxiliary port? Would be great to have something I can use on heat shrink in a small package.
You can order the 245 station with handle and order the t12 handle from them separately and use both was the answer from the company. I have them on the way now
@@th3drizzl378 if you both order them from the store that sells the station then it will probably be compatible. They should have already wired it unless otherwise specified ☺️
@@AnnaVannieuwenhuyse aixun has the handles available. you dont have to order it from the same store. i asked the company directly. as long as you buy the aixun branded ones they told me they will work.
Mi estación t3a duro cuatro semanas, para subir la temperatura de 100 a 350 grados celsius se necesita de mucha corriente, alcance a medir que en esos dos segundos la corriente que consume es más de 6 amperes, eso quiere decir que llevan al límite a la fuente de alimentación, tengo mi estación inservible, aparte de que se me hizo muy difícil actualizar el firmware,
Ha! Aixun shill! But seriously now, really impressive performance. Seems like I just saw my next soldering station. BTW I saw on my local eBay clone a pair (!) of Metcals, both PS-800, for around $140 total. Looking at the spec, they seem to be 30W stations. Do you have experience with those models? How would you compare PS-800 performance to other stations?
30W will be fine for general soldering, but I think you will notice the low power. I have an MX-500 which is 40W, but you notice it is a little slow on some boards.
Do you know if the JBC T12 UD-1200 Soldering Station Extension Module K-508 will work with the Aixun T3B? Do JBC handles work with AIxun or is it just the tips?
Ordered one of these yesterday Steve after your review. I was looking at going all out with the JBC however this just seems too good not to consider and try. With the additional stand it’s 1/3 of the cost. However I can’t say I was really not tempted to go JBC tbh. I’d still love one of their stations. Great video as always.
Hi, I bought this model, but to update it, I am facing the problem of not opening its supporter site. Please, if you have access, send me the relevant platform link or upload it, and thank you for the link.
Just had one of these delivered today. When turned on it boot cycles as the iron is heating till it gets to temp then it settles down. Let the tip cool down in the stand and pick it up again and back into the boot cycle again. Updated firmware, tried different tips, same story. Cant get it to work as described at all. Not happy! Any suggestions?
@@sdgelectronics That's what I thought too. I'm in 220V land, UK. The problem goes away with a replacement tip I bought for it, so not sure what to think!? EDIT. The problem has not gone completely, it still boot loops sometimes. Damn, I was hopeful for this one...
I'm in the market for a new station and considering how much the KSGER soldering stations have gone up in price over the past couple years, i may just go with this one. Why would i spend $90 on the latest KSGER when i can get this for $30 more?
I bit the bullet and bought the station. However, I wonder if any T12 aftermarket handles works on it. I have a bunch of T12 tips that I wish to keep using.
Answered myself: it does. Worst case scenario is have to redo the wiring. A guy also posted a video showing the wiring that this station accepts. I just ordered an unassambled handle. Lets see how it turns out.
You might need to log in first. Also try adjusting the shipping method - I did get this when I tried to order, but it was set to some random shipping option that isn't available in the UK. Click shipping method then, Aliexpress Standard.
How is the connector different to the genuine JBC one? At first glance, it seems pretty similar. I really like this kit, but I'd like to use my genuine JBC hand piece with it and keep the knockoff as a spare.
This is a GX12 metal 5pin style connector, JBC is a plastic 6 pin connector. Best bet would be an inline adapter from GX12 to JBC, google part number is on eev forum.
Arghh! the menu scroll is backwards to how it should be when turning the dial..... clockwise should always navigate right/forward/advance/increase and anti-clockwise should always navigate left/backward/recede/decrease.
I hope you see this: I want to fix this soldering station, I'm only learning though and could do with some pointers if/when you have the time. I'm guessing the voltage to the micro controller is being pulled down by the current draw from the heating element making it constantly reboot until the temp (eventually 3min later) stabilises. What do you think, where should I look?
You could look at current limiting the heater. It could be the cartridge you're using has a particularly low impedance. Add a series resistance to make the heater+resistor up to 4.8 ohms, and that will limit the power to 120W.
@@sdgelectronics Further update: The station is repaired and working without fault now. I found a couple of dodgy joints on the PSU board which I fixed and I replaced 3 of the 5 Caps on the PSU board. Thanks for your help, appreciated! BTW you didn't mention in your video that the front panel was glass. I thought it was plastic so didn't take quite as much care as I could have removing it and I managed to crack it. Never mind I can live with that now it works a treat...
I was looking into getting an 888d but man this seems like it's really nice. I've been daily driving a non adjustable 25W Weller and a TS80 og. What would you recommend? This or the Hakko?
You could probably use the original JBC tweezers since they only occupy one channel on the compact stations. I don't know enough about them though to know exactly how they're wired up
Maybe this is a stupid observation, but. Why is Weller so rarely compared with all these different brands, expensive and cheap? I myself use Weller and the miniware Ts-100 (great soldering iron). I have personally used and tested many soldering irons. But Weller is my stationary goto brand when it comes to quality and performance. I still have and use my Weller WS-51 80W extensively, it is now 30 years old. I changed some tips over the years, maybe 2 or 3, repaired the cable to the iron ONCE. Stationary I have the Weller WRS 3000 with solder suction, wpd 80 soldering pen and a hot air iron. Why is it rarely (or never) compared to the other brands?
I've been using a Weller WSD80 for many many years.. but it just can't compete with newer technology cartridge/integrated-heater systems. That's why i went for a Pace ADS200. Just had a quick look at their Website, it looks like everything apart from their WX2012 Station (around 700€ plus around 40€ per tip) is either old technology or limited to around 40W. Sooo.. nothing really interesting apart from that really expensive station.
