iFixit Fixhub Soldering Iron: www.ifixit.com/fixhub TS80P soldering iron: amzn.to/3ZiQGwn Disclosure: This product was sent to us by the manufacturer for purposes of review.
I think a spotlight on the pinecil would be good. Using a 65w battery bank and a flexible usb cable and you have IMO the most practical portable soldering iron. Pair it with a mini stand to hold it (or even a section of wet dish sponge to just cool it off because ts100 tips have such low thermal mass). All for a much, much better price. The only thing you are getting here that you dont get with a pinecil at less than half the price is that cap.
I personally use a pinecil (from pine64). it works very similarly to the ts80 you showed, but it uses both usbc PD as well as QC3 AND optionally it's got a dc5525 12-24v barrel jack should you want to use that. the retail price is $36, is EXTREMELY accurate in terms of temp control, has an integrated accelerometer so if it detects no movement for a selectable timeout, it will go into cooldown, and if picked up, it will heat itself back up again (very convenient). Instead of using it with a wall wart though, I use it with a 25AH 130w usbc battery pack which rests on my desk nearby when i'm using the iron (I bought the battery pack for use in charging my laptop on long plane rides and could probably power the soldering iron for DAYS). using a battery means the power source can be placed conveniently anywhere within a meter and not be tethered to the wall. for a soldering stand, I 3d printed my own using a model provided on printables called "TS100/Pinecil soldering station and stand" by fysiks, but there are a TON of different stands, cases, etc. for this particular iron as it's EXTREMELY well-liked in the maker community because it's cheap, takes ts100 tips (which are also cheap and plentiful), accurate, fast heating, and overall very convenient. I have no hate for the ifixit smart soldering iron, but I moved to a portable soldering iron so I wouldn't have to be tethered closely to yet another big box, and I personally don't like that the controls are on the power supply portion rather than on the iron. - that said, to each their own, I value having lots of choice when it comes to tools on the market, and if I didn't have a soldering iron, and someone handed me the ifixit one, I would probably be happy with it.
I bought a Pinecil since I needed fairly accurate temperature control for a modding project, I do really like that it's just plug-in-and-go with all the controls you need right there. My only real gripe is that the stock conical tip for it is not good for getting adequate pressure & heat transfer over a larger area. I ended up buying a TS-B02 tip which was just as precise and had a greater degree of versatility. Regarding the iFixit iron, the proprietary elements is a turn off. Having to use an app or a branded power station is pretty skuzzy: eventually that app will go out of support and the station will go out of production. A good tool if well cared for will last decades, the iFixit irons probably won't through no fault of their own.
@@Cpgeekorg don't forget the pinecil is also Bluetooth enabled so you can tweak any settings and the temperature from you phone if you want to. Forget using a computer.
@@jamesash7368 I didn't realize it had bluetooth, but I don't understand why I would want it to have bluetooth - the temp controls on the device work great.
@@Cpgeekorg if you update iron OS it enables it. I played around with it just because. It's easier to change the other settings on the iron like the scroll speed of the display ect. It's not essential but it's easier than digging through the menu. Aside from that I have actually found it useful to change temp on my phone Vs on the iron it's self because it is quicker to pick up my phone if I'm doing other stuff than it is with the iron especially if the iron is hot. Your results may vary but it is a cool feature.
Bought two of those, just in case one broke (still going). Using it for a few years, not extensively but from time to time. Amazing iron. I use it either with a dewalt battery with a booster to reach 24V, but more recently I've mostly used my Anker 100W output powerbank. Last weekend i soldered four 2,5mm2 to a 4mm2 cable as I didn't have my metcal available. Took longer than usual but it got the job done.
Are any soldering tips “non-proprietary” though? Sure, some irons work with common Weller or JBC tips, but that doesn’t make it an “open” standard. Also, Ifixit might be a bit more concerned about using someone else’s design that a “hobby” project / less established brand.
@@seppestas You're right. It's more a matter, to me, of wondering if new tips will be available 5-10 years later. But, if it has a non-replaceable battery, I guess just get some spares when you buy it and consider it disposable in
I was moderately excited until you said the price. That's a terrible price for the this setup. 250 american, is just over $300 canadian. I can pick up a ts100 for $120 CAD, and a.27,000 mah PD Power Bank for $80, and then I would have a power bank to use for other purposes, like charging my laptop, phone, vape and drone batteries . Infact, that's my current travel setup.
The lack of temperature controls on the device itself really is a deal-killer. I've been really happy with the Pinecil, which is a lot more affordable. The battery here could serve as a nice accessory to that or any other similar USB-C soldering iron, but the iFixit iron itself really is disappointing.
How much are you changing temp in the field? Most of the time I change it when it starts at the wrong setting. And the buttons being where my thumb is annoys me on the ts100
@@braedon4589 Not super often, but even the ultra-cheap soldering iron I bought from RadioShack decades ago still managed to have a high/low switch. Needing to plug it into a PC just to change temp is absolute insanity. If you find you're accidentally hitting buttons, it might actually have a setting to help prevent that.
@@braedon4589 I change it fairly often, personally. I use my ts101 both for normal soldering, and for welding 3d-printed parts. The temperature I use for soldering would burn the plastics too easily, and the temperature I use for plastic welding would be way too low for the solder. The interface on the ts101 *is* kind of a pain, though. If ifixit releases a way to set the temperature on their iron while using my own power bank which doesn't require an active internet connection, I might have to look into getting one.
@@braedon4589 sometimes I am mid soldering and a big joint or a joint with a different type of solder on a different component is taking a while to melt so I'll hold down the + button for a burst of power on my PineCil. Having to take my hands off the work to make adjustments on the fly is going backwards. I love iFixIt and have many of their overpriced tools, but this one is not only overpriced, it's also bad. App control for temperature without an expensive add on is just baffling in 2024. I hope the people who buy this genuinely like it and aren't just falling for this sponsored content hype rush that's happening right now.
I think it'd be both cheaper and better to get a 90 Wh battery bank and a USB-C soldering iron with a screen. More capacity, better UX, flexibility in power supplies, and I have a battery bank to use for other devices. I absolutely love iFixit and want to support their mission, they've helped me bring so many devices back to life. I just can't justify spending that much on a soldering iron, especially when the Pinecil and Weller's battery operated one exist.
Just imagine having to plug this thing into an pc every time you want to slightly change the temperature! My first thought was that it has bluetooth and you have to use an app on your phone, but this ist even less user friendly
@@daviniusb6798 Complexity decreases the ability to easily repair something. Pretty sure that is part of what when into not having a tiny screen and some form of really small set of buttons.
Also the number of times Ive pressed those dumb buttons on the ts100 while soldering in the field is innumerable and I normally dont need fine temp control in the field.
We've spent a lot of time talking to engineers and makers who solder all day, and it turns out that most people rarely change the temperature. I pick a temperature that I like and leave it there. I think that other irons use temperature as a proxy for power. We aim for the temperature that you set. The instant that the iron detects that it's under load, it pours power into the heating element. That makes it feel and perform like a much more powerful iron. We're dynamically responding to the power load and flowing heat into the material.
