it is not only soldering tweezers, along with all other good electronic stuffs you've put a set of reach contents about soldering stations (for hobbyist to professionals). showing the differences in performance, quality and price, providing your own recommendations. mostly everything anyone could ask before taking a purchasing decision. it is just the quality content that makes youtube worth it👍👍👍
welcome and thanks to you too. if it is not for you I would have never known about Metcal products, their performance, quality and all the shortcomings of Pace soldering station as it was in my wish list. And all your different electronic projects are so helpful
JBC holds onto the tips because it will make electrical contact with the cradle and will put it in sleep mode. Lower temperature. Will heat back up in a very short time when you take it out again.
14:02 it's designed that way and the reason you pay the extra money to use a JBC holder. The tool heat control relies on the electrical connection to the stand to put it into stand by mode when you replace the tool in the holder. No wasted heat sinking.
Likely the design on the JBC is so that tips make electrical contact with the stand for sleep mode functionality. While it may look lower quality the fact that they are small and light is more important. As you mentioned they are only for those that need to desolder components daily it will not make sense for hobbyist.
It would have just been nice for it to match the quality of everything else, the movement in the hinge can be annoying when lifting smaller parts with conical tips.
Yep, that's why I am in two minds. I'd like to know the repeatability of grabbing 20 or so components in a row without them shifting......then I might buy.....I could get over the relative low quality. Hmmmmmm!
Yes that is the reason, electrical contact for sleep. If they wanted to they could have done it like Pace with a switch, or some DIY solutions use an optical sensor. But all of their other stations use electrical contact.
from what i can see in the video the jbc is much easier to control. i also want to point out that your practice board has no thermal mass which may skew the results (but may just as well have no meaningful impact)
I was in the market for the JBC compact tweezers station to go alongside my existing JBC station........but I'm put off by the quality given the price. Need to think about this!
Yeah I wouldn't go for the JBC if you need to get the entire station. There's the Metcal MFR-1140 system for a reasonable price, though I've not used the MFR series personally.
Yes, I bought a set of tweezers about a year ago. The build quality was not what I was expecting so I sent them back in the end. There is a lot more to the story than this, but their support acted quite unprofessionally in my case.
Well, and I sound like a broken record here, but here also the weller tweezers are even worse. Can't even align those to get the two sides matched up. Sigh.
Ian, check out the JBC PA120 tweezers. Different (older?) design and I'm quite happy with them. I used the Weller WMRT tweezers for about 10 years and only got the JBC stations a year or so ago.
Great review. Many thanks. The "quality" of the JBC is pretty shocking, tbh. Their kit does seem pretty hit-n-miss these days. Shame, as when I were a lad, JBC were pretty much the gold standard and everyone lusted after their kit - even though we couldn't afford it! :) As you say, a second iron seems to be the much more flexible choice, especially when the cost of the stand is included.
I have the JBC PA120 micro tweezers and they do fit into the stand properly, but they don't have all those adjustment knobs which are not really needed anyway. I also have the AN115 nano tweezers which are ideal when working with 0402 and smaller sized parts. They hang from the stand that is part of the NASE rework station.
The reason the tweezers don't properly fit in the stand is because you're holding them the wrong way around. It actually holds on decently well as long as you put the tweezers properly in the stand. I agree there should be more variety in the C120 tips. I found the C120-007/008 tips to be pretty usefull, but only work with relativly large components (0805+). I'm not sure why they don't have any tips like those but (much) smaller. There are the AN115 and NP115 tweezers for use with the C115 tips, but still I think there should be more smaller tips available for the AM120. I'm using the AM120-A (so not AM120) myself, which has aditional locking knobs on them. Not sure why those knobs are there tbh, I never found them to be actually usefull.
It's the same either way around with the tweezers - they still rely on the cartridges being wedged against the metal part. I find it odd that there's such a disparity between the tips for the AM115 and the HT420 - the AM115s are quite small, but the HT420 are significantly larger with no real overlap between the two ranges. The HT420 really should have some better tips for smaller components, after all the C245 handpiece has tip geometries right down to 0.3mm so it's not a limitation of the physically larger cartridge size.
I like the scale of the JBC tweezers but they just don't have the build quality. I am surprised that the Chinese grey market haven't jumped on this one. Easy to at least match the JBC quality of construction but no doubt at a better price point
Hey Steve, amazing video as always, keep up the good work. I have one question in mind, did you test the AM 120 tweezers with any of the Chinese T245 soldering stations? Like Aixun T420D or T3B? Does it work with those stations? I'm thinking of buying a T420D and later getting the AM 120 tweezers to use them with it instead of having to buy a separate soldering station just for the tweezers.