I think Weller is a bit less relevant these days since they've not really progressed and command a high price for even the "old technology" heaters. I was looking into adding one for these reviews, but they only have cartridge systems for the small handpieces for some reason.
I've got a couple Weller stations (one with the LED display temp adjustment and one that just has the temp adjustment) and even the cheap KSGER T12 stations blow them away imho, got a pair of those KSGER stations a while back when they were fairly new and haven't touched the Wellers since... this looks nice to have for high thermal conductivity stuff which I don't run across often but the T12 tips being limited to ~65W sometimes makes that type of soldering an issue
Hi SDG, which option do you think is better a metcal PS-900 or this new T3A. The main use will be for phone and computer repair, small electronic devices that are repaired under a microscope. Thanks in advanced!
The T3A will be better than the PS-900, especially at this price point. Though the longevity is still unknown. The PS-900 will work for years completely trouble free
I've had mine for a while now, but I really don't like latest firmware versions I've tried. Version 1.34 has insane amounts of overshoot and they "fix" it by never showing the actual temperature of the tip if it is higher than the set-temperature. I went back to firmware version 1.27 which is better IMHO. If anyone has any tips on new firmware revision that actually fixes the overshoot, then please let me know. I would rather have a 10 or 15 second heat-up time than the 60-70 degree overshoot that I am seeing now.
If you were to compare this to a thermaltronics tmt-2000s or the bst-933b, which system would you point someone towards? I’m running into issues with soldering large ground planes when working from home with my ksger. The Metcal part of the coin test makes it look like it’s performing better than the other t245 stations even though it’s an 80w system. Is that the case, or is something else going on there? Thanks!
The power delivery is much more effective with the RF heating which is why it performs much better than standard resistive heaters. The C245 cartridges are pretty good though, and so far I would recommend this station if the budget doesn't exist for a proper Metcal or JBC system. I have not tested the Thermaltronics, so can't vouch for performance or build quality.
@@sdgelectronics thanks for the response! That’s really helpful. What is a tip that you would recommend as a general purpose tip to get started? The tips are quite expensive, so I’d probably need to start with just buying one real cartridge.
@@Muddles178 The C245-406 is the one that I find suits the widest variety of jobs. It's worth taking a look at the brochure though in case something else looks more applicable to the types of things you do.
@@sdgelectronics thank you so much for the advice! I remember that in one of your videos you said that you use a tip closer to 1mm while you were working on something similar-ish to what I’d be working with. That tip with the high thermal capacity also doesn’t have any clones that I saw, so it’s a good option for getting as an original.
And what about prices? if it's an hobby or professional that work a lot ,you can't beat tip prices and the station it self on T12.Jbl style tips cost a fortune...20 to 35$ at least. T12 cost 3 to 10€ and the 3 $ ones sometimes the same as 10$ ones. Sometimes i think people still tring older cooper pipes with this small stations... 200w? :P
Nice review! Looks decent. If they can sell this for $111, they could put a traditional transformer in for a few dollars more and give it better longevity over SMPS. Or maybe sell a bare controller board for DIY people.
If the SMPS dies wire in an external 24V laptop brick for $40 or much less second hand. A 200W transformer would be a massive waste of space and weight (3kg+). I agree about the bare controller though, if you search "board jbc245" you'll find some similar models, but not this unit.
@@jaro6985 I've never seen a 200w laptop brick? A traditional transformer is more reliable for something that has large high current spikes. I've never worried about the weight of my soldering stations. For JBC 245 tips, 160VA toroid is good. If the SMPS in this station is actually 200W, it's probably because 160VA SMPS wasn't good enough.
@@sdgelectronics Mine arrived just yesterday and I think I will stick with the knock-off handle and an original tip for now. However one thing to note is that the handle does not fit in the included stand when using the foam grip from the jbc handle and it gets quite warm without.
May I ask how to save the calibration value on T3A? I measure the actual temperature for each level, e.g. 103C、205C, and set those values in the cal menu, then click set button. Next time I enter the cal menu, those values are cleared. Is it normal?
@@sdgelectronics Try to enter the cal menu, previous values were all gone! They reverted back to default values, e.g. 100C、200C...500C. My firmware is 1.18
I've measured the output power and it will supply 200W into cartridges with a low enough impedance. T12 cartridges are generally limited to around 80W, but the JBC C245 cartridges will get the full 200W
Is this station built to any standards? Is it production grade? This is more than enough for R&D prototyping or may be even consumer electronics repair.
Can you do a followup video detailing the power supply, controller and various inbuilt protection or lack off?.
The outside is great quality no doubt but it's the inside that matters and Chinese instruments seem to have this trend where they look polished on the outside but the inside is like idk...
Edit: Had a reality check
Yes, if possible, please do a follow up regarding safety.
My unit arrived today and it does certainly take 200w from the wall under full load, something i noticed was that under consistent heavy loads, the cable to the handpiece gets quite hot to the touch, as does the grip (actually, the grip gets uncomfortably hot), however i experience this with the standard jbc handpiece as well so it isn't the T3As fault.
There are a few things about it that interested me;
When it arrived, it came in an AIXUN box, well packed, with two well packed boxed for the station and handpiece/cartridges, a bit better packaging than I expected.
The included tips are awful - not the manufacture, but the shape, the only half decently shaped one is the knife, and its still pretty bad.
The iron holder needs some delay or filtering before heating up when removed - its easy to bump it and the iron to be at setpoint straight away.
The power supply gets very hot under full load, the internal temp seems to be measured on the front PCB, so there is a bit of a disconnect between the reported temperature and the actual temperature
Hey SDG, What size and type JBC C245 cartridge were you using in the video?