30w? Pinecil is 60w, has a breakout board to expose the RISC V processor, has both usb C and dc barrel jack, and is $25.. oh my god and it has a screen AND buttons so you dont have to go to a pc lol. not enjoying these advertisements
Yeah, I have my travel soldering kit with a Pinecil in a 3d printed case that stores it's extra tips, usb-c cable, a small amount of solder, and a collapsible stand and a big USB PD power bank. The Fixhub looks sleek but it's not a great value.
I already own a pinecil and a TS100 and I'm still really tempted by this. During longer solder sessions those are sometimes a bit tiresome and fiddly and the iFixit one looks like the ergnomics are superior. If they release a small chisel tip I will likely order one.
when i first heard 80$, it sounded like a really good price. then you emphasized that its _just_ the soldering iron without the power station. too expensive. and 250$ for the whole kit too. should be 150$ at most, even that is very much a premium price
Ts100 are $80 and also don’t include a battery pack or base station with them. Still a fine option but almost an identical product if you dont deal with different solders regularly.
As he explained the TSP80P and the so called "quirks" really felt like he was just making stuff up. You don't buy something USB powered to use connected to the wall. You buy it because its portable...i.e. use a damn power bank! He was really reaching with his comments. I use the ts80p at work with a flat round tip and its absolutely perfect, I can solder pins that go to large ground planes with it as well. This ifixit iron is literally a big downgrade, you have to connect the iron to a damn computer app to control temp??? That is absolutely ridiculous and they couldnt even include a display for that price when the ts80p has one. For a company that loves to talk rubbish about gadgets and poor design, they sure made a product that has equally bad design
200+ GBP is quite the premium for a cut-down TS80, assuming they're using TS80 tips. For my money the Pinecil is a much better deal; heck, the TS80 is a better deal.
Ever since Hakko came out with the T12 style tips I've been hooked on those. You get a fresh heating element and sensor with every tip, they're easy to swap even when warm, and they don't have the weird headphone jack style plugs. Love these portable solder stations, but I wish there were more with T12 style tips.
2 месяца назад+4
Yup, I'm happy with my KSGER T12. Sure, not as portable, but gets the job done wonderfully and with the 9501 handle it really brings your hand close to the tip.
I stumbled on chinese T12 soldering stations that work with power tool batteries. I bought one for makita 18v batteries for ~25 eur and havent used my "regular" soldering station since, even at my desk. Weight of the battery makes nice base for the springy holder thingy.
I've only ever had Weller stoldering stations. I do like how their tips never foul compared to the $15 soldering irons from Walmart that would foul after 3 uses.
250 bucks and it doesn't even include a cable to plug it into an outlet... this isn't a smartphone FFS, this will need beefier plugs that not everyone has readily available. Completely agree with the review... at that premium price point, at the very least, a wall-plug should have been included.
It's a very cool idea. However, they have some steep competition at that price point. I can get an entire soldering station with hot air gun for soldering pcb's for 250. At 150, and a few extra tips they would have really had a good thing. It might simply be based on how much it took to manufacture the first gen, so hopefully they can work on balancing that out.
@@Timmyfox I dont think they were paid for it, as it doesent match their normal disclaimer for sponsored content. Only that they were sent the device to review so they got it for free. That said, Tested has ALWAYS had a problem with clarity around what is and is not sponsored vs free for review vs purchased and sharing the cool thing. I agree with OP in that I have no problem around doing paid showcases/advertisements. You just need to be CLEAR about it.
@@nullgator8073 Actual electrical engineer here: I change the temperature quite frequently on my JBC station. Maybe not super often whilst I'm working but depending on what I do you might have to up and down the temperature every so often if you want to be efficient. Sure, you could just crank the temperature and leave it at that, but then you risk damaging the pads or components, so adjusting it based on the job (especially for any more sensitive electronics and smaller pads) allows a lot more leniency and fine control.
I can appreciate the efficacy of this iFixit soldering iron; I have purchase a number of their products over the years. But for this price, respectfully, their competitors offer better options.
I love iFixit but this is, to be frank, embarrassingly bad. As another in the makerspace would put it, this gets a poodle of product pointlessness for being objectively worse than a pinecil at more than double the price. I have no idea why they even released it like this.
appreciate what iFixit does for us tinkerheads (we wouldn't watch this video otherwise, right?). and now i got to thank you and them for inspiring me to build something funky like this for "my pinecil and it's powerbank"
You can pick up a similar iron for 30 bucks lol... Sequre ts100 lol had mine for 3 years and it works just fine for small jobs. I think Adam uses one on his portable soldering station
I really like this review! You were critical of the price which I really appreciate, you showed a comparable model that youve used and works well. You went over all the features really well, and yeah, whats up with no one providing wall warts any more!? It reduces e-waste, sure, but at that premium price Id expect that same as you, a complete kit with extra tips. Thank you for the video :D
I've had a TS80P for a while, and I can say I've never learned how the controls work on it (maybe if I used it more frequently I would have gotten used to it). Turning it on to make it heat up is the only thing I can almost reliably do 🙂
Clearly, they don’t understand that changing temp while working is absolutely crucial for anyone who knows what they are doing with a soldering iron. The only exception is someone making the same solder joint over and over, essentially someone on an assembly line where portability is not a concern.
I like that this is a more integrated and fully featured version of a portable soldering setup, but I'm really not sure this justifies the price increase over something like a pinecil usb c soldering iron alongside a regular 65w power bank. Buying the pinecil, 65w wall adapter, silicone usb c cable, and a 65w power Bank is a full $100 less than this solution, and it has the added benefit of being able to use the cable+wall adapter to either power the pinecil indefinitely, or to fast charge the power bank.
I use my pinecil on the go so much more often than I thought i would. I have used the power brick exactly twice. I use the battery bank 99% of the time with it. I am legit thinking about buying a second pinecil +battery because my wife has started stealing my pinecil out of my workshop for her various projects and not returning it when she's done. We have SIX other soldering irons and she steals mine... Time for her to get her own. I linked her the iFixit one (she buys a lot of their tools) and she just said "That's f****ing dumb."
My main gripe with the TS100 is the ergonomics and the fact I always accidentally press buttons in use. This seems to fix those type of issues for the same price which is cool. I havent replaced my hakko with the ts100 because of these issues but it seems like thats the gap the base was designed to bridge is to make it portable and a benchtop iron in one. I think if the base ran off of AC I would be more inclined to get the base itself but the pen seems awesome and I like the company.
They tried to fix the handful of issues the modern pencil irons have. Good idea...but now it has it's own whole set of problems. Wouldn't it have been better to make a 100w pinecil and then offer the base station and wall wart as a power solution with nice temp knob solution, make the temperature knob api open so the other competing products can use your power solution. Not enough solutions or value for anyone other than a dedicated i fixit workshop.
I'm pretty sure this is different than my usb soldering iron, which I don't think has the phono-jack connection. It does handle the minor esp32 based soldering tasks satisfactorily, so I don't think I'll upgrade, but it's cool to see that tech has improved even since I bought mine.
What were they thinking designing this? You can get a pinecil, which has an integrated display and you know, you can use any USB-PD power station for that, too, or any other battery with the appropriate voltage
That’s a really nice soldering iron from Ifixit , I have been using the old $10 dollars 120 volt wall outlet made in china brand for awhile now and that ifixit kit looks really nice even though it’s a little pricey but in the end we all know that you get what you pay for so quality stuff is going to cost more.
