I have 2 of these for several years, they used to be $7, my first one wouldn't get hot enough at all after a few months, so i use it for melting plastic, the second was "more accurate" though i have to crank it up way more then i should, these are great for small solder joints, but they don't recover fast enough for large connections. For example i build fpv drones, it solders everything but the battery lead, it just doesn't keep up, mine said it was 60 watt, but the think its more around 20-30 watts
Knife is for drag soldering of IC chips...and some smd components. Actually, anything that you need a blade tip...plus it puts more heat on a board etc. Utility tip.
I liked your review. I got mine just now.. from eBay. Same unit exactly except the stand was a stamped metal piece that you fold outwards the what the iron rests upon.. even worse than yours.. Anyway you may not be aware that the iron has a calibration feature where you can press both plus and minus simultaneously and this allows you to use those buttons to lift or lower the displayed temperature depending on what you measured the solder at separately.. Also by pressing plus and minus as you turn on its power it enters setup where C or F is selected. Also it can remember the Temperature you last used it at or I think a default temp when first switched bon A great little unit The tip however is a loose fit over the heater core and this might make it difficult for the iron to maintain heat especially on bigger ground planes. I'm excited to use mine butw I'm fully aware of it's less desirable qualities. Excellent value. Got mine on eBay. 17usd
Have you figured out a way to turn the darn thing off without unplugging it? The page on Amazon says to hold the red + button, but that only increases the temp.
Thank you for the review. I was wondering how accurate is setting of the temperature. A thermocouple would be better to measure the tip's temp than a IR gun.
One important note is that the wire of the iron is important. It should bend easily and not try to go back to its packaged shape, therefore the wire won't try to move the iron when you put it to rest. That's usually the primary difference between good and cheap soldering iron. In general all irons are gonna solder.
It depends on your use case. For what you get at that price it makes a good iron for people starting out, intermittent use or a good small iron for your field repair tool kit. As a daily driver, I would step up to a soldering station.
@@engineeringgarage2993 Do you recommend if for students? Some suggest me to get a soldering station but I might want something more portable since I bring it to our Electronics class.
Only question is, will it fail early? Looks nice but i bough decade ago a bunch of Chinese irons and soon after they all sort of failed. So are the new crop good... maybe a year lasting?
So far this one has lasted me over a year. I don't use it much but when I do it still works perfectly. Leaving soldering irons on for prolonged periods is the worst thing you can do to any iron, some of the newest versions of this type iron have an auto power off feature which should greatly help their longevity.
I have this soldering Iron. I solders fine. The problem I have is the heat control buttons too close to my hand when soldering and I depress the button to lower the heat.
Hello 👋.. May you please tell me what the little box that the plug is connected to is used for? And also do I need it? Or am I able to plug it directly into a wall outlet.
I'm wanting to learn to solder just for doing repairs and wiring on my guitars, installing new switches, pots, wiring pickups, etc. (techs charge a small fortune these days, if you can even find one who's not booked for weeks in advance). I'm not going to be doing anything like soldering on circuit boards or components, literally just wiring to toggle switches and pickup leads and stuff. What's a suitable beginner friendly iron, and what sort of tip is best for that kind of work?
You should buy a soldering station. Switches and pots act as a heat sink and require a higher wattage to properly solder wires to. Check out my other video for a soldering station that may be a good fit for you. ruclips.net/video/ci-WKnIzq7k/видео.html
@@engineeringgarage2993 Thanks for your reply. Funnily enough, I watched a couple of other soldering videos, one specifically about working on guitars, that also recommended a higher wattage station for those kinds of tasks, and before I'd even seen this reply to my comment I ordered the exact one you reviewed in the video you linked, the Yihua 926. I have a pickup toggle switch I'm going to (try to) install to replace a broken one on one of my guitars, just waiting for my next day off work so I can take my time.
not a decent trick but if ur lazy that knife tip is really good at cutting plastic XD. Also using that thermal gun with any shiny surface is probably the worse idea, use those device w/ thermistor i think it was, it directly touches the surface so you get accurate reading.
Some use of flux would have resulted in a better job. The power cable on this iron is stiff and more annoying than the iron itself. Wish that was silicone instead of stiff pvc.
It was a fake gift card. On the back they wanted you to leave good feedback in exchange for them possibly sending you a gift card. Tons of Chinese sellers use to do this, I don't know if this is allowed by Amazon anymore.
A bad review the temperature sensor is the wrong type, you need to test on large pads and small pads and testing the wattage is incorrect as the heater is going on and off.
I used the blade for Stain Glass soldering, I am pleasantly surprised how well in took off and added solder. Great for the price.
I have 2 of these for several years, they used to be $7, my first one wouldn't get hot enough at all after a few months, so i use it for melting plastic, the second was "more accurate" though i have to crank it up way more then i should, these are great for small solder joints, but they don't recover fast enough for large connections. For example i build fpv drones, it solders everything but the battery lead, it just doesn't keep up, mine said it was 60 watt, but the think its more around 20-30 watts
I want to do some hobby work, snd I think this'll do the job! Thanks for the great informative videos!
I've seen people use the knife tip to cleanly cut nylon straps/cords to prevent fraying.
Knife is for drag soldering of IC chips...and some smd components.
Actually, anything that you need a blade tip...plus it puts more heat on a board etc.
Utility tip.
I liked your review.
I got mine just now.. from eBay. Same unit exactly except the stand was a stamped metal piece that you fold outwards the what the iron rests upon.. even worse than yours..