I'm on a budget and I don't like my t12 stations for smd and I want the t245 version. I'm just a hobbyist. Would you recommend it. In Canada it's 250 after shipping and customs
Looks great. This with genuine hand piece and tips would be the best value for money there is I think
The handle doesn’t have any technology in it so I don’t see any need in upgrading the handle unless it’s falling apart
@@M.E63 because the cable is of poor quality. Genuine handle will heat up quicker.
@@MrOrangeman18 *best value for money with real jbc tips above anything
Is it possible to connect a genuine JBC hand piece to this? Or is it compatible with the tips only?
Don't you need to rewire the official jbc handle for it to work with the aixun?
This looked so good I was initially too skeptical to give it a try. This is almost the exact copy of what I envisioned my next gen unisolder to be, except the bare internals. My only concern now is reliability and fault protections. Hope you do another video on it.
This seems amazingly good for the price
Under 100 quid, thats great and it looked good in terms of build quality and performance, I think you just made my mind up !....cheers.
Just to let you know, the rubber plugs for the handle are available from Kaiser Tech albeit in boxes of 10.
The JBC part numbers are:
OB1000 for the T210
&
OB2000 for the T245 and T470
I bought a box for my Aixun T245 and they're perfect.
Thank you!)
and here i was thinking about buying a new soldering station. excellent
cheap and cheerful worth a look for someone not buying it with company cash and
getting the VAT back. 👍👍
Very useful video Steve, thanks! My KSGER update pot starts now.
This is very interesting. The price is right, the quality is right, the feel is right!
The PSU is not double insulated SMPS, it's crap unless you put own transformer that will blow price !
@@juliusvalentinas It can't be double insulated SMPS. With the Y capacitor, the secondary ground will be half of the mains voltage. It may damage the parts you are soldering.
@@phuang3 Double insulated SMPS do not have Y caps to ground.
@@juliusvalentinas Double insulated smps has Y capacitor connecting mains N and secondary ground. It's required for passing EMI regulation.
@@phuang3 How then the electrician screwdriver dos not light up touched on gnd? Most laptop PSU with double square symbol are like this (insulated.)
Looks good - if I hadn't just ordered a Metcal PS-900, I'd seriously consider this one.
Display and UI look very nice.
Huummm looks really good. For the money I don't think you can beat it.
Clearly superior to the KSGER T12 stations: you have nicer design, nicer GUI, better build quality and obviously superior performance due to the better C245 cartridge tips.
I would have liked a short look at the internal PSU though, that's another place where they usually make compromises.
What about SMPS PSU used? Is it double insulated? Or do I need to remove Y caps between GND? The GND wire certainly is danger to Electronics since most countries use TNC-S wiring systems without true ground separate from 240V altogether.
No presets for calibration like KSGR tips then cannot use cheap Chinese tips, what good is that?
Depending on the model, you can talk about the design, but not about the soldering performance.
The performance of a real oder good cloned t245 like unisolder 5.2 is much better than any t12 soldering station and the original Hakko.
Thank You for the review. I just bought one with the T245 handle.
Thanks for the very thorough review.
Especially the comparison of the clone and genuine JBC elements.
I have a nice collection of original JBC elements, rescued from a work's clearout, and looked for the rest of the kit to go with them. So have just ordered a T3A station on the back of this review.
are you able to take a real JBC handle and plug that into the Aixun or do you have to use the AIxun handle only?
@@neo256mb the jbc elements are compattible. I do recall seeing a teardown of the clone handpiece (might have even been this video) that showed that they were not as good quality as the brand ones. But good enough and could be tweaked to improve.
Not sure if the jbc handpiece has the same plug as the clone one. But should be easy enough to change.
I only have jbc elements, work were not generous enough to chuck a new handpiece out!
Very happy with the clone station btw. Money well spent.
@@gonzo_the_great1675 someone else told me opposite today that you can not plug in the JBC handle connector to the Aixun T3A. could you please confirm for sure you have an actual JBC handle/cord plugged into this directly? your post was not clear. by Element do you mean the Tip cartridge? my question concerns the handle /cord since I want to know if I could order the Cord handle from JBC and stick it directly onto the Aixun. thanks
@@neo256mb OK, just to clarify.....
The jbc tips will work in the Axiun clone handpiece, which is how I use the system.
I doubt the jbc handpiece will plug directly into the Axiun base directly.
But you should be able to use a jbc handpiece if you change the connector to match the Axiun base. There are only three connections to make off. And the connectors are available online. Search for "5 Pin GX12 Aviation Plug"
Just received mine based on your review. Mine came with software revision 1.18, default language was chineese. It took me a while to change it - the rottary encoder is somewhat hard to use. It does change the menus when rotated, but you have to press the set/ch buttons to actually change the setting, which is counter intuitive, because the encoder itself is clickable. Another remark is the sleep cable. The jack/terminal is not fitted to the stand and I had to mount it myself. The paint on the stand prevents it to have a good electrical connection, so the sleep mode did not work properly until I scraped some of the paint off of a stand before fitting the 4mm jack. Also, my unit came with what seems to be a NZ plug, instead of EU one. There was an adapter, but that one does not fit the EU style socket. Anyhow, with the correct power cable fitted, the station seems to perform correctly. At this price it is a bargain. I will be ordering some jbc tips from welectron now to see how it performs with those.
"chineese. It took me a while to change it" - use power of google lens, Luke! 😆Just point smartphone on the chineese scribbles and you can easy see translation!
I'm really liking this station.
I was troubleshooting some hakko equipment for apparent temp inaccuracy when measured so I called the vendor. He told me hakko, jbc and pace cartridge systems would very commonly have the appearance of inaccuracy when tested in this way, because of the lack of load. Told me I had to add a very large blob of solder when testing with this style of tip termometer otherwise the station would not register a load, and have significant deviance or constantly jitter up and down 5-15 degrees ish. And that this was why these sensors are sold cheap in 10-packs, because that big blob will mess them up very quickly, you might only get 2-3 tests out of one, so they're definitely consumables.