This looks great, and I love iFixit, but my Pinecil has this beat in terms of price, tip availability, power source, and controls. A commodity USB-PD power bank and silicone USB-C cable are more convenient, and I can get them all for less than the price of the iFixit iron alone. I got my Piencil as an extra soldering iron, and it has become my everyday iron.
1:40 I was surprised to see an auxiliary plug used for a heater contact, as I'm not aware of them handling much more current than that needed for an analog signal. Glad to see it's still limited though, as they probably needed a special jack even to handle 30W.
One thing I think is missing in the discussion in the comments is the fact that this is a 100W USB-C powered soldering iron and power bank. That's significantly higher than what the Pinecil (65W), TS101 (45W), and TS80 (30W) can do over a USB-C connection (though the Pinecil can do up to 88W over a DC barrel jack). For a portable soldering iron, that's pretty darn good, and I don't think there's anything else on the market that can match it from a trustworthy brand. While I agree that only being able to change the temperature from a web interface or their specific power bank is a silly limitation and I dislike the idea of proprietary soldering tips, if both the iron and battery supply/station are as repairable as iFixit's reputation would lead us to believe and they commit to supporting the platform with parts for a long time, I could see this being worth the investment.
@@alex-r-t The NovelLife Original TS101 claims 90W over USB-C with Power Delivery. I will note that I don't own either products. However, I'd had it on my wish list for a couple years now. 90W over USB C and 65W over power jack. The instructions on their amazon page says: How to let TS101 output 90W 1. Update the ts101 soldering iron's firmware to V2.0 or above 2.Set the "PDPwMax" as "OFF" 3.Provide PD3.1 28V 5A PD charger and 50V 5A 240WEPR USB cable to TS101
@@AwesomesMan Good find! I didn't realize that PD 3.1 introduced voltages over 20V, so that makes a big difference. Assuming you can find a good price on a reliable PD 3.1-compatible power supply/battery bank and a USB-C cable designed for the higher voltage, it should work just about as well as what iFixit has here. I've never used anything from NovelLife, but if others are having success with it, then it sounds like a good option! I wonder why the higher-output version isn't more widespread 🤔 I will say: if the NovelLife TS101 only gets to 90W at 28V, then the iFixit still has a bit of an advantage here - there are far more PD devices and cables that can output 20V at 5A than 28V currently (because the 3.1 standard is so new). Also, the iFixit one already comes with a cable that is rated for the 100W output, which would have to be purchased separately for the NovelLife one. Still an interesting option though!
8:30 The whole point of making everything USB-C is that we don’t have to include bricks and cables with everything anymore. Consumers are familiar enough with charging portable devices now that they can be expected to manage charging solutions on their own.
I use my TS80 on a USB C PD powerbank. 3D printed a small stand that fits into the centre of a roll of solder to hold the TS80 and the whole thing works perfectly. Im not entirely sure why you feel the need to use a power brick?
Speaking of keeping junk out of dumps, I think it’s a good idea not to automatically include a wall wart, how many people out there don’t have at least half a dozen of these lying around? If you actually require one, they got you.
The output of most wall-warts is less than 5v @ 2.5mA or around 12 Watts, this device, in order to not run off the included battery, would require much more power. Newer, beefier wall-warts can get up to 100 Watts or more. Even if you don't get the iFixit iron and chose another one you would still need a decent DC power supply.
Looks a nice unit, well designed. And I really like the iFixit gear. All the stuff of theirs I've bought in the past has paid for itself super fast (by repairing stuff instead of replacing). But at this price point!? I don't see any ROI with my use cases which is sad. I would never buy just the unit - because plugging into a PC to use an app to set the temperature? Pass. Thanks for the review Norm
Right now a pinecil + power bank makes more sense at that price point. If they release a hot air tool that works with the same hub, then I might consider it
How similar it is to the TS80 definitely makes me less wanting to get one. The screen on my TS80 died years ago, and I just have it set to 340C poweree, 200C idle. Cuz likewise, gyro sensors. And i run mine off a small pocketable anker battery which will let me field solder for 8+ hours multiple days..or at home for misc solder projects it lasts me months before needing a charge. Is nice though to see more people making pens. Though this definitely is a great comparison as Im 100% sold on keeping my TS80 as my main. Thinner/smaller/lighter pen is the selling point for me. Replaced my desktop solder station with it, since its so much nicer to use these little pens nowadays! They do amazingly great even for 8awg wire soldering. Car audio, drones, etc. Great stufd!
Back in the late 70s my boss had a battery powered Wahl soldering iron while the rest of us had the old Weller soldering guns. Don't know how much it cost or how how long the battery lasted. Each time he did a solder or desolder he stuck it back in the charger station. I guess it didn't work out, looks like they only do shavers now.
I’ve only watched the first part of the video, but he seems to be saying the TS80P can only be powered from a wall socket, which isn’t true. I have one and it’s always run from a battery with usb-c. Also thats the old one. The new one is the TS101 - why not compare it to that?!
2 месяца назад+2
Sad, that they did not go the "JBC" iron tip road. Most of the newer ones plug in the JBC clone tips. I myself have a Sequre S60 and a S99
@@meikgeik I believe that it's due to the heating time. The thermal capacity of standard tips is HUGE, so if you want a very quick time to temp, you have to place the heater in the tip itself. Unfortunately there isn't a standard for this. 😞 (Unless you count the TS80P, but I'd also call that proprietary.)
Cool product. It's very interesting in it's own way. That said from a utilitarian point of view even a pinecil + barrel jack or USB PD powerbank would be more portable, cheaper, and even reliable as you're not limited to a proprietary battery bank from the same soldering iron's 'maker'. Best suggestion for iFixit is to adjust their pricing across all categories as they seem inflated for a vast array of tools that are found for equal to or greater in quality from other vendors or even Amazon.. Which doesn't make sense unless it's meant to be the, "iFixit tax" as I suspect it is. Not unlike the Apple-tax if you will lol
The lights throbbing/ pulsating, flickering, or whatever they're doing is very distracting for me. I wasn't sure if they were intentionally set up that way, or if there was a powerline issue that was causing the camera to pick up the flickering of the lights. I kept looking at the lights doing their thing instead of looking at the USB-c soldering iron.
Desirable temp for any soldering iron, used for electronics work,is between 325°C and 375°C... Any cooler or hotter, leads to bad joints and overheating of wires and components... I used to be in charge of calibrating soldering irons and you would have some using a fan to lower the temperature reading, whenever I was due to check them, which of course I would turn off, only to discover their iron was running way too hot... These irons had NO control to set the temperature, as this only caused problems with people producing bad work or damaging components. Anyway, I am very interested in this new portable iron and will most definitely be checking it out later....and yes far too many USB cables and power cables in general tend to be very stingy, when it comes to how long they are, especially with thing like toasters, but that comes down to their amount of power they draw and the risk of having too long a cable leading to them being a fire risk, unless that cable is made much thicker to compensate, which would make your average soldering iron, very difficult to use
So its one of the regular small form factor soldering irons with a battery bank. You could buy the other one you guys already have and use a battery bank with it....
With the TS80P, I am surprised that you didn't get an XT30 or XT60 to USB-C or (make one) and use RC hobby LiPo for portable power. You can also us a PD power battery pack with TS80P.
I have a Pinecil which addresses those issues. It’s perfect for me, apart from having to do everything via only 2 buttons. But it does have Bluetooth for remote control. No way this iron would make me want to switch.
