Trying to find affordable hot tweezers that work...

I have ordered three types of hot tweezers that cost below $50. How do they work?

[@pandaofnom]

I would use a regular iron to clean the pad then reflow it with leaded or low melt solder before using hot tweezers. Hakko products are expensive but in my opinion worth every cent I spent for them. Another trick to help with hot tweezers is to use a hot air station on a temp just below the melting point so it wont make solder melt but when you use the tweezers it pushes it over the melting point on the targeted component only with less effort. I have always found with soldering equipment you get what you pay for.

[@radius.indrawan]

i didn't see you were applying some solder on the tips of the Yihua hot tweezers when using it. I have the same model and it serves me good. for your "problematic" board, it seems it has lead-free solder. in that case you'll want to increase the Yihua tweezers up to about 400-420C and apply solder to the tips. for thick boards like PC mainboards or VGA, pre-heating it will help a lot. Edit : for stubborn SMDs, i use two T12 soldering irons at the same time like a tweezers. cheap approach but never fails me.

[@Tech-Relief]

Thanks for your comment: Yes, I tried that; the problem is that on the "problem" board the pads are entirely underneath the components like resistors and capacitors and many are connected to some sort of ground plane. So what I did subsequently is snip off the very thin ends of the tips and bent them downward. Now they work a lot better since the heat does not have to travel through the thin tweezer ends and it is easier to get into narrower spaces. They now work alright on many components, however they are still quite wide and it can be hard to use them on small components that are close together. I did a video on the ATTEN tweezers and you may see the difference, they can get into the smallest of spaces and they have more than double the power but then the entire soldering station and tweezers are about double the price at $200. So it depends on how much one is willing to spend.

[@Tech-Relief]

P.S. You may see what I am talking about in this video if you have not already seen it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXvdqWWCn7SrnMU

[@radius.indrawan]

@@Tech-Relief hi, i just watched your video about the Atten hot tweezers and yes it performs a lot better, but it comes with a price too.. 😅 For the cheap one, your idea to bend its tips is a very good idea, definitely can see the difference. 👍 PS : Now i need to convince my wife that the Atten tweezers will be a perfect christmas gift for me. 🤣

[@KrotowX]

Yihua tweezers here are total garbage. I have them and in sad practice realized that they aren't worth the cost of cardboard used in their packing bag. And I see that AOYUE tweezers too share the same drawbacks that Yihua ones have. Their design is crap.

[@Tech-Relief]

@@KrotowX Yes, they certainly are a design based on "what do we have that we can turn into tweezers without having to do actual design" I did improve them a little by modifying the tips however, they do not have enough power, are too wide and the tips are liable to move since they are actually two cheap soldering irons in a cheap tweezer like body. Not recommended...

[@topeye4202]

I build my own with two cheap regulated sodering irons for 3 Dollars. With a self constructed hinge in between they are aranged in a V, so relatively short tips bended a little bit work fine and bring enogh heat by far.

[@nalindisanayaka6220]

Can you make video for that build ?

[@BJcanal270]

I did same thing

[@jonsnell4751]

Some have no idea use flux and you won't damage the components.

[@BJcanal270]

I agree with you. The gray one are trash . Is very hard to keep it steady. And many times since not to be hot enough

[@gordthor5351]

The 938D works fine if you add a bit of leaded solder. Which should be used for all removal of components to avoid damage to the board. Your difficult PCB is the problem.

[@eraldylli]

Definitely. We all run into pcbs like that from time to time. Even with flux, they need hot air above 430C and lots of flux and fresh solder. Its because of a combination of different factors, and the biggest is they have lead free solder. Flux and a little bit of solder should make it much easier.

[@cowboy6591]

Agree. I have the tweezers he doesn't think much of but when working on a 7 layer video card they are useless unless I hit the chip with my LWS-301 stationary Laser gun set for a wide area [1/4"] and then apply the tweezers for the final blow after 30 seconds. I could focus the laser down to half the size of a push-pin head but that would blow a hole clear through the video card so we don't want that.

[@PeetHobby]

24:25 Those components are not only soldered by also clued in the middle.

[@johnwest7993]

Some high-end boards (flight boards,) use a dot of adhesive to hold components in place. I think that was your problem on this board. Thank you for the detailed review, as I'm also looking for a pair of hot tweezers.

[@Tech-Relief]

This board I think has some coating on it to make it water resistant since it was meant to go up with a weather type helium balloon at high altitude. However, the main problem was that the pads on the board were designed to be completely under the components. This makes it hard to get heat to the pads to release the components. However, the ATTEN tweezers with a little leaded solder make it easy. I am waiting for a few more tips and I will do a more extensive review of the ATTEN solder station and tweezers.