Would’ve been cool to slide out the main power board and make sure everything is properly seated on heat sinks and laid out well and see what brand of capacitors they decided to use. That’s about the only thing I changed in my KSGER units when I got them was a few capacitors. However I did buy the more expensive KSGER stations that had the big thick half inch billet and engraved aluminum front… And everything was just done to a higher standard than their cheaper $40 stations. However I have seen several of the cheaper $40 version and they are really incredible value for the money. You just might want to pull them apart and do a bit of quality control yourself when you get them home
But even the nice ones like mine were only about 80 bucks. I haven’t touched my pace or JBC soldering equipment much at all since getting the KSGER units a few years ago
Just got one of these stations and also purchased a thermometer to check. With a chisel JBC tip, I do see the massive overshoot you're talking about - I see the station jumps to 100% every now and then and then temps jump to +50C over the setpoint. With the Aixun knife tip, I don't - or it's much less obvious. What tip are you using here? It looks the Aixun knife one?
My station was not as nicely calibrated as yours though.
I haven't seen you check the tip grounding? how is it?
The station seems awesome, but chinese aren't known for good grounding
I'll take my simple black acrylic front / Alu T12 case over that glued PITA front panel even with all the machining efforts.
Metcal is the winner in temp and price.
Best Regards.
So, is there a fuse after all?
Also, in case of any maintenance required, you'd have to have and fiddle with a heat gun.
Still, pretty impressive unit.
6:35
@@dumle29 thanks, missed that somehow
@@killymxi to be fair it doesn't look like a fuse :)
Great review thanks, i'll definitely look into getting one😀
Looks nice. Thanks for the review. Could you please try this hand piece with the a KSGER unit running the custom firmware, to see if the trouble you had with the high thermal mass board was due to the cartridges or the board. Some sellers in China are selling the hand piece without the station, if the performance is similar between the KSGER and this one using the JBC style hand piece , it would be a good idea to get just the hand piece for those with a KSGER board.
Hmm I doubt the performance is going to be the same. But you'll definitely have more than enough performance with the t12 bits too. But I am very curious how T12+T3A compares with T12+KSGER.
@@therealb888 @Ahmed Friends, there is no point of comparison in JBC technology against Hakko, which is what KSGER uses, on the tip is the magic and if you use original JBC it is better.
Actually I wanted to upgrade to a T-12 based Soldering iron but now I'm happy I'm hung on to my ZD-987 and didnt. Since this one is way more compelling
Interesting video. Thanks for showing it. I'm looking to upgrade my KSGR to something a bit better. The only thing I wish they did for this Aixun is made the base a bit more heavy. Does it tend to move around when placing the hand piece back into it?
The rubber feet do a pretty good job of stopping it slide around. You could probably find an offcut of steel on eBay to attach to the bottom of the sponge dish to add more weight.
..... I would epoxy the stand on top of the unit, mount a brass wool cleaner where the sponge is.
Elevate the front of the unit 30mm, magnetic holder on the side for tips, holster on the other side for solder sucker and flux syringe.
@@robbieaussievic No! Don't epoxy it. Try and keep it modular. May be industrial grade wellcore or something.
Love the coin tests and also this new station is by far the best value for money seen on your channel so far. I’m so impressed with the MX5200 ability to dump heat so well into the coin and I’m curious whether it’s because the PID has had more time to learn and adjust its parameters seeing this is your daily go-to station. Just curious.
There is no PID on the MX5200. The curie point heater simply takes whatever power it needs to reach set temperature.
Ordered 2 of them will see how they work out they did tell me the only difference between them is the handle and tips I asked the company directly they said it detects which handle supposedly when you switch the handle don't have them yet to know for sure but it seems you can buy the 245 and use t12 when u want to as well if this is the case edit: Yes I got the 245 version unit and ordered the t12 handle from the same company and both work fine on the same station. They sell their version handles separately now.
Thanks for your review. I already order it. Can you tell us the value of electrolitic caps inside this unit, because I want to change it with good Japanese caps. Thanks.
You forgot to disassemble and discuss the power supply, but it turned out fine anyway.
AIXUN T3A soldering iron station with 2.4 inch color display, 100-480 ℃ temperature adjustable, with real-time dormancy, supports 936, T12, T245 handles and soldering iron tips for mobile phone soldering repair.
@SDG Electronics Just bought one of these to upgrade from my KSGER T12. Are there any particular T245 tips you recommend for general SMD soldering? I've been looking at the chisel tip selection from JBC and there are many options.
Yes, I'd recommend the C245-768 and C245-406. C245-903 can also be useful.
I've now put some serious time on this iron - the very first thing you need to do is replace the cartridges with genuine JBC cartridges with decent shapes - i've found all of the included tips to be almost useless, you simplify can't move enough heat through them. The most useful tip, the "knife" tip, still struggles to load the station beyond 20% (i just got a sheet of copper and tinned the corner, then tried as hard as i could to solder to it, tip temp set to 500 just to move the heat, no luck), the other tips you'll not load the station beyond 10%.
What JBC tips would you recommend?
You need to buy and review Axiun T3B with T210 too. :-)
It's on the way...
I Just got mine T3A unit and is also waiting for my T3B to arrive from China.
Might grab one and see how far I can push it.
The buck converter seems to be a MP9942, rated to 36V and the PMOS is rated to 30Vds with 25Vgs max, can't spot any other regulators so somewhat assume the buck converter is straight to 3v3 and the opamp runs from that too.
With how the gate of the PMOS is driven, adding a small zener diode is relatively easy and will protect the gate from higher voltages, so swapping to a 40V PMOS, putting a zener on the gate should make this relatively safe for 32V input.