@@wojtek-33 The problem is if you're giving "good" reviews to a fundamentally flawed product (lack of features and insane price) because you got it for free, that makes you a shill and nobody likes shills except the company paying them to shill. I hate to say it, but this video lowered my faith in the trustworthiness of Tested has AND products released by iFixit.
2:25 A USB PD power bank capable of at least 40 watts (I use 65 watts) turns the TS80 and Pinecil into a portable soldering iron. My bigger beef with them is the lack of a proper stand, but that's where Hakko stuff can come in; also the tips are quite expensive.
Are the tips compatible with the TS80? If it turn out the tips are compatible and cheaper it would be great because right now ts80 is a bit alone with their jack plug and so the price come with it.
I like the TS101 much more than the TS80. Plus, I like iFixit alot, but $250 for a USB-C battery bank is just silly. The INIU Power Bank, 20000mAh 65W USB C is $35 I think you can get the 100w version for $79.
I love iFixit but man have they missed the mark here. A TS80P with a quality third party battery bank comes out a cool €110 cheaper over here, and a pinecil with the same battery even €150! And neither need a pc with an app... People mock smart soldering irons for running an operating system on a hot metal stick, don't let anyone hear you need a pc app for this one lol Also this show and tell claims the ts80p is limited to a 1m cable because only that supports 100W of power, but it has a max of less than 45W, so that point is moot for that iron, but ironically applicable to the iFixit iron, where this same problem was not mentioned. I don't think Norm mentioned whether or not the tips are interchangeable with the TS80P either. I know the video says show and tell but the description and comment both mention it was sent for "review" and I find this to be a pretty poor review if I'm being perfectly honest.
question for everyone in the comments saying pinecil beats this. I'm thinking I adding a portable setup like this to my tools, does the pinecil work off of powerbanks or something alike?
Don't bother with a TS80p at this point, the pinecil is cheaper, more capable, and has much better tip availability. ($26 for 88W) The ifixit iron seems expensive and unwieldy in standalone mode, and very expensive as a station.
Looks really cool, but the power station is too expensive. I use the TS80 with a powerbank, but i wish it was a bit more powerfull. I think i'm upgrading to the TS101
So the first one was really good and had a nice screen on it so you can see what you're doing but it was no good once someone comes along and gives you their stupidly expensive one for free, now that's the top soldering iron.
That's bizarre how they use a stereo headphone jack. . . Guess it makes sense if you use one of lines as a data line for the temperature control but I wasn't expecting that.
I've got a similar one in my car. Gotta say, I think I set the temperature once and never touched it since. So the lcd screen and buttons wouldn't matter But 150 for a battery bank with a fancy pen cap glued to it is a bit much. I'm sure it's okay quality though
USB-C power sounded awesome at first. Having used it, I absolutely *hate* it. No one makes a nice, flexible USB-C PD cable. They are heavy a stiff, and not very long. You are now tethered to a 120V outlet because you need the power supply (or a power bank I guess). PD power supplies do not like the power spikes these irons generate, and often reset, at least the ones I've tried. Fancier power supplies are even more particular. I much *much* prefer the irons that will take DC in, even if it's DC in via the USB-C connector. That way I can use thing silicone wires, and connect it directly to a battery pack via XT60. I've got an iron that takes JBC tips (Sequre S99). I can feed it 20V DC, and the resistance of genuine JBC tips means it can put out up to 150W which is nuts. It has completely replaced all my soldering stations and I can take it wherever I want. I will say that base station is kind of interesting, but for that price? Ouch. You could almost buy a genuine JBC soldering station for that.
Give our cable a try! You're right that most PD cables are stiff and frustrating. Ours is supple and flexible, it's a real joy to use. It doesn't drag the iron around your desktop.
iFixit Fixhub Soldering Iron: www.ifixit.com/fixhub
TS80P soldering iron: amzn.to/3ZiQGwn
Disclosure: This product was sent to us by the manufacturer for purposes of review.
I think a spotlight on the pinecil would be good. Using a 65w battery bank and a flexible usb cable and you have IMO the most practical portable soldering iron. Pair it with a mini stand to hold it (or even a section of wet dish sponge to just cool it off because ts100 tips have such low thermal mass). All for a much, much better price. The only thing you are getting here that you dont get with a pinecil at less than half the price is that cap.
Perhaps an ifixit power pack with belt clip great wee thing handy 👍
Shill more
I personally use a pinecil (from pine64). it works very similarly to the ts80 you showed, but it uses both usbc PD as well as QC3 AND optionally it's got a dc5525 12-24v barrel jack should you want to use that. the retail price is $36, is EXTREMELY accurate in terms of temp control, has an integrated accelerometer so if it detects no movement for a selectable timeout, it will go into cooldown, and if picked up, it will heat itself back up again (very convenient). Instead of using it with a wall wart though, I use it with a 25AH 130w usbc battery pack which rests on my desk nearby when i'm using the iron (I bought the battery pack for use in charging my laptop on long plane rides and could probably power the soldering iron for DAYS). using a battery means the power source can be placed conveniently anywhere within a meter and not be tethered to the wall. for a soldering stand, I 3d printed my own using a model provided on printables called "TS100/Pinecil soldering station and stand" by fysiks, but there are a TON of different stands, cases, etc. for this particular iron as it's EXTREMELY well-liked in the maker community because it's cheap, takes ts100 tips (which are also cheap and plentiful), accurate, fast heating, and overall very convenient.
I have no hate for the ifixit smart soldering iron, but I moved to a portable soldering iron so I wouldn't have to be tethered closely to yet another big box, and I personally don't like that the controls are on the power supply portion rather than on the iron. - that said, to each their own, I value having lots of choice when it comes to tools on the market, and if I didn't have a soldering iron, and someone handed me the ifixit one, I would probably be happy with it.
I bought a Pinecil since I needed fairly accurate temperature control for a modding project, I do really like that it's just plug-in-and-go with all the controls you need right there.
My only real gripe is that the stock conical tip for it is not good for getting adequate pressure & heat transfer over a larger area. I ended up buying a TS-B02 tip which was just as precise and had a greater degree of versatility.
Regarding the iFixit iron, the proprietary elements is a turn off. Having to use an app or a branded power station is pretty skuzzy: eventually that app will go out of support and the station will go out of production. A good tool if well cared for will last decades, the iFixit irons probably won't through no fault of their own.
@@Cpgeekorg don't forget the pinecil is also Bluetooth enabled so you can tweak any settings and the temperature from you phone if you want to. Forget using a computer.
@@jamesash7368 I didn't realize it had bluetooth, but I don't understand why I would want it to have bluetooth - the temp controls on the device work great.
@@Cpgeekorg if you update iron OS it enables it. I played around with it just because. It's easier to change the other settings on the iron like the scroll speed of the display ect. It's not essential but it's easier than digging through the menu.
Aside from that I have actually found it useful to change temp on my phone Vs on the iron it's self because it is quicker to pick up my phone if I'm doing other stuff than it is with the iron especially if the iron is hot. Your results may vary but it is a cool feature.
Bought two of those, just in case one broke (still going). Using it for a few years, not extensively but from time to time. Amazing iron. I use it either with a dewalt battery with a booster to reach 24V, but more recently I've mostly used my Anker 100W output powerbank. Last weekend i soldered four 2,5mm2 to a 4mm2 cable as I didn't have my metcal available. Took longer than usual but it got the job done.