Anyway you may not be aware that the iron has a calibration feature where you can press both plus and minus simultaneously and this allows you to use those buttons to lift or lower the displayed temperature depending on what you measured the solder at separately..
Also by pressing plus and minus as you turn on its power it enters setup where C or F is selected.
Also it can remember the Temperature you last used it at or I think a default temp when first switched bon
A great little unit
The tip however is a loose fit over the heater core and this might make it difficult for the iron to maintain heat especially on bigger ground planes.
I'm excited to use mine butw I'm fully aware of it's less desirable qualities.
Excellent value.
Got mine on eBay.
17usd
Have you figured out a way to turn the darn thing off without unplugging it? The page on Amazon says to hold the red + button, but that only increases the temp.
@@zukiryder05 There is an upgraded model which has an on/off switch now.
An Upgraded version has an on/off switch??
Thank you for the review. I was wondering how accurate is setting of the temperature. A thermocouple would be better to measure the tip's temp than a IR gun.
One important note is that the wire of the iron is important. It should bend easily and not try to go back to its packaged shape, therefore the wire won't try to move the iron when you put it to rest. That's usually the primary difference between good and cheap soldering iron. In general all irons are gonna solder.
Ya get what ya pay for
Reflective metal is known to throw off laser temp sensors, I don't know the deep reason why, but it's mostly due to the reflective nature.
I’ll give you a deep “reason”
Do you think you should still spend more for better soldering iron(or a soldering station) than getting this?
It depends on your use case. For what you get at that price it makes a good iron for people starting out, intermittent use or a good small iron for your field repair tool kit. As a daily driver, I would step up to a soldering station.
@@engineeringgarage2993 Do you recommend if for students? Some suggest me to get a soldering station but I might want something more portable since I bring it to our Electronics class.
Yes, this would make a good portable soldering iron.
I need to change some switches in my laptop mouse, I'm hoping this could get the job done and maybe gain a new skill.
Great review! I just ordered mine off amazon. I just hope it lasts! $14 seems too good to be true.
I watched the video but realised I spent all my time staring at that fancy socket adapter that the soldering iron was plugged into.
Only question is, will it fail early? Looks nice but i bough decade ago a bunch of Chinese irons and soon after they all sort of failed. So are the new crop good... maybe a year lasting?
So far this one has lasted me over a year. I don't use it much but when I do it still works perfectly. Leaving soldering irons on for prolonged periods is the worst thing you can do to any iron, some of the newest versions of this type iron have an auto power off feature which should greatly help their longevity.
I have this soldering Iron. I solders fine. The problem I have is the heat control buttons too close to my hand when soldering and I depress the button to lower the heat.
I snipped my buttons off flush, you can still push it just fine to adjust, but yeah, i had same issue pushing it hem when i didn't mean too ...
Hello 👋.. May you please tell me what the little box that the plug is connected to is used for? And also do I need it? Or am I able to plug it directly into a wall outlet.
You do not need that box. It's a power meter, I use it to measure how much current the items I review use.
tips are made from steel or copper , brass ?
So what wattage should we get
I'm wanting to learn to solder just for doing repairs and wiring on my guitars, installing new switches, pots, wiring pickups, etc. (techs charge a small fortune these days, if you can even find one who's not booked for weeks in advance). I'm not going to be doing anything like soldering on circuit boards or components, literally just wiring to toggle switches and pickup leads and stuff. What's a suitable beginner friendly iron, and what sort of tip is best for that kind of work?
You should buy a soldering station. Switches and pots act as a heat sink and require a higher wattage to properly solder wires to. Check out my other video for a soldering station that may be a good fit for you. ruclips.net/video/ci-WKnIzq7k/видео.html
@@engineeringgarage2993 Thanks for your reply. Funnily enough, I watched a couple of other soldering videos, one specifically about working on guitars, that also recommended a higher wattage station for those kinds of tasks, and before I'd even seen this reply to my comment I ordered the exact one you reviewed in the video you linked, the Yihua 926. I have a pickup toggle switch I'm going to (try to) install to replace a broken one on one of my guitars, just waiting for my next day off work so I can take my time.
How can I make it hotter
is the YiHua still your main?
not a decent trick but if ur lazy that knife tip is really good at cutting plastic XD.
Also using that thermal gun with any shiny surface is probably the worse idea, use those device w/ thermistor i think it was, it directly touches the surface so you get accurate reading.
How's the cord? Is it stiff, flexible enough?
as you se is not :/ i dont think any of this cheap soldering irons have silicon cord :/ or even something soft like from vacuum cleaner
Knife blade for furniture repair...wax sticks
Is it still working?
Yes. I don't use it very often but whenever I have, it worked as expected.
Some use of flux would have resulted in a better job. The power cable on this iron is stiff and more annoying than the iron itself. Wish that was silicone instead of stiff pvc.
You're supposed to wet the sponge with water, it wont last long otherwise
1:19 😂😂😂😂😂
why was there a amazon gift card in it?
It was a fake gift card. On the back they wanted you to leave good feedback in exchange for them possibly sending you a gift card. Tons of Chinese sellers use to do this, I don't know if this is allowed by Amazon anymore.
The knife is for idiots like me who don't use the proper tips 😭😂😂😂💯
A bad review the temperature sensor is the wrong type, you need to test on large pads and small pads and testing the wattage is incorrect as the heater is going on and off.
you def cant join the army with that aim bud
7/15/2023 - This product is no longer available. Too bad.
Back in stock by searching the product model number
i just go one yesterday delivered from Amazon for $17
This model made in China and only cost 5 doller in Malaysia.