A look inside a "Hakko" soldering iron tip temperature tester.

[@ats89117]

Hakko has a video on those. They recommend 50 uses before replacing the element. They also recommend letting the flux burn off completely before temperature testing. They also recommend not pressing down any more than necessary during the measurement...

[@pahom2]

They also recommend to use razor blade only once

[@DoRC]

I like how sometimes you hesitate trying to decide whether or not to take something apart further when we all know you're going to:)

[@D3faulted1]

I bought one of those Yihua 898 2 in 1 soldering iron stations......actually i'm pretty sure it's a knockoff of the Yihua. But anyway i used it a few times and it barely hot enough to do the jobs, and then it stopped getting hot enough to melt the solder, and was throwing an error code. So after some basic trouble shooting such as turning it off and on again, and making sure it had good connections, even went and bought another iron for it just in case. Same problem, so i finally got pissed and gave it a good whack, noticed that the temperature changed, gave it another tap and the temperature changed again. Opened it up and found a capacitor that was broken loose from the solder and was kinda just hanging in the circuit board. The irony of having to buy soldering iron to fix another one...........

[@mcflonomcfloonyloo5236]

Ahahaha when comments are more amusing than the video itself...

[@ianmoore525]

Love ur work. I got my 191 today, definitely a knockoff, not even called Hakko. Power switch doesn’t work, on all the time, reads 360 when iron is at 340 and 520 when iron was set at 420, iron prob way off on second one. Will try the same t12 tip in the elcheapo as well as slightly better ksger next time. Keep up the good work.

[@atbglenn]

Clive, I got one of these to compare it to my newer Hakko FG-100 Although the FG-100 has more features such as MAX HOLD, the 191 works just as well. They both read exactly the same, except for the extra digit after the decimal point on the FG-100, which I think is overkill.

[@nidusa1]

Clive, it's about 50 measurements or 50 touches before the sensor wire needs to be replaced. this is from Official Hakko instructions for their other device using the same exact wire: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4DQeWqHrdGLrrM you can make it last longer than 50 uses if you wipe center sensor part of the wire clean with Isopropyl alcohol and don't let the flux solder burn black on it.

[@2010stoof]

I got the cheapo one. It came with a surface one and the wire one. But the wire lead reads my soldering iron was 110c low. The surface meter helped and found out I was only 20 degrees C low.

[@bryede]

All the genuine Hakko thermometers I've seen have a dark-gray silkscreen logo. The Chinese knock-offs seem to be fairly reliable, though. The thermo sensors are good for about 50 uses.

[@ed-jf3xh]

Curious. I've never had to put solder on my iron to get a good temperature reading. Simply clean the tip with a damp sponge (natural) or one of thos metal pot scrubbers. It'll work fine.

[@SkuldChan42]

Rule of thumb btw on weather its a knockoff or not - the actual Hakko thermometers are like $200-$300 - most of the Chinese ones are about $5-$15, but that said - they work well enough.

[@mariushmedias]

The K thermocouple you use with that cheap meter is only rated for 250C. Above 250C, the value reported won't be quite correct and the insulation on the thermocouple may also be damaged.

[@bigclivedotcom]

The probe supplied with the meter is apparently rated to 400C. Although that doesn't really mean anything from China. It does have fibreglass sleeving.

[@willybee3056]

+bigclivedotcom Hello Clive,,, Here is a fly for the ointment. .. If you bought 100 rolls of solder of each brand. And the packaging said that they were all the same composition and the same melting temperature . How close would you say that the melting point be , between brands, and within the runs of each brand.??? With 13 yrs at being a QA, QC department head, I am always thinking of unbelievably boring things to do. My wife is jealous, doesn't like that I spend more time listening to you than her... Keep up the good work. .. :-)

[@msknight5]

Just bought a 191 from Portsmouth (just down the road) on fleabay, but it will apparently take two weeks to get to Sussex... ??? When it comes, how do I tell if it's a knock off rather than a genuine Hakko? (if the post label says it came from Hong Kong, that'll be a good indicator!)