The price.
The proprietary soldering tips.
How is this inline with their brand and vision.
Insanity
And looks like battery isn't replaceable either. Poor design for a repair tool.
Are any soldering tips “non-proprietary” though? Sure, some irons work with common Weller or JBC tips, but that doesn’t make it an “open” standard. Also, Ifixit might be a bit more concerned about using someone else’s design that a “hobby” project / less established brand.
@@seppestas You're right. It's more a matter, to me, of wondering if new tips will be available 5-10 years later. But, if it has a non-replaceable battery, I guess just get some spares when you buy it and consider it disposable in
@@radellaf Battery is easy replaceable with 2 screws in the back, that unscrew the blue cover :D
@@Stoneheach cool beans!
I was moderately excited until you said the price. That's a terrible price for the this setup. 250 american, is just over $300 canadian. I can pick up a ts100 for $120 CAD, and a.27,000 mah PD Power Bank for $80, and then I would have a power bank to use for other purposes, like charging my laptop, phone, vape and drone batteries . Infact, that's my current travel setup.
Pinecil is better in every single way
Or a pinecil for $26
Stop vaping
@@Voyajer. Sadly in Canada Pinecil is 3x the American price. Still cheaper than this but the price is ridiculous.
Pinecil is a better and cheaper soldiering iron
The lack of temperature controls on the device itself really is a deal-killer. I've been really happy with the Pinecil, which is a lot more affordable. The battery here could serve as a nice accessory to that or any other similar USB-C soldering iron, but the iFixit iron itself really is disappointing.
How much are you changing temp in the field? Most of the time I change it when it starts at the wrong setting. And the buttons being where my thumb is annoys me on the ts100
@@braedon4589 Not super often, but even the ultra-cheap soldering iron I bought from RadioShack decades ago still managed to have a high/low switch. Needing to plug it into a PC just to change temp is absolute insanity. If you find you're accidentally hitting buttons, it might actually have a setting to help prevent that.
I don't mind the non controls on the device since it's on the base but then you need the whole kit
@@braedon4589 I change it fairly often, personally. I use my ts101 both for normal soldering, and for welding 3d-printed parts. The temperature I use for soldering would burn the plastics too easily, and the temperature I use for plastic welding would be way too low for the solder. The interface on the ts101 *is* kind of a pain, though. If ifixit releases a way to set the temperature on their iron while using my own power bank which doesn't require an active internet connection, I might have to look into getting one.
@@braedon4589 sometimes I am mid soldering and a big joint or a joint with a different type of solder on a different component is taking a while to melt so I'll hold down the + button for a burst of power on my PineCil. Having to take my hands off the work to make adjustments on the fly is going backwards. I love iFixIt and have many of their overpriced tools, but this one is not only overpriced, it's also bad. App control for temperature without an expensive add on is just baffling in 2024. I hope the people who buy this genuinely like it and aren't just falling for this sponsored content hype rush that's happening right now.
I think it'd be both cheaper and better to get a 90 Wh battery bank and a USB-C soldering iron with a screen. More capacity, better UX, flexibility in power supplies, and I have a battery bank to use for other devices.
I absolutely love iFixit and want to support their mission, they've helped me bring so many devices back to life. I just can't justify spending that much on a soldering iron, especially when the Pinecil and Weller's battery operated one exist.
To cut adjustability and the display for feedback while asking a premium price (for these USB-powered soldering irons) seems like an unforced error.
Just imagine having to plug this thing into an pc every time you want to slightly change the temperature! My first thought was that it has bluetooth and you have to use an app on your phone, but this ist even less user friendly
@@daviniusb6798 Complexity decreases the ability to easily repair something. Pretty sure that is part of what when into not having a tiny screen and some form of really small set of buttons.
@@KellicTiger Yeah and in a year they'll drop the support for the app
Also the number of times Ive pressed those dumb buttons on the ts100 while soldering in the field is innumerable and I normally dont need fine temp control in the field.
We've spent a lot of time talking to engineers and makers who solder all day, and it turns out that most people rarely change the temperature. I pick a temperature that I like and leave it there.
I think that other irons use temperature as a proxy for power. We aim for the temperature that you set. The instant that the iron detects that it's under load, it pours power into the heating element. That makes it feel and perform like a much more powerful iron. We're dynamically responding to the power load and flowing heat into the material.
30w? Pinecil is 60w, has a breakout board to expose the RISC V processor, has both usb C and dc barrel jack, and is $25.. oh my god and it has a screen AND buttons so you dont have to go to a pc lol. not enjoying these advertisements
Yeah, I have my travel soldering kit with a Pinecil in a 3d printed case that stores it's extra tips, usb-c cable, a small amount of solder, and a collapsible stand and a big USB PD power bank. The Fixhub looks sleek but it's not a great value.
Per IFIXIT specs, the soldering iron is capable of 100w.
@@Ariannus Yeah, I find it odd how expensive this thing is.
The iFixit iron can ouptut 100 watts of power.
I already own a pinecil and a TS100 and I'm still really tempted by this. During longer solder sessions those are sometimes a bit tiresome and fiddly and the iFixit one looks like the ergnomics are superior. If they release a small chisel tip I will likely order one.
when i first heard 80$, it sounded like a really good price. then you emphasized that its _just_ the soldering iron without the power station. too expensive. and 250$ for the whole kit too. should be 150$ at most, even that is very much a premium price
Just Google sequre ts100. Had one for years and it's like 30bucks. 250 is silly
Ts100 are $80 and also don’t include a battery pack or base station with them. Still a fine option but almost an identical product if you dont deal with different solders regularly.
As he explained the TSP80P and the so called "quirks" really felt like he was just making stuff up. You don't buy something USB powered to use connected to the wall. You buy it because its portable...i.e. use a damn power bank!
He was really reaching with his comments. I use the ts80p at work with a flat round tip and its absolutely perfect, I can solder pins that go to large ground planes with it as well.
This ifixit iron is literally a big downgrade, you have to connect the iron to a damn computer app to control temp??? That is absolutely ridiculous and they couldnt even include a display for that price when the ts80p has one. For a company that loves to talk rubbish about gadgets and poor design, they sure made a product that has equally bad design
For that price the least they can do is include the wall charger 😂
its nice but i quite like my pinecil usb c soldering iron.
Same here
Norm said, “butt plugs in” at 1:29. Classic, Norm.
"Butt plugs in!"
200+ GBP is quite the premium for a cut-down TS80, assuming they're using TS80 tips. For my money the Pinecil is a much better deal; heck, the TS80 is a better deal.
They're using an effectively proprietary tip at 20 usd so probably 15ish gbp a pop
Ever since Hakko came out with the T12 style tips I've been hooked on those. You get a fresh heating element and sensor with every tip, they're easy to swap even when warm, and they don't have the weird headphone jack style plugs. Love these portable solder stations, but I wish there were more with T12 style tips.
Yup, I'm happy with my KSGER T12. Sure, not as portable, but gets the job done wonderfully and with the 9501 handle it really brings your hand close to the tip.
I stumbled on chinese T12 soldering stations that work with power tool batteries. I bought one for makita 18v batteries for ~25 eur and havent used my "regular" soldering station since, even at my desk. Weight of the battery makes nice base for the springy holder thingy.