Those PSU modules are relatively cheap and because they're designed for universal input voltages, on 230V, adjusting the FB resistors on the TL431 can safely net you a fair few more volts on the output. Would definitely change the caps on it though, they're probably insufficient as it is, let alone pushing them.
Never mind about the PSU module, that appears to be the low end version of the one I was talking about; it isn't designed for universal voltage, but that said, it isn't designed for 200W either. I will get one of the higher spec modules and turn up the voltage a bit and see how it handles it.
Also RE: JBC PCB complexity -
As JBC decided to go with a mains frequency transformer the board needs a fair few more parts -
it needs at least 2 MOSFETs to switch both halves of the AC,
and it uses optos to drive the MOSFETs because its the easiest way to level shift the signal,
it needs the bigger caps to smooth the 60hz, the SMPS doesn't,
it needs a bridge rectifier to power the DC stuff (it doesnt *need* it, a single wave rectifier would do, but that makes the next part hard),
it needs some form of zero cross detection to know which FET to switch,
it has the current shunt for power specific regulation/monitoring (i think the clone uses values taken from the control loop to calculate load rather than measuring it)
it has the fuse on board because the transformer doesn't have active over current protection like an SMPS does,
I think it also has a linear regulator for the opamps, but thats not really needed and DSP can take care of any noise there, you already have the MCU for the display, use it for digital filters too
I think the only thing in the JBC that adds to safety is the output fuse.
Why would you need to push it though? Resistance of a T245 tip is something like 2.5R, so that is already 9.6A/230W peak. I can see wanting higher voltage for a T12 tip, I may try that, since the clone tips are around 8R which limits the power going in to well under 70W.
@@jaro6985 because that would require software modification and i don't have the source for it and don't care to write my own from scratch. I am assuming the device doesn't provide anywhere near 200w, since the power supply inside doesn't provide 200w, that means the software is limiting it to less than 200w.
How would you actually make it provide 200w, without software modifications, without increasing the input voltage and hardware mods?
@@bgdwiepp ah so you think its not providing the 200W, that was not clear to me. Well if we wait hopefully SDG will perform some power measurements when he has time. But I wouldn't be surprised if that internal PSU is indeed capable of close to 200W. If not, your idea should work well, maybe slight affect on the feedback regulation.
The eye-candy screen alone makes me want to buy it - lol -.
Is the station with the JBC T245 Handpiece ESD safe?
The "earth" cartridge connection is effective for the T245 (3 contact arrangement with heater and TC) as a dedicated ground off which the TC is measured. From what I can tell this then requires a fully floating heater circuit relative to the TC earth reference which is the JBC station approach but using AC. The alternative which I think makes more sense, but not any less expensive, is a 3 contact arrangement where the earth (usually with some small series resistance) is dedicated to the cartridge tip metal shell and the TC and heater are in series with no connection to the shell. Hear again a fully floating heater supply makes the most sense AC or DC.
Good video ! Nice work, i think my only complaint with the JBC is lack of top holder room, If you know any company that makes a hot swap tip holder ?
Could you measure if this station actually outputs 200w (peak). I think this is a great station for modding it to be able to work with the JBC T470 (heave duty) hand piece if it can actually output 200w.
[edit] It seems the C470 cartridges have a working voltage of 48V, while the 245/210 use 24V. Still, it might be a nice project to modify the station for this.
Will do. I ran out of time before but I need to find out anyway - the coin test as it stands isn't particularly scientific, but it appears to briefly outperform the JBC DDE Station
You can find a C470 driver module on aliexpress.
@@samthenerf I can't find anything on AliExpress that looks like a module to actually drive C470 cartridges. Do you mean some cheap 48V switch mode power supply?
@@jeffrey308 Search for JBC470 exactly like that.
@@samthenerf Looks like an interesting module. There is very little information to be found about it tho. I'll probably order one and check it out. Thanks for pointing this out :)
Honestly i was originally thinking of building a station and just buying the handles from jbc but seeing this video i don't think i wanna do that anymore as this seems to be way more cost effective
Great video. Enjoyed watching!
Is there a limit to the number of soldering irons one can have. I've about 3. one from 1976, one from about 1980, and the last about 2018.
I think that even low power irons work OK for soldering chips on, even quite large chips, but it's a whole different ball game when trying to remove them.
No limit other than space! I currently have over 1.2m of handpiece cradles.
@@sdgelectronics Now that is a shot I would like to see.
@@sdgelectronics You need to make a video on it 😂
I bought the T210 unit by mistake I wanted the T245, the connection on the T210 is different than the T245. Would you please verify if this is the case otherwise its false advertising and you should know this.
Is a very good choice for a limited buget .
Did anyone have checked the tip resistance for the C245 cartridges supplied by Aixun against the original JBC tips? Is there any significant difference? I am trying to find out if you can use any other clone tips from other suppliers in the Aliexpress like "Kiludo"
Looks very nice and similar price to a hakko. Good looking display and like the flat top and bottom. Good for a small bench. If I was a student again I would buy over a hakko any day. Nice review Steve
I wonder why the manufacturer doesn't embrace opensource more. If the firmware was hackable it would aid interest in the station more. They seem to take more care with the hardware construction than most items out of China. Preset physical buttons would of been nice.
I imagine most stations like this are aimed at the domestic chinese market (they need good soldering stuff too, after all), and the western market / aliexpress is a bit of an afterthought. So probably little interest in opensource firmware from the manufacturer (and keeping it closed source slows down clones showing up.) But there's nothing stopping people making their own firmware (just like for TS100, T12...). It has an STM32 compatible MCU after all, fairly standard looking LCD, even the USB firmware update should be simple enough to figure out if you want to make something that people don't have to open it to install.
