I brought one about 5 months ago and am very pleased with the performance. The only small issue was that the 3mm tip didn't work. I brought another one and everything is all good now I would recommend the iron to anyone who needs an iron that he can just drop into a small tool bag and go and do a service call. I brought the one with power supply and all the tips. I hope this comment helps any of your viewers. I paid $97.00 NZ dollars for mine.
GaN is Gallium Nitride. They are more compact chargers able to put out more power in less space with more thermal efficiency. They seem to last longer and are better all around except for price than their silicon counterparts. I have 4 of the Pinecil irons 2 original, 2 of the new ones that take 24v and are shorter. I use them everyday at work powered by my Makita LXT 5ah Drill batteries for soldering in the automotive field and I also use them in on my mobile workbench at work powered by a 65w GaN USB-C brick that also runs my laptop. They have held up well , and my coworkers now own them also after seeing mine and how much better it is than butane irons for repairs under a car dash. Do I prefer my Hakko, on my lab bench? Yes, but not everyone has one and these are cheap and effective while being extremely mobile. I have tried it on several USB-C bricks and it will disappoint on smaller wattages, the Pinecil doesnt ship with a brick btw, but is only 40$ on amazon or 25$ from Pinecil & S/H (buy it from amazon).
Not too impressed with mine. Super lightweight. Heavyweight USB C cord is way, way heavier to the iron itself so the iron is totally unbalanced in my hand and wants to twist the iron to suit the direction of the weight of the cord. The weight of the USB C cable also adds sideways tension to the back of the soldering iron so I am not confident this connection will last very long either. Otherwise it works just fine.
Just got mine today. I needed smaller tips for my main rework station for repairing Apple products. Couldnt3fond any so I got this whole package as what I will be using for tinier components and working area.
Now I want one of those too! I have the Fnirsi 110 mHz oscilloscope you reviewed and I do like it. Nice review once again, Rich! Thank you and see you in the next! 👍👍
Wow, I was going to get a bench soldering station like your main one but was worried about space storing it away (I don't have room for a permanent workbench). This looks more compact, good value and is very tempting, my only concern is buying into non-T12 spare tips ecosystem.
Not a bad price for 31 USD .. I don't have one but it looks like it will give the T-100 a good race... I like the short tips , but watch out for the resistance difference from those short ones and the T-12 tips , My KSGER T-12 tips show 8.3 Ohms on my Triplett needle swinger .....Great review video .... Take care Mon Ami
I do like watching your vids especially the carboot ones for the retro computers. I don't know about that soldering iron looks kind of chunky as in the handle but does the job. Wonder if there's a one with an auto boost sensor when working with thicker boards. Nothing worse than all the heat sucked out of the tip trying to remove a smd.
I’d be interested to see this put on a tip thermometer, see how accurate it is. They’re pretty cheap, although as you say they’re not really necessary. I bought one because I like to fiddle with stuff & know everything is set up right, but I rarely use the thing. I’m not a massive fan of FNIRSI stuff, I bought their 100MHz bench oscilloscope with signal generator, knowing very little about them & believing the shill reviews. Wasn’t happy to find out it’s really not very good & wildly overrated by FNIRSI. I’ll be going for Hantek’s new budget one when I can afford it & either sell the FNIRSI or keep it as a spare (can’t imagine anyone wanting one 2nd hand). It’s put me right off the brand. I do like that stand though.
I just wonder if you are repairing a variety of devices how easy is it going to be to unscrew that collar and remove the tip and put a different tip in and then screw the collar back on.
Do you have any problems with desoldering any componets from modern graphic cards when you are using your t12 station? Does it have enough power or its better do buy something else?
I have no problem with small components from modern GPS with the T12. Bigger parts I use hot air (Quick 861DW) and sometimes a preheater also (Kada 853B for video ram and vrm mosfets
The chargers are always underpowered because the power supply is the most expensive part. The charger is GAN using gallium nitride instead of silicone for the switching components.
to my eyes, the fnirsi performed much worse, took almost double the time to desolder everything. you should have put it to the test by desoldering a through hole capacitor on a heavy plane. i have a similar iron, branded Quicko T85, that i think is from the same manufacturer - the menu looks the same, and it uses the same tips. it's terrible, right off the bat the temperature setting was 80c off (it melted lead free at 320c instead of 240c), and it needs over 400c to desolder a capacitor. it does not perform any better than my 5€ backup soldering iron.
I brought one about 5 months ago and am very pleased with the performance. The only small issue was that the 3mm tip didn't work. I brought another one and everything is all good now I would recommend the iron to anyone who needs an iron that he can just drop into a small tool bag and go and do a service call. I brought the one with power supply and all the tips. I hope this comment helps any of your viewers. I paid $97.00 NZ dollars for mine.