I'll take the JBC tips over the T12s, but yeah, kinda different colors of the same thing. Wayyy more options than the heaphone jack.
I've only ever had Weller stoldering stations. I do like how their tips never foul compared to the $15 soldering irons from Walmart that would foul after 3 uses.
most new irons do use cartridge style tips whether those are t12, ts, c245, or other common types
I've run my USB iron off a couple of different USB power banks that were a lot cheaper than the iFixit power, they've always worked fine for me.
250 bucks and it doesn't even include a cable to plug it into an outlet... this isn't a smartphone FFS, this will need beefier plugs that not everyone has readily available.
Completely agree with the review... at that premium price point, at the very least, a wall-plug should have been included.
Everyone has a USB-C charger. No reason to include one here.
@@ophello Not everyone has a suitable high-powered charger, maybe check your facts.
Hey there, Norm. There are even 3m long 100w usb-c cables. So, no. The cable is not limited to 1m.
my laptop even came with a 2m cable that's rated for 240w
Pine has a 1.5m cable that serves me well away from the iron
It's a very cool idea. However, they have some steep competition at that price point. I can get an entire soldering station with hot air gun for soldering pcb's for 250. At 150, and a few extra tips they would have really had a good thing. It might simply be based on how much it took to manufacture the first gen, so hopefully they can work on balancing that out.
I love this channel so much and don’t blame them for doing paid reviews like this, but some of the products are so comically bad.
There's no such thing as a "paid review". This is a product showcase/advertisement, not a review.
@@Timmyfox I dont think they were paid for it, as it doesent match their normal disclaimer for sponsored content. Only that they were sent the device to review so they got it for free.
That said, Tested has ALWAYS had a problem with clarity around what is and is not sponsored vs free for review vs purchased and sharing the cool thing. I agree with OP in that I have no problem around doing paid showcases/advertisements. You just need to be CLEAR about it.
I mean...he didn't say it was good
Ifixit should sell a complete kit and be done with it. Who’s going to bother with plugging into a PC to set temperature? No one.
I mean, how often do you really need to adjust your temperature
@@nullgator8073 I use silver-bearing solder, 60/40 solder and Indalloy 282 bismuth solder. They have different optimal temperatures.
People keep saying you have to plug it in to a PC to adjust the temp, but you can adjust the temp via the front controls. What am I missing?
@@nullgator8073 Actual electrical engineer here: I change the temperature quite frequently on my JBC station. Maybe not super often whilst I'm working but depending on what I do you might have to up and down the temperature every so often if you want to be efficient.
Sure, you could just crank the temperature and leave it at that, but then you risk damaging the pads or components, so adjusting it based on the job (especially for any more sensitive electronics and smaller pads) allows a lot more leniency and fine control.
@@usseg They are nitpicking that you can't control the temp easily if you just have the pen
I can appreciate the efficacy of this iFixit soldering iron; I have purchase a number of their products over the years. But for this price, respectfully, their competitors offer better options.
Using a computer to set temp is a no=go, my current travel iron is much more flexible. Uses a small RC lipo pack. Larry
I love iFixit but this is, to be frank, embarrassingly bad. As another in the makerspace would put it, this gets a poodle of product pointlessness for being objectively worse than a pinecil at more than double the price. I have no idea why they even released it like this.
Drastically more than the pinecil
Nearly 10x in the UK 😬😬
appreciate what iFixit does for us tinkerheads (we wouldn't watch this video otherwise, right?). and now i got to thank you and them for inspiring me to build something funky like this for "my pinecil and it's powerbank"
Ts80p is up to 40w with iron os and seems to do an incredible job even with lead free on a copper plate. Its a beast
You can pick up a similar iron for 30 bucks lol... Sequre ts100 lol had mine for 3 years and it works just fine for small jobs. I think Adam uses one on his portable soldering station
I really like this review! You were critical of the price which I really appreciate, you showed a comparable model that youve used and works well. You went over all the features really well, and yeah, whats up with no one providing wall warts any more!? It reduces e-waste, sure, but at that premium price Id expect that same as you, a complete kit with extra tips. Thank you for the video :D
Great way to get us to check out that url! You guys are awesome ✌️
I've had a TS80P for a while, and I can say I've never learned how the controls work on it (maybe if I used it more frequently I would have gotten used to it). Turning it on to make it heat up is the only thing I can almost reliably do 🙂
Clearly, they don’t understand that changing temp while working is absolutely crucial for anyone who knows what they are doing with a soldering iron. The only exception is someone making the same solder joint over and over, essentially someone on an assembly line where portability is not a concern.
I like that this is a more integrated and fully featured version of a portable soldering setup, but I'm really not sure this justifies the price increase over something like a pinecil usb c soldering iron alongside a regular 65w power bank. Buying the pinecil, 65w wall adapter, silicone usb c cable, and a 65w power Bank is a full $100 less than this solution, and it has the added benefit of being able to use the cable+wall adapter to either power the pinecil indefinitely, or to fast charge the power bank.
I use my pinecil on the go so much more often than I thought i would. I have used the power brick exactly twice. I use the battery bank 99% of the time with it. I am legit thinking about buying a second pinecil +battery because my wife has started stealing my pinecil out of my workshop for her various projects and not returning it when she's done. We have SIX other soldering irons and she steals mine... Time for her to get her own. I linked her the iFixit one (she buys a lot of their tools) and she just said "That's f****ing dumb."
You know what else can tell you if it’s heating up, safe temp, or at target temp? A screen!
I made something similar. I use a TS100 (which takes 12V-24V) which I power with a TalentCell BP240A1 (which outputs 12V or 24V). Works pretty great!
My main gripe with the TS100 is the ergonomics and the fact I always accidentally press buttons in use. This seems to fix those type of issues for the same price which is cool. I havent replaced my hakko with the ts100 because of these issues but it seems like thats the gap the base was designed to bridge is to make it portable and a benchtop iron in one. I think if the base ran off of AC I would be more inclined to get the base itself but the pen seems awesome and I like the company.
On the Pinecil, you can lock and unlock the buttons by holding both of them at the same time, which allows you to avoid accidental inputs.
I hadn’t heard of the pinecil until this thread buttons look a lot better placed too.
IronOS is compatible with the TS100 - so the locking of the keys should be available with the TS100 as well. Just update the firmware.
Great work norm sir 😊
They tried to fix the handful of issues the modern pencil irons have. Good idea...but now it has it's own whole set of problems.
Wouldn't it have been better to make a 100w pinecil and then offer the base station and wall wart as a power solution with nice temp knob solution, make the temperature knob api open so the other competing products can use your power solution.
Not enough solutions or value for anyone other than a dedicated i fixit workshop.
They should have designed the battery/iron stand for any portable USB soldering iron. Moving the screen and controls into it kinda kills that idea.
I noticed when you were scrolling through the settings, it showed Battery Health 77%, which doesn't seem great if it's relatively new.
I'm almost positive this just means the charge percentage; you need a lot of circuitry to actually test battery life which I doubt this has
Might be a pre production unit kind of thing. They're doing preorders right now
More Norm, more Norm!🎉
I'm pretty sure this is different than my usb soldering iron, which I don't think has the phono-jack connection. It does handle the minor esp32 based soldering tasks satisfactorily, so I don't think I'll upgrade, but it's cool to see that tech has improved even since I bought mine.