Should I get the mini tweezers or regular ones from Metcal? Why would I choose one over the other? Also, instead of using an air compressor with the desoldering gun, has anybody tried the MFR-WSDSX (Workstand, MFR Desolder, Universal w/ Venturi Box)?
Hello, I would like you to say if the C210 tips work in these Tweezers 8:57, and if they would work with Aixun T3B "Making the change to the connector", thank you very much for your great work
if I had to the money I'd get a pair of weller WXMT MS Slim Tweezers @ £341.2 + the £791 for the WXD2 station. so I can run the WXMP micro-soldering pencil @ £272.50. + about £25 for a tip. whats wrong with paying £1,429 to work on a few PCB as a hobby. But I did say if I had the money. I do have the micro-soldering pencil which i got as a broken iron, fault in the cable at the station plug end. now using a home built power station. I'm just a weller fan boy, 4 wellers, 2 antex and a mains heated desoldering pump cheap from CPC. like the look of the Metcal.
@@sdgelectronics it's not a one tool does all, but i find that it's great for getting in to well populated PCB's for changing a resister or a cap etc. but for other parts i just flood with solder and catch them as the float off. 🙂
Not gunna lie, I don't like the JBC ones. The adjustment knob to align the tips is just poor all over. It doesn't stay put and usually I can only just make them line up (but only barely). They work well mind you it's just the whole alignment is a bother. Also feel they are too light, but that is personal preference I guess.
Good video, as usual. Sorry for the noob question, I bought the same AM120 tweezer (from Weidinger) just few days ago but on my tweezer it is reported AM120-A followed by different 6 digits. I would like to buy other tools in the future but I would understand how to know which is the most recent tool currently available. Is it AM120 or AM120-A the most recent one? Which is the meaning of the 6 digits (tool revision?)? I also bought a T210-A but in the handle it is reported T210 although in the box it is reported T210-A. Then I see video on youtube where T210-A is reported in the handle. Thanks for any explanation
@@sdgelectronics thank you very much for the answer and for many of your interesting reviews EDIT: just had some clarification from JBC. As expected, the 6 digits are the production number so higher value means most recent. AM120 and AM120-A (the same for T210, T210-A etc...) are the same. AM120, T210 etc... (with no suffix A) should be the most recent (the production number is higher)
The typical choice would be the 7 series - that'll give you a soldering iron temperature of around 340 to 350C which is ideal for lead and lead free soldering
These tweezers have tips available for ICs, assuming they have the leads on two sides. That said, unless you’re doing a lot of desoldering, just stick with hot air.
@@UntrackedEndorphins they’re better, yeah, but you’d really have to need them often to justify them. Plus, like OP said, there are tips for regular irons for removing passives and ICs. Tweezers are great, I’ve owned them, but these days I just use hot air and flux up anything that might reflow (assuming it’s not too heat sensitive).
@@UntrackedEndorphinsor you could just put aluminium tape over sensitive parts like Louis Rossman. He seems able to do everything with just a Hakko T12 iron, hot air and flux gel.
What would make more sense for a hobbyist is a "chopstick helper" - a thing to combine and align two handpieces.
it is not only soldering tweezers, along with all other good electronic stuffs you've put a set of reach contents about soldering stations (for hobbyist to professionals). showing the differences in performance, quality and price, providing your own recommendations. mostly everything anyone could ask before taking a purchasing decision. it is just the quality content that makes youtube worth it👍👍👍
Thanks!
welcome and thanks to you too.
if it is not for you I would have never known about Metcal products, their performance, quality and all the shortcomings of Pace soldering station as it was in my wish list. And all your different electronic projects are so helpful
It is true that there is not much material about these products and thank you very much for this content, it helped me a lot in choosing.
JBC holds onto the tips because it will make electrical contact with the cradle and will put it in sleep mode. Lower temperature. Will heat back up in a very short time when you take it out again.
I use the blade that everyone gets/hates in a T12 station, because it's big enough to reach both sides of a passive at once 🙂
No wonder the stand costs more than the thweezers, they close to quality of yihua tweezers
13:52, you're putting in the tweezers upside down. You have to put it in the stand with the dials facing up.
I realised that whilst editing, but it doesn't change the fundamental issue.