[@bigclivedotcom]

Many of the Chinese sellers use common warehouses in places like Portsmouth. If your new soldering station cost around £50 then it's a knock-off. Real Hakko equipment is very expensive.

[@msknight5]

*sigh* - oh well. Thanks for the heads up. Still... Portsmouth to Sussex in two weeks... that's not exactly pushing the boat out :-D ... sorry, I need more cid... er... coffee. (I'd get fired for drinking cider at work.)

[@deansean4824]

I have kester soldering wire that I know from website melts at 188C. So I just start the iron at 140 and slowly increase the temp till the tip can just about start melting the wire. Not super accurate but saves me the hassle of investing in super expensive tip calibrators!

[@pahom2]

Adding a solder to the thermocouple contact point shouldn't change reading. Any additional metal-metal contacts just cancel eachother leaving only the voltage induced between the incoming wires. The thermocouple unit you used before is probably not rated for such high temperature hence showing the wrong readings.

[@alanrochester5771]

Hi Clive Really enjoyed the review. Did you need to adjust the calibration.at all? Al.

[@bigclivedotcom]

+AlanRochester57 I didn't tweak any calibration on the unit at all. I'm not even sure there's the facility to do so. It seems to rely on fairly standard thermocouple alloys to give a modestly accurate temperature reading.

[@alanrochester5771]

Thanks Clive At £8.90 from China this is a great deal, I'm going to get one. Al.

[@leonardbutcher8555]

The Hakko 191 is a knock off, I have the same one and it's way off. The original has 2 trimmer pots inside to set the room temperature correctly and the second trimmer adjusts the display once certain mv appear across the thermocouple and just according to the table given in the document that jayzcreations posted the link to.

[@schlomoshekelstein908]

why don't they put tip testers in soldering irons? that pcb is tiny, u could fit that in almost anystation. then just set calibration mode, touch the tip to the sensor and if the sensor reads 250 when the iron is supposed to be 300 it self adjusts until it reads 300 amirite that seems genius how come nobody does it?

[@jameslawrence8734]

I want to start practicing soldering with small projects. I have looked at your shop a couple times, but as a complete noob I have no clue. I am looking for 110v AC led light kit with pcb I can start with. If you already have these kits, would you mind giving me a link so even I can find it? If you don't sell these in your shop, would you consider putting one together for those of us from another side of the world?

[@bigclivedotcom]

+james lawrence Search on ebay for diy soldering kit and you should find a range of kits from China. Start with a simple low voltage one first.

[@jameslawrence8734]

bigclivedotcom Thank you. I found 4 for $10. So now I have a few failures before a success for cheap :) I had considered this route, but being shy of ripoffs I wanted advice before doing it. Thanks.

[@2100Warzone]

The Amtek Irons are hotter since lead free solder. Now they now made to use either type of solder.

[@gunks_getaway]

Do you have a preferred iron? Station?

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Thomas Gunkler whatever comes to hand and does the job well. At the moment I'm using a Yihua 8786D because it also has a hot air pen.

[@gunks_getaway]

+bigclivedotcom thank you

[@gunks_getaway]

where did you find tips for that Iron?

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Thomas Gunkler they're sold in packs on ebay as Hakko bits.

[@gunks_getaway]

big thanks from NC, US! Thanks for taking the time!

[@hereforthefreewater]

subscribed for how you say the word cherry. great vid too. thanks mate.

[@rustblade5021]

if you split the thermocouple wires and put the tip between them you should get a much more stable reading

[@tohopes]

When I set my Hakko iron to 350 C, this thing says it's around 500 C.

[@JJHamster]

Same problem with my cheap "191" unit I think. It shows all 3 of my irons are well over 80°C hotter than their set points. I've also tried connecting another K type probe to the unit (using crocodile clip leads) and this shows my cup of tea is over 120°C! Hooking up a 181 Y shaped probe to another general purpose K type meter (again with crocodile clip leads) gives results much closer to the irons displayed set points. In short I don't trust it!