What were they thinking designing this? You can get a pinecil, which has an integrated display and you know, you can use any USB-PD power station for that, too, or any other battery with the appropriate voltage
That’s a really nice soldering iron from Ifixit , I have been using the old $10 dollars 120 volt wall outlet made in china brand for awhile now and that ifixit kit looks really nice even though it’s a little pricey but in the end we all know that you get what you pay for so quality stuff is going to cost more.
This looks great, and I love iFixit, but my Pinecil has this beat in terms of price, tip availability, power source, and controls. A commodity USB-PD power bank and silicone USB-C cable are more convenient, and I can get them all for less than the price of the iFixit iron alone. I got my Piencil as an extra soldering iron, and it has become my everyday iron.
1:40
I was surprised to see an auxiliary plug used for a heater contact, as I'm not aware of them handling much more current than that needed for an analog signal. Glad to see it's still limited though, as they probably needed a special jack even to handle 30W.
What tips will they produce? I hope they do the pico RT weller style ones
Are those lights pulsing or does the shutter speed on the camera need to be adjusted?
One thing I think is missing in the discussion in the comments is the fact that this is a 100W USB-C powered soldering iron and power bank. That's significantly higher than what the Pinecil (65W), TS101 (45W), and TS80 (30W) can do over a USB-C connection (though the Pinecil can do up to 88W over a DC barrel jack). For a portable soldering iron, that's pretty darn good, and I don't think there's anything else on the market that can match it from a trustworthy brand. While I agree that only being able to change the temperature from a web interface or their specific power bank is a silly limitation and I dislike the idea of proprietary soldering tips, if both the iron and battery supply/station are as repairable as iFixit's reputation would lead us to believe and they commit to supporting the platform with parts for a long time, I could see this being worth the investment.
TS101 does 90W over usb c tho?
@@AwesomesMan Unless there's a newer revision I'm not aware of, I think the TS101 only does 45W over USB-C with Power Delivery
@@alex-r-t The NovelLife Original TS101 claims 90W over USB-C with Power Delivery. I will note that I don't own either products. However, I'd had it on my wish list for a couple years now. 90W over USB C and 65W over power jack.
The instructions on their amazon page says:
How to let TS101 output 90W
1. Update the ts101 soldering iron's firmware to V2.0 or above
2.Set the "PDPwMax" as "OFF"
3.Provide PD3.1 28V 5A PD charger and 50V 5A 240WEPR USB cable to TS101
@@AwesomesMan Good find! I didn't realize that PD 3.1 introduced voltages over 20V, so that makes a big difference. Assuming you can find a good price on a reliable PD 3.1-compatible power supply/battery bank and a USB-C cable designed for the higher voltage, it should work just about as well as what iFixit has here. I've never used anything from NovelLife, but if others are having success with it, then it sounds like a good option! I wonder why the higher-output version isn't more widespread 🤔
I will say: if the NovelLife TS101 only gets to 90W at 28V, then the iFixit still has a bit of an advantage here - there are far more PD devices and cables that can output 20V at 5A than 28V currently (because the 3.1 standard is so new). Also, the iFixit one already comes with a cable that is rated for the 100W output, which would have to be purchased separately for the NovelLife one. Still an interesting option though!
8:30 The whole point of making everything USB-C is that we don’t have to include bricks and cables with everything anymore. Consumers are familiar enough with charging portable devices now that they can be expected to manage charging solutions on their own.
It’s definitely nice and I really like the included cap. But I just don’t see how this is worth the cost when the Pinecil exists.
"Your support allows us to make more of these great advertisements."
Gee, thanks.
Ts80 and ts100 are king. The usb complaint you had can be solved with a longer usb cable
I use my TS80 on a USB C PD powerbank. 3D printed a small stand that fits into the centre of a roll of solder to hold the TS80 and the whole thing works perfectly. Im not entirely sure why you feel the need to use a power brick?
Speaking of keeping junk out of dumps, I think it’s a good idea not to automatically include a wall wart, how many people out there don’t have at least half a dozen of these lying around? If you actually require one, they got you.
The output of most wall-warts is less than 5v @ 2.5mA or around 12 Watts, this device, in order to not run off the included battery, would require much more power. Newer, beefier wall-warts can get up to 100 Watts or more. Even if you don't get the iFixit iron and chose another one you would still need a decent DC power supply.
@@edwardagin9744 Well there you go, as stated, they can supply one if required.
Looks a nice unit, well designed. And I really like the iFixit gear. All the stuff of theirs I've bought in the past has paid for itself super fast (by repairing stuff instead of replacing).
But at this price point!? I don't see any ROI with my use cases which is sad. I would never buy just the unit - because plugging into a PC to use an app to set the temperature? Pass.
Thanks for the review Norm
Right now a pinecil + power bank makes more sense at that price point. If they release a hot air tool that works with the same hub, then I might consider it
How similar it is to the TS80 definitely makes me less wanting to get one. The screen on my TS80 died years ago, and I just have it set to 340C poweree, 200C idle. Cuz likewise, gyro sensors. And i run mine off a small pocketable anker battery which will let me field solder for 8+ hours multiple days..or at home for misc solder projects it lasts me months before needing a charge.
Is nice though to see more people making pens. Though this definitely is a great comparison as Im 100% sold on keeping my TS80 as my main. Thinner/smaller/lighter pen is the selling point for me. Replaced my desktop solder station with it, since its so much nicer to use these little pens nowadays! They do amazingly great even for 8awg wire soldering. Car audio, drones, etc. Great stufd!
Good video. Thankyou❤
Thanx, Norm. I always enjoy your Show and tells. 💙🌻💙
Back in the late 70s my boss had a battery powered Wahl soldering iron while the rest of us had the old Weller soldering guns. Don't know how much it cost or how how long the battery lasted. Each time he did a solder or desolder he stuck it back in the charger station. I guess it didn't work out, looks like they only do shavers now.
I just use a USB-C PD Power Bank with my TS100, no cable length issues!
is the powerbank compatible with the TS80 or TS80P ?
Yes, you can power any USB-C device like a TS80 or a smartphone.
I thought for a minute that these irons had a battery inside them. They do not. They are corded, as noted at the Amazon listing.
The battery is in the Power Station, which has enough juice to solder over 2,000 through hole joints.
@@kyle_wiens i think they want to soldier the aux off the iphone without having to use to much muscle
I’ve only watched the first part of the video, but he seems to be saying the TS80P can only be powered from a wall socket, which isn’t true. I have one and it’s always run from a battery with usb-c. Also thats the old one. The new one is the TS101 - why not compare it to that?!
Sad, that they did not go the "JBC" iron tip road. Most of the newer ones plug in the JBC clone tips. I myself have a Sequre S60 and a S99
Because they want you to buy their proprietary tips. How very not iFixit of iFixit.
@@meikgeik I believe that it's due to the heating time. The thermal capacity of standard tips is HUGE, so if you want a very quick time to temp, you have to place the heater in the tip itself. Unfortunately there isn't a standard for this. 😞
(Unless you count the TS80P, but I'd also call that proprietary.)
I don't want anymore wall warts and cables. Thank you IFixit for not adding more to the landfill
Cool product. It's very interesting in it's own way. That said from a utilitarian point of view even a pinecil + barrel jack or USB PD powerbank would be more portable, cheaper, and even reliable as you're not limited to a proprietary battery bank from the same soldering iron's 'maker'.