There is an enormos amount of software tools and firmwares behind language barrier on CN resources. They share a lot of work, would not be surprised to find out that this project has got its own thread somewhere our search engines do not reach.
Any idea what the pinout is on the T3A? I have a 936-style handle with red,white, black, green and blue wires I'd like to use in addition to the 245 handle I have, but can't find any info on the wiring.
Thanks for the great video. Could you please let me know if there is a per tip calibration like in the Ksger stations? I mean that you can save the profiles one by ine and just select them when you change tip. Thanks in advance.
I don't think it has per-tip calibration, however I checked on the 3x supplied cartridges and the two JBC tips used in this video and they were all within 5°C
@@sdgelectronics thanks for your answer.
really great! thank you
Great videos, but I still not sure which station I need :). I used Weller WSP80 with WD01 station at work. But I need a budget friendly setup at home. What did u recommend KSGER or this Aixun T3A?
Up to Minute 11 I thought " First solder job that really nice and good looking station gets is to remove the beeper from itself .. but then you said it ^^
I sometimes wonder if the firmware is open source. like available on git.. I am pretty sure there must be a setting that defines the maximum allowable overshoot when trying to compensate for temperature drop on the tip. Maybe there is a better method for high thermal mass compensation tests, like with the hotend of a printer, or any block of a known material (for temp coefficient) and mass (to calculate delta Q) with a thermo couple in it. (and have a nice graph on the oszi or pc ;)
Anyhow, thanks for the review !
PS: just though, one of those Aluminium PCBs with one defined pad to use for all tips and stations and a couple NTCs on it might totally do the job :D
There is no setting for this station. But with the ksger and custom T12 firmware you can set PID constants. I can't see how you'd directly choose an overshoot level, but for JBC to offer three tuning values would be sufficient: fast (significant overshoot), normal (minimal overshoot), slow (no overshoot).
He has temp sensors on the PCB, but that would give a very slow/delayed response. Might be interesting to see, but, imo the most useful is thermocouple right on the tip, since this will actually represent the temperature inside say a 0603.
@@jaro6985 Ah, I see.. thanks for the info ;)
Well.. I just thought a board with NTC (or any temp sensor) would give a nice reference across all stations and tips. But it's a lot of work, I'd give you that ;)
@@tinygriffy I ordered a board a bit like what you're suggesting on 4 layer just before the Alu PCB date got brought forward. It should work similarly though.
I ordered this to replace my Yihua 937D. Hope it can last the 12 years the other ripoff did.
You forgot to use the iron in the ksger station.
thats what ive been looking for the results of this test.???
Looking decent. But I still wish there was a good open source version for the T245. Something in between the complexity of a crude DIY ardunino and the unisolder. A shame it's a 24V output and not a 12/24V input. Also a shame it has a different plug than the original. The thought of cutting off the plug on an original handle (I already got one) feels heart breaking.
You could make an adaptor with the two types of connector
@@sdgelectronics Using such a contraption would break my heart even more ;)
@@sdgelectronics Do you know if an original handle could even be used? From what I found in the forums there might be some differences - but I cannot imagine why it shouldn't work.
@@sdgelectronics Do you know of any 24v "heat gun" or rework type device that can make use of this 24v auxiliary port? Would be great to have something I can use on heat shrink in a small package.
How exactly did the "q3" mosfet and the "d2" diode break through? Is the CPU alive or is it hitting too?
8:07
Very good review! I wonder if that allows to change between T12 and T245 holders?
On the PCB, there is a trace from the handpiece called 'ID' so I would assume it is possible. I'll try tonight.
It's not super different from the T12 station in terms of driving; the pinout is just a lot different which requires you to rewire the plugs first.
You can order the 245 station with handle and order the t12 handle from them separately and use both was the answer from the company. I have them on the way now
@@th3drizzl378 if you both order them from the store that sells the station then it will probably be compatible. They should have already wired it unless otherwise specified ☺️
@@AnnaVannieuwenhuyse aixun has the handles available. you dont have to order it from the same store. i asked the company directly. as long as you buy the aixun branded ones they told me they will work.
The TFT screen will keep on going and looks clean and clear. Don't need a retina burning OLED which *will* fail over time - all of them do fail.
Mi estación t3a duro cuatro semanas, para subir la temperatura de 100 a 350 grados celsius se necesita de mucha corriente, alcance a medir que en esos dos segundos la corriente que consume es más de 6 amperes, eso quiere decir que llevan al límite a la fuente de alimentación, tengo mi estación inservible, aparte de que se me hizo muy difícil actualizar el firmware,
Ha! Aixun shill! But seriously now, really impressive performance. Seems like I just saw my next soldering station. BTW I saw on my local eBay clone a pair (!) of Metcals, both PS-800, for around $140 total. Looking at the spec, they seem to be 30W stations. Do you have experience with those models? How would you compare PS-800 performance to other stations?
30W will be fine for general soldering, but I think you will notice the low power. I have an MX-500 which is 40W, but you notice it is a little slow on some boards.
Do you know if the JBC T12 UD-1200 Soldering Station Extension Module K-508 will work with the Aixun T3B? Do JBC handles work with AIxun or is it just the tips?
Ordered one of these yesterday Steve after your review. I was looking at going all out with the JBC however this just seems too good not to consider and try. With the additional stand it’s 1/3 of the cost. However I can’t say I was really not tempted to go JBC tbh. I’d still love one of their stations.
Great video as always.
It seems to work well. At the price it's difficult to beat.
@@sdgelectronics I would still love a JBC though. Thanks for the great content mate as always.
Thank you!
Eventually got mine in, very nice! I ordered the fancier stand as suggested but the unit came with the same now. not that bare-bones one.