14:02 it's designed that way and the reason you pay the extra money to use a JBC holder. The tool heat control relies on the electrical connection to the stand to put it into stand by mode when you replace the tool in the holder. No wasted heat sinking.
Likely the design on the JBC is so that tips make electrical contact with the stand for sleep mode functionality. While it may look lower quality the fact that they are small and light is more important.
As you mentioned they are only for those that need to desolder components daily it will not make sense for hobbyist.
It would have just been nice for it to match the quality of everything else, the movement in the hinge can be annoying when lifting smaller parts with conical tips.
Yep, that's why I am in two minds. I'd like to know the repeatability of grabbing 20 or so components in a row without them shifting......then I might buy.....I could get over the relative low quality. Hmmmmmm!
@@sdgelectronics Yep. That’s the most unforgivable ‘feature’ of the JBC in my opinion.
Yes that is the reason, electrical contact for sleep. If they wanted to they could have done it like Pace with a switch, or some DIY solutions use an optical sensor. But all of their other stations use electrical contact.
@@jaro6985 or a magnet which could have helped hold the tweezers in the stand and activate a switch.
from what i can see in the video the jbc is much easier to control. i also want to point out that your practice board has no thermal mass which may skew the results (but may just as well have no meaningful impact)
I was in the market for the JBC compact tweezers station to go alongside my existing JBC station........but I'm put off by the quality given the price. Need to think about this!
Yeah I wouldn't go for the JBC if you need to get the entire station. There's the Metcal MFR-1140 system for a reasonable price, though I've not used the MFR series personally.
Yes, I bought a set of tweezers about a year ago. The build quality was not what I was expecting so I sent them back in the end. There is a lot more to the story than this, but their support acted quite unprofessionally in my case.
Well, and I sound like a broken record here, but here also the weller tweezers are even worse. Can't even align those to get the two sides matched up. Sigh.
Ian, check out the JBC PA120 tweezers. Different (older?) design and I'm quite happy with them. I used the Weller WMRT tweezers for about 10 years and only got the JBC stations a year or so ago.
You know the channel is very good when the ads are from Agilent.
Great review. Many thanks.
The "quality" of the JBC is pretty shocking, tbh. Their kit does seem pretty hit-n-miss these days. Shame, as when I were a lad, JBC were pretty much the gold standard and everyone lusted after their kit - even though we couldn't afford it! :)
As you say, a second iron seems to be the much more flexible choice, especially when the cost of the stand is included.
I have the JBC PA120 micro tweezers and they do fit into the stand properly, but they don't have all those adjustment knobs which are not really needed anyway.
I also have the AN115 nano tweezers which are ideal when working with 0402 and smaller sized parts. They hang from the stand that is part of the NASE rework station.
That nano station looks so sexy, brutally expensive though.
@@catharperfect7036Correct, but if you can somehow justify the cost and buy one, you won't be sorry.
thank you, never really though about a second soldering iron for this job :)
The reason the tweezers don't properly fit in the stand is because you're holding them the wrong way around. It actually holds on decently well as long as you put the tweezers properly in the stand.
I agree there should be more variety in the C120 tips. I found the C120-007/008 tips to be pretty usefull, but only work with relativly large components (0805+). I'm not sure why they don't have any tips like those but (much) smaller. There are the AN115 and NP115 tweezers for use with the C115 tips, but still I think there should be more smaller tips available for the AM120.
I'm using the AM120-A (so not AM120) myself, which has aditional locking knobs on them. Not sure why those knobs are there tbh, I never found them to be actually usefull.
It's the same either way around with the tweezers - they still rely on the cartridges being wedged against the metal part. I find it odd that there's such a disparity between the tips for the AM115 and the HT420 - the AM115s are quite small, but the HT420 are significantly larger with no real overlap between the two ranges. The HT420 really should have some better tips for smaller components, after all the C245 handpiece has tip geometries right down to 0.3mm so it's not a limitation of the physically larger cartridge size.
I like the scale of the JBC tweezers but they just don't have the build quality. I am surprised that the Chinese grey market haven't jumped on this one. Easy to at least match the JBC quality of construction but no doubt at a better price point
"I am surprised that the Chinese grey market haven't jumped on this one" 100%.
Hey Steve, amazing video as always, keep up the good work. I have one question in mind, did you test the AM 120 tweezers with any of the Chinese T245 soldering stations? Like Aixun T420D or T3B? Does it work with those stations? I'm thinking of buying a T420D and later getting the AM 120 tweezers to use them with it instead of having to buy a separate soldering station just for the tweezers.