Best suggestion for iFixit is to adjust their pricing across all categories as they seem inflated for a vast array of tools that are found for equal to or greater in quality from other vendors or even Amazon.. Which doesn't make sense unless it's meant to be the, "iFixit tax" as I suspect it is. Not unlike the Apple-tax if you will lol
Just get a pinecil or similar iron and a good high wattage power bank. Total for both can easily be below $150.
I think there's something off with the framerate ... unless it's not a bug but a feature to have that effect on the background lights?
The lights throbbing/ pulsating, flickering, or whatever they're doing is very distracting for me.
I wasn't sure if they were intentionally set up that way, or if there was a powerline issue that was causing the camera to pick up the flickering of the lights. I kept looking at the lights doing their thing instead of looking at the USB-c soldering iron.
Pinecil/TS101 is a way better and more affordable option for most people.
Interesting concept, but I'd only ever use it in a pinch over a traditional iron.
Desirable temp for any soldering iron, used for electronics work,is between 325°C and 375°C... Any cooler or hotter, leads to bad joints and overheating of wires and components... I used to be in charge of calibrating soldering irons and you would have some using a fan to lower the temperature reading, whenever I was due to check them, which of course I would turn off, only to discover their iron was running way too hot... These irons had NO control to set the temperature, as this only caused problems with people producing bad work or damaging components.
Anyway, I am very interested in this new portable iron and will most definitely be checking it out later....and yes far too many USB cables and power cables in general tend to be very stingy, when it comes to how long they are, especially with thing like toasters, but that comes down to their amount of power they draw and the risk of having too long a cable leading to them being a fire risk, unless that cable is made much thicker to compensate, which would make your average soldering iron, very difficult to use
75% more than the Pine64 with less features... a steal
Those throbbing shelf lights are mesmerising me...
Gotta love that pwm goodness…
So its one of the regular small form factor soldering irons with a battery bank. You could buy the other one you guys already have and use a battery bank with it....
With the TS80P, I am surprised that you didn't get an XT30 or XT60 to USB-C or (make one) and use RC hobby LiPo for portable power.
You can also us a PD power battery pack with TS80P.
Take a look at the "Pinecil"
I have a Pinecil which addresses those issues. It’s perfect for me, apart from having to do everything via only 2 buttons. But it does have Bluetooth for remote control. No way this iron would make me want to switch.
Please bring back this is only a test. !!!!
Ah, no plans to do that, sorry.
Disclosure: We got a free one.
Thanks for repeating what he told us at the beginning of the video...
@@wojtek-33 The problem is if you're giving "good" reviews to a fundamentally flawed product (lack of features and insane price) because you got it for free, that makes you a shill and nobody likes shills except the company paying them to shill.
I hate to say it, but this video lowered my faith in the trustworthiness of Tested has AND products released by iFixit.
2:25 A USB PD power bank capable of at least 40 watts (I use 65 watts) turns the TS80 and Pinecil into a portable soldering iron. My bigger beef with them is the lack of a proper stand, but that's where Hakko stuff can come in; also the tips are quite expensive.
I love my ifixit sets I must look into this
For that price you could get a brand new ts101, battery to run it, and a used hakko off marketplace.
Are the tips compatible with the TS80? If it turn out the tips are compatible and cheaper it would be great because right now ts80 is a bit alone with their jack plug and so the price come with it.
I like the TS101 much more than the TS80. Plus, I like iFixit alot, but $250 for a USB-C battery bank is just silly. The INIU Power Bank, 20000mAh 65W USB C is $35 I think you can get the 100w version for $79.
Just for fun I searched for the replacement part for the battery inside that pack and couldn't find it. They even have schematics of it lol. Ironic.
It uses standard 18650s inside.
I feel like any review of iFixit products should include how easy is it to repair
battery velcro'd to your forearm is pretty useful for the battery powered ones
Review should have picked up a Pinecil V2 to compare a modern iteration instead of quite old now TS80P, which has a more anaemic power limit.
I love iFixit but man have they missed the mark here. A TS80P with a quality third party battery bank comes out a cool €110 cheaper over here, and a pinecil with the same battery even €150! And neither need a pc with an app... People mock smart soldering irons for running an operating system on a hot metal stick, don't let anyone hear you need a pc app for this one lol
Also this show and tell claims the ts80p is limited to a 1m cable because only that supports 100W of power, but it has a max of less than 45W, so that point is moot for that iron, but ironically applicable to the iFixit iron, where this same problem was not mentioned. I don't think Norm mentioned whether or not the tips are interchangeable with the TS80P either. I know the video says show and tell but the description and comment both mention it was sent for "review" and I find this to be a pretty poor review if I'm being perfectly honest.
question for everyone in the comments saying pinecil beats this. I'm thinking I adding a portable setup like this to my tools, does the pinecil work off of powerbanks or something alike?
youd hope so. not sure if its bot ads for this iron. but there is a lot cheaper out there
Don't bother with a TS80p at this point, the pinecil is cheaper, more capable, and has much better tip availability. ($26 for 88W)
The ifixit iron seems expensive and unwieldy in standalone mode, and very expensive as a station.
No mention of the Pinecil?
Looks really cool, but the power station is too expensive. I use the TS80 with a powerbank, but i wish it was a bit more powerfull. I think i'm upgrading to the TS101
Forget the TS101 - get the Pinecil v2.
So the first one was really good and had a nice screen on it so you can see what you're doing but it was no good once someone comes along and gives you their stupidly expensive one for free, now that's the top soldering iron.
That's bizarre how they use a stereo headphone jack. . . Guess it makes sense if you use one of lines as a data line for the temperature control but I wasn't expecting that.
I've got a similar one in my car. Gotta say, I think I set the temperature once and never touched it since. So the lcd screen and buttons wouldn't matter
But 150 for a battery bank with a fancy pen cap glued to it is a bit much.
I'm sure it's okay quality though
The box has a smilely face. lol
I need to know. Does the ifixit tips fit in the ts80?
I can take two seconds looking at the pictures of this and tell that it wouldn’t last me a year. My 60 W Weller works just fine and will last forever.
USB-C power sounded awesome at first. Having used it, I absolutely *hate* it. No one makes a nice, flexible USB-C PD cable. They are heavy a stiff, and not very long. You are now tethered to a 120V outlet because you need the power supply (or a power bank I guess). PD power supplies do not like the power spikes these irons generate, and often reset, at least the ones I've tried. Fancier power supplies are even more particular.
I much *much* prefer the irons that will take DC in, even if it's DC in via the USB-C connector. That way I can use thing silicone wires, and connect it directly to a battery pack via XT60. I've got an iron that takes JBC tips (Sequre S99). I can feed it 20V DC, and the resistance of genuine JBC tips means it can put out up to 150W which is nuts. It has completely replaced all my soldering stations and I can take it wherever I want.
I will say that base station is kind of interesting, but for that price? Ouch. You could almost buy a genuine JBC soldering station for that.
Give our cable a try! You're right that most PD cables are stiff and frustrating. Ours is supple and flexible, it's a real joy to use. It doesn't drag the iron around your desktop.
Look for silicone cables (like the iFixit one). They're flexible and also don't burn when you accidentally touch them with the iron.