Great review of a £100 soldering station:-)
Squeak !
Hi, I bought this model, but to update it, I am facing the problem of not opening its supporter site. Please, if you have access, send me the relevant platform link or upload it, and thank you for the link.
Just had one of these delivered today. When turned on it boot cycles as the iron is heating till it gets to temp then it settles down. Let the tip cool down in the stand and pick it up again and back into the boot cycle again. Updated firmware, tried different tips, same story. Cant get it to work as described at all. Not happy! Any suggestions?
Hmm, sounds suspiciously like a power supply issue. Are you in 110V territory?
@@sdgelectronics That's what I thought too. I'm in 220V land, UK. The problem goes away with a replacement tip I bought for it, so not sure what to think!? EDIT. The problem has not gone completely, it still boot loops sometimes. Damn, I was hopeful for this one...
Option to turn that infernal beep off. I was thinking that just before you found it :-)
Sometimes a pair of pliers will also turn the beep off, if there was no option ;-)
I'm in the market for a new station and considering how much the KSGER soldering stations have gone up in price over the past couple years, i may just go with this one. Why would i spend $90 on the latest KSGER when i can get this for $30 more?
It definitely seems to be the best price/performance I've found.
I bit the bullet and bought the station. However, I wonder if any T12 aftermarket handles works on it. I have a bunch of T12 tips that I wish to keep using.
Answered myself: it does. Worst case scenario is have to redo the wiring. A guy also posted a video showing the wiring that this station accepts.
I just ordered an unassambled handle. Lets see how it turns out.
Good review thanks. Just tried to order one, unfortunately your link says "Can not deliver to United Kingdom"
You might need to log in first. Also try adjusting the shipping method - I did get this when I tried to order, but it was set to some random shipping option that isn't available in the UK. Click shipping method then, Aliexpress Standard.
@@sdgelectronics Thanks, it worked when I logged in before clicking the link.
How is the connector different to the genuine JBC one? At first glance, it seems pretty similar. I really like this kit, but I'd like to use my genuine JBC hand piece with it and keep the knockoff as a spare.
This is a GX12 metal 5pin style connector, JBC is a plastic 6 pin connector. Best bet would be an inline adapter from GX12 to JBC, google part number is on eev forum.
hey im looking for C115 soldering station that could fit the original JBC handle and tips .. any recomendations?
sir, can you use 936 conventional handle ? I tried but didn't find the pinout
Yes, they also sell the 936 handle, but the pinout I don't know
Arghh! the menu scroll is backwards to how it should be when turning the dial..... clockwise should always navigate right/forward/advance/increase and anti-clockwise should always navigate left/backward/recede/decrease.
I hope you see this: I want to fix this soldering station, I'm only learning though and could do with some pointers if/when you have the time. I'm guessing the voltage to the micro controller is being pulled down by the current draw from the heating element making it constantly reboot until the temp (eventually 3min later) stabilises. What do you think, where should I look?
You could look at current limiting the heater. It could be the cartridge you're using has a particularly low impedance. Add a series resistance to make the heater+resistor up to 4.8 ohms, and that will limit the power to 120W.
@@sdgelectronics Thank you!
@@sdgelectronics Further update: The station is repaired and working without fault now. I found a couple of dodgy joints on the PSU board which I fixed and I replaced 3 of the 5 Caps on the PSU board. Thanks for your help, appreciated! BTW you didn't mention in your video that the front panel was glass. I thought it was plastic so didn't take quite as much care as I could have removing it and I managed to crack it. Never mind I can live with that now it works a treat...
I was looking into getting an 888d but man this seems like it's really nice. I've been daily driving a non adjustable 25W Weller and a TS80 og. What would you recommend? This or the Hakko?
The JBC cartridges are much more capable than the Hakko. I personally would not buy the Hakko.
Any suggestions for heated tweezers that would be compatible with the AiXun T3A (or similar) for fine-pitch component removal?
You could probably use the original JBC tweezers since they only occupy one channel on the compact stations. I don't know enough about them though to know exactly how they're wired up
Maybe this is a stupid observation, but. Why is Weller so rarely compared with all these different brands, expensive and cheap? I myself use Weller and the miniware Ts-100 (great soldering iron). I have personally used and tested many soldering irons. But Weller is my stationary goto brand when it comes to quality and performance. I still have and use my Weller WS-51 80W extensively, it is now 30 years old. I changed some tips over the years, maybe 2 or 3, repaired the cable to the iron ONCE. Stationary I have the Weller WRS 3000 with solder suction, wpd 80 soldering pen and a hot air iron. Why is it rarely (or never) compared to the other brands?
Weller is generally not up there in terms of performance and prices are quite high, so its not discussed very often here.
I've been using a Weller WSD80 for many many years.. but it just can't compete with newer technology cartridge/integrated-heater systems. That's why i went for a Pace ADS200.
Just had a quick look at their Website, it looks like everything apart from their WX2012 Station (around 700€ plus around 40€ per tip) is either old technology or limited to around 40W. Sooo.. nothing really interesting apart from that really expensive station.
I think Weller is a bit less relevant these days since they've not really progressed and command a high price for even the "old technology" heaters. I was looking into adding one for these reviews, but they only have cartridge systems for the small handpieces for some reason.
@@sdgelectronics thank you for the insight. Maybe it is time to upgrade then =)
I've got a couple Weller stations (one with the LED display temp adjustment and one that just has the temp adjustment) and even the cheap KSGER T12 stations blow them away imho, got a pair of those KSGER stations a while back when they were fairly new and haven't touched the Wellers since... this looks nice to have for high thermal conductivity stuff which I don't run across often but the T12 tips being limited to ~65W sometimes makes that type of soldering an issue
Try the Hakko fx 811 is now like the world most expensive hot air stațion or the fr 810 . Olso very nice video i will try this station .