GaN is Gallium Nitride. They are more compact chargers able to put out more power in less space with more thermal efficiency. They seem to last longer and are better all around except for price than their silicon counterparts. I have 4 of the Pinecil irons 2 original, 2 of the new ones that take 24v and are shorter. I use them everyday at work powered by my Makita LXT 5ah Drill batteries for soldering in the automotive field and I also use them in on my mobile workbench at work powered by a 65w GaN USB-C brick that also runs my laptop. They have held up well , and my coworkers now own them also after seeing mine and how much better it is than butane irons for repairs under a car dash. Do I prefer my Hakko, on my lab bench? Yes, but not everyone has one and these are cheap and effective while being extremely mobile. I have tried it on several USB-C bricks and it will disappoint on smaller wattages, the Pinecil doesnt ship with a brick btw, but is only 40$ on amazon or 25$ from Pinecil & S/H (buy it from amazon).
Detlef, who moved over to Gran Canaria a few weeks ago brought his Pinecil with him so we are going to do a comparison video shortly 😉
I ordered this iron via the provided link in the description and it’s arrived today. 10 days to the uk 😁👍
Had one of these for a long time , run it from a batter pack or a laptop power supply. Very good and useful, especially if you work remotely
Not too impressed with mine. Super lightweight. Heavyweight USB C cord is way, way heavier to the iron itself so the iron is totally unbalanced in my hand and wants to twist the iron to suit the direction of the weight of the cord. The weight of the USB C cable also adds sideways tension to the back of the soldering iron so I am not confident this connection will last very long either. Otherwise it works just fine.
Thanks for the video. I came here to watch the review and I learned how to desolder bigger components without hot air station too.
Just got mine today. I needed smaller tips for my main rework station for repairing Apple products. Couldnt3fond any so I got this whole package as what I will be using for tinier components and working area.
Now I want one of those too! I have the Fnirsi 110 mHz oscilloscope you reviewed and I do like it. Nice review once again, Rich! Thank you and see you in the next! 👍👍
Wow, I was going to get a bench soldering station like your main one but was worried about space storing it away (I don't have room for a permanent workbench). This looks more compact, good value and is very tempting, my only concern is buying into non-T12 spare tips ecosystem.
Not a bad price for 31 USD .. I don't have one but it looks like it will give the T-100 a good race... I like the short tips , but watch out for the resistance difference from those short ones and the T-12 tips , My KSGER T-12 tips show 8.3 Ohms on my Triplett needle swinger .....Great review video .... Take care Mon Ami
fantastic review Richard :) good looking decent price and good to work with solder iron :)
I do like watching your vids especially the carboot ones for the retro computers. I don't know about that soldering iron looks kind of chunky as in the handle but does the job. Wonder if there's a one with an auto boost sensor when working with thicker boards. Nothing worse than all the heat sucked out of the tip trying to remove a smd.
Another car boot video coming next 😉
I’d be interested to see this put on a tip thermometer, see how accurate it is. They’re pretty cheap, although as you say they’re not really necessary. I bought one because I like to fiddle with stuff & know everything is set up right, but I rarely use the thing.
I’m not a massive fan of FNIRSI stuff, I bought their 100MHz bench oscilloscope with signal generator, knowing very little about them & believing the shill reviews. Wasn’t happy to find out it’s really not very good & wildly overrated by FNIRSI. I’ll be going for Hantek’s new budget one when I can afford it & either sell the FNIRSI or keep it as a spare (can’t imagine anyone wanting one 2nd hand). It’s put me right off the brand.
I do like that stand though.
Oh yeah i have something similar.. it's very good solder
I want to ask you if it will be possible to use the normal T12 tips in this iron. Do you have a way to test if this is possible?
No I didn't test that. They would be too long to be practical I think
Heya, I like it maybe soon
please tell me rgs65 tip will fit hs01 ?
I just wonder if you are repairing a variety of devices how easy is it going to be to unscrew that collar and remove the tip and put a different tip in and then screw the collar back on.
I did mention that 😉
Do you have any problems with desoldering any componets from modern graphic cards when you are using your t12 station? Does it have enough power or its better do buy something else?
I have no problem with small components from modern GPS with the T12. Bigger parts I use hot air (Quick 861DW) and sometimes a preheater also (Kada 853B for video ram and vrm mosfets
How is the soldering iron tips holding up?
The chargers are always underpowered because the power supply is the most expensive part. The charger is GAN using gallium nitride instead of silicone for the switching components.
to my eyes, the fnirsi performed much worse, took almost double the time to desolder everything. you should have put it to the test by desoldering a through hole capacitor on a heavy plane. i have a similar iron, branded Quicko T85, that i think is from the same manufacturer - the menu looks the same, and it uses the same tips. it's terrible, right off the bat the temperature setting was 80c off (it melted lead free at 320c instead of 240c), and it needs over 400c to desolder a capacitor. it does not perform any better than my 5€ backup soldering iron.