[@pr0xZen]

@@JJHamster might be causing issues due to the interfacing metals, If you're basically hooking up extension cords to a thermocouple.

[@jayzcreations]

Definitely not a genuine Hakko assets.tequipment.net/assets/1/26/Documents/Hakko/191/191_doc_5.pdf is a manual for the 191 it includes calibration instructions and the PCB diagram is nothing like you're holding in 7:25

[@roerdomp16e]

I have compared this (fake) 191 against the fake FR-100, and matched them with my very reliable JBC BT-2BWA analogue soldering station and 3 A brand multimeters with thermo couple. The FR100 copy is spot on and the 191 is about 30 degrees off and there is no way to calibratie it. So be aware!

[@billcruz1288]

Dear sir, what you are testing your irons and temperature with is not a original Hakko tester. You have a counterfeit Hakko tester. I saw your video and the PCB inside is NOT original. The original PCB part number is B2345. It has been discontinued. The 191 tester look almost identical but are NOT.

[@paulzaim7900]

Guillermod Cruz Yeah but the original is like 400 bucks and the fake one is 10$...

[@OriginalAtomicSheep]

@@paulzaim7900 Well I hope you don't believe in the fact that you're getting identical quality and performance for 1/40th the price!

[@Landrew0]

11C in the house? Unthinkable.

[@moth.monster]

+Landrew0 He's a very cool guy.

[@datinniezaidi7754]

+post #617166 HAH!

[@davidprice2861]

I just adjust till it solders properly, don't really care exactly what the temp is.

[@pyroslavx7922]

Solder (liquid - hot) WILL damage/destroy your thermocouple if it comes in direct contact, possibly eating away portions and making it drift and inprecise and intermittent wrong measures.(like copper soldertip without protective layer gets dissolved away)

[@pr0xZen]

Which is why you A) need to burn away any flux first, and B) the thermocouples are disposables. The solder is needed for an accurate reading without oxidation and air in the interface that won't be there when doing actual soldering. But it does come at a degenerative cost to the measurement thermocouple.

[@pahom2]

This is not how thermocouple works. It wont be damaged by adding a solder or any amount of intermediate metal in between the leads. Any additional metal-metal contacts just cancel eachother leaving only the voltage induced between the incoming wires.

[@The-Bloke]

And because I can't resist cheap Chinese clones, I just bought.. another clone Hakko soldering tip temperature tester! This time the 'Hakko' FG-100: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141982376192 For some reason not directly shown on UK eBay, so I ended up paying for it in Australian $. Still only cost about £9 though. The FG-100 is obviously a later model, and now features a MAX HOLD button, and goes up to 700°C rather than 600 (not that I can see that mattering with soldering!) Other than that it seems basically identical in function and operation. I saw another eBay video where a US guy compared the original FG 100 to the clone, and it turned out to be within 1-2°C of the original. Pretty good! It'll be interesting to compare the FG-100 to the 191 when I get the second one.

[@scaleop4]

it was 11c my shed tonight and that was freezing cold... well at least your heating bills will be low.

[@bigclivedotcom]

scaleop4 All the more money to spend on technical junk.

[@scaleop4]

indeed sir.

[@CookingWithCows]

+scaleop4 when we came back in january from vacation, the house was 10°c, unfortunately the fridge freezer thawed! because the operation temperature range of it seems to be a minimum of 15-18°C.. Lower than that, the compressor will only start very sparingly because it doesn't need to do much to keep the temperature in the fridge part low, but it's not enough to keep the temperature in the freezer compartment below 0

[@alinayossimouse]

oooh, a flux capacitor teardown

[@Metalhead-4life]

50 uses per sensor

[@Ncky]

What the heck is sodium iron

[@chocolate_squiggle]

Well it's not a soddering iron if that's what you're getting at :-)