Hi SDG, which option do you think is better a metcal PS-900 or this new T3A. The main use will be for phone and computer repair, small electronic devices that are repaired under a microscope. Thanks in advanced!
The T3A will be better than the PS-900, especially at this price point. Though the longevity is still unknown. The PS-900 will work for years completely trouble free
*For large solder: T3A.
*Micro and nano solder: T3B.
I've had mine for a while now, but I really don't like latest firmware versions I've tried. Version 1.34 has insane amounts of overshoot and they "fix" it by never showing the actual temperature of the tip if it is higher than the set-temperature. I went back to firmware version 1.27 which is better IMHO. If anyone has any tips on new firmware revision that actually fixes the overshoot, then please let me know. I would rather have a 10 or 15 second heat-up time than the 60-70 degree overshoot that I am seeing now.
Is this worth the upgrade over a KSGER T12?
Will you resume working on the gpsdo?
Thank for the review :) ! Which power supply do you recommend to use with it ?
It has an internal power supply.
@@-Russian-Leader- Thank's for the answer ;) !
i love your iron comparison videos
if T3A or jabe ud-1200 are same price which one will you pick?
Probably the T3A since the interface is much nicer and it's more compact.
@@sdgelectronics thanks t3a order is complete :)
If you were to compare this to a thermaltronics tmt-2000s or the bst-933b, which system would you point someone towards? I’m running into issues with soldering large ground planes when working from home with my ksger.
The Metcal part of the coin test makes it look like it’s performing better than the other t245 stations even though it’s an 80w system. Is that the case, or is something else going on there? Thanks!
For reference, I’ve been working with 6 and 8 layer boards.
The power delivery is much more effective with the RF heating which is why it performs much better than standard resistive heaters. The C245 cartridges are pretty good though, and so far I would recommend this station if the budget doesn't exist for a proper Metcal or JBC system. I have not tested the Thermaltronics, so can't vouch for performance or build quality.
@@sdgelectronics thanks for the response! That’s really helpful. What is a tip that you would recommend as a general purpose tip to get started? The tips are quite expensive, so I’d probably need to start with just buying one real cartridge.
@@Muddles178 The C245-406 is the one that I find suits the widest variety of jobs. It's worth taking a look at the brochure though in case something else looks more applicable to the types of things you do.
@@sdgelectronics thank you so much for the advice! I remember that in one of your videos you said that you use a tip closer to 1mm while you were working on something similar-ish to what I’d be working with. That tip with the high thermal capacity also doesn’t have any clones that I saw, so it’s a good option for getting as an original.
And what about prices? if it's an hobby or professional that work a lot ,you can't beat tip prices and the station it self on T12.Jbl style tips cost a fortune...20 to 35$ at least. T12 cost 3 to 10€ and the 3 $ ones sometimes the same as 10$ ones.
Sometimes i think people still tring older cooper pipes with this small stations... 200w? :P
Nice review! Looks decent. If they can sell this for $111, they could put a traditional transformer in for a few dollars more and give it better longevity over SMPS. Or maybe sell a bare controller board for DIY people.
If the SMPS dies wire in an external 24V laptop brick for $40 or much less second hand. A 200W transformer would be a massive waste of space and weight (3kg+).
I agree about the bare controller though, if you search "board jbc245" you'll find some similar models, but not this unit.
@@jaro6985 I've never seen a 200w laptop brick? A traditional transformer is more reliable for something that has large high current spikes. I've never worried about the weight of my soldering stations. For JBC 245 tips, 160VA toroid is good. If the SMPS in this station is actually 200W, it's probably because 160VA SMPS wasn't good enough.
@@acoustic61 google 24V power brick, you'll find lots of 9A, 10A, 12A, etc.
Is this compatible with a tweezer handle, like HT420-A or some 3rd party unit?
No, it uses the wrong plug as well.
Is it possible to use a genuine jbc hand piece with this station? I have one laying around and would much rather use it than the one included.
Once you change the connector it will work. There's nothing special about the handpiece electrically speaking.
@@sdgelectronics Mine arrived just yesterday and I think I will stick with the knock-off handle and an original tip for now. However one thing to note is that the handle does not fit in the included stand when using the foam grip from the jbc handle and it gets quite warm without.
So this is the thing I want. Screw the unisolder then.
thanks a lot.....
Will this work with my genuine jbc t245 handle? I assume I would have to replace my handle’s existing connector
yes if you change the connector
@@sdgelectronics What connector are you talking about? That "avia" 6-pin?
14:40 how can you expect to tranfer heat to the pad and the tin wire ,with such an oxidised tip???
The cartridge is about 10 minutes old and has just been cleaned. Unfortunately, the supplied cartridges are of inferior quality.
Yeh, see the comment I've just made. Sorry for having made another comment like that. I didn't remember having already made one to the same video.
May I ask how to save the calibration value on T3A? I measure the actual temperature for each level, e.g. 103C、205C, and set those values in the cal menu, then click set button. Next time I enter the cal menu, those values are cleared. Is it normal?
I think it should be stored after saving, but I haven't tested it myself
@@sdgelectronics Try to enter the cal menu, previous values were all gone! They reverted back to default values, e.g. 100C、200C...500C. My firmware is 1.18
@@phuang3 It is being set but doesn't reflect when you go back in to the menu, apparently, mine comes in a week.
@@SavageCore6 The setting comes in a week?! That's strange. The station doesn't have RTC timer. Every power up sequence should be the same.
The DC side voltage is 12V?
Do the tips look so dark in real life too? they look really oxidized
Yes, I always find this happens with JBC tips. I think part of it is flux vapour though which is attacking the coating.