I didn't get to test this, but it's on my agenda!
What is the bip in the background ?
Should I get the mini tweezers or regular ones from Metcal? Why would I choose one over the other? Also, instead of using an air compressor with the desoldering gun, has anybody tried the MFR-WSDSX (Workstand, MFR Desolder, Universal w/ Venturi Box)?
Thanks for sharing Steve.
New video, let's gooooooo
which station can we use other then JBC as i cant afford jbc station/ would AM-120 work with Aixun T3b? thanks
Hello, I would like you to say if the C210 tips work in these Tweezers 8:57, and if they would work with Aixun T3B "Making the change to the connector", thank you very much for your great work
if I had to the money I'd get a pair of weller WXMT MS Slim Tweezers @ £341.2 + the £791 for the WXD2 station. so I can run the WXMP micro-soldering pencil @ £272.50. + about £25 for a tip.
whats wrong with paying £1,429 to work on a few PCB as a hobby. But I did say if I had the money.
I do have the micro-soldering pencil which i got as a broken iron, fault in the cable at the station plug end. now using a home built power station.
I'm just a weller fan boy, 4 wellers, 2 antex and a mains heated desoldering pump cheap from CPC.
like the look of the Metcal.
Someone commented that the WXD was not that brilliant, but I've not used it so can't compare
@@sdgelectronics it's not a one tool does all, but i find that it's great for getting in to well populated PCB's for changing a resister or a cap etc. but for other parts i just flood with solder and catch them as the float off. 🙂
2:30 so how about to use them on Aixun T3B?
Not gunna lie, I don't like the JBC ones. The adjustment knob to align the tips is just poor all over. It doesn't stay put and usually I can only just make them line up (but only barely). They work well mind you it's just the whole alignment is a bother. Also feel they are too light, but that is personal preference I guess.
Good video, as usual. Sorry for the noob question, I bought the same AM120 tweezer (from Weidinger) just few days ago but on my tweezer it is reported AM120-A followed by different 6 digits. I would like to buy other tools in the future but I would understand how to know which is the most recent tool currently available. Is it AM120 or AM120-A the most recent one? Which is the meaning of the 6 digits (tool revision?)? I also bought a T210-A but in the handle it is reported T210 although in the box it is reported T210-A. Then I see video on youtube where T210-A is reported in the handle. Thanks for any explanation
AM120 and AM120-A are exactly the same. I'm not sure why the markings are different.
@@sdgelectronics thank you very much for the answer and for many of your interesting reviews
EDIT: just had some clarification from JBC. As expected, the 6 digits are the production number so higher value means most recent. AM120 and AM120-A (the same for T210, T210-A etc...) are the same. AM120, T210 etc... (with no suffix A) should be the most recent (the production number is higher)
Just got my Axiun T3B with bended tips. :-(
For metcal wish tip seriees (5,6,7,8) is recomended to remove smd micro components?
The typical choice would be the 7 series - that'll give you a soldering iron temperature of around 340 to 350C which is ideal for lead and lead free soldering
@@sdgelectronics just ordered my tweezers and a pair of PTTC-703 cartridges, coincidently
Are there specialized tweezers for desoldering ICs in one go, or would the heat guns be the default solution?
These tweezers have tips available for ICs, assuming they have the leads on two sides. That said, unless you’re doing a lot of desoldering, just stick with hot air.
There's a whole array just for a standard soldering iron too. Look at the Metcal SMTC-1159 for example
Tweezers are better for boards with a lot of components near each other, where using a heat gun could cause unwanted components to desolder
@@UntrackedEndorphins they’re better, yeah, but you’d really have to need them often to justify them. Plus, like OP said, there are tips for regular irons for removing passives and ICs. Tweezers are great, I’ve owned them, but these days I just use hot air and flux up anything that might reflow (assuming it’s not too heat sensitive).
@@UntrackedEndorphinsor you could just put aluminium tape over sensitive parts like Louis Rossman.
He seems able to do everything with just a Hakko T12 iron, hot air and flux gel.
wow disappointed at the JBC, they do indeed look badly designed or with a lack of care
I suspect they've been subbed out to a cheaper contract manufacturer. There was nothing on the packaging to say it was made in Germany.
@@sdgelectronics Isn't JBC based in Spain? Are the other tools made in Germany?
Yes, you're right. Spain is the HQ.
@@sdgelectronics Yeah when I talked to a supplier here in Australia they say they get their shipments straight from Spain.