[@itsaustraliadayeveryday7234]

Well i have an old saying The US design it, the Chinese build it and the Australians make it actually work. Have you tried bending the tips or turning the tips to the shape you want. Flux before you try to take any component off the reason that cap wouldn't melt the tip needs to be clean to transfer heat. Some components are glued on as well but you shouldn't have to twist this could de-laminate the board The $80 light grey handle one is probably your best choice though. cheers

[@Tech-Relief]

Yes, I tried bending the tips, using leaded solder and flux etc. In some cases this made them work a lot better. However, they still had some sort of limitation like being too wide to get into small spaces or lacking power etc. So I have retired all of these and only use my ATTEN station with their professional tweezers and they work all of the time. Sure they are like $200 but worth the money as far as I am concerned.

[@itsaustraliadayeveryday7234]

@@Tech-Relief All good, I just bought the light grey one you had. I let you know how it goes. thanks for your reply cheers

[@thebeerinnandrewmckenna2655]

I got some the same as that which you said was rubbish, but they worked for me, says 120 watt

[@Tech-Relief]

I guess it depends on how often and what you use them for. If you are on a budget and douse the component with leaded or low melt solder they may do the job. However, if you do repairs professionally or do a lot of desoldering SMD components the more professional hot tweezers like the ATTEN ones will make the job a lot more enjoyable and quicker.

[@leso204]

I found this tool too clunky for any job , i have & still do use the 2 iron method with knife edge tips , sometimes with limited access even with an iron i heat the board from underneath then use the iron for extra head to push the device off it's pads never had a problem even with hi-temp no lead solder ........

[@vytautasslenderis2702]

Sorry for you. If you want something affordable and good, look at ATTEN GT-N100 Soldering tweezer. I bought it and made a station for it using two cheep Chinese made 13 euro controllers. This tweezer is 90W (each tip is 45W) and also its new technology - the heating element is not separate from the tip. Have been using it now and then. Works excellent. Sorry, but the ones you bought are utter garbage.

[@Tech-Relief]

I have seen the atten tweezers recently but did not want to spend money on the soldering station to go with it. I don't suppose you have a link to the controllers you mentioned? Maybe I can make a video about this?

[@mal6232]

such arrogance to bemoan the qualities of a product just because YOU didn't like them.

[@vytautasslenderis2702]

@@mal6232 Try something good and you will know why.

[@Tech-Relief]

I did eventually purchase the ATTEN N100 tweezers and you are right they are great.

[@dvsr5296]

Thanks for the information mates! I am also interested in GT-N100 tweezers and I would like to get information about how did you make them work. Like specific details. I am worried about decent temperature contolling. Thanks in advance!

[@KrotowX]

These cheap tweezers either use outdated Hakko 9xx design with separate heater and tip and temperature sensor behind heater or doesn't have temerature control at all and pray for luck. In both cases there are no way to know are tip ends have correct temperature. Also they use less power than required. Usually tips simply are too cold at end. Plus needle tips themselwes are garbage even for regular soldering iron - they have too litle thermal mass by design. There they simply threw in another such one :) Working solution is either to use expensive tweezers with two tips with built in inductance heaters and temperature sensor at working end of tip (add-on tweezers alone cost $250+ without a soldering station that cost another $300+) or in budget scenario - two separate soldering irons with T12 tips. Pity that there are no add-on handle with two C115 tips for my Aixun T3A station. These would be affordable enough for DIY flock. I would buy one too.

[@Tech-Relief]

I agree, however, that is why I started to evaluate what is out there. That is when I found the Atten hot tweezers that seem almost identical to some of the Weller ones I have seen. They cost about $28 and if you buy them with the ATTEN soldering station you would pay about $210. They work very well in my testing and are about a third of the price of equivalent JBC or Weller equipment. I will be posting a full evaluation of the ATTEN soldering station and its irons etc.

[@KrotowX]

@@Tech-Relief Maybe post their pinout too. I'm curiosu about are these can get used with together other proper budget soldering station. By the way checked out Atten soldering stations for my country - in TME online shop they cost somewhere between 100 and 200 EUR which is just fine for me. Particular tweezers cost around 60 EUR and look nice. Pity that regular soldering irons for Atten stations have that same outdated design with external heater. They have an iron with decent design tips like JCB Cxxx or T12, unfortunately tips are proprietary. And tip choice is very thin. I'll wait for your video.

[@martinglasgow1219]

Can you not unscrew the Iron retainer and turn them to the position you require?

[@Tech-Relief]

Well not exactly, there are several design problems with the hot tweezers. Lack of power and the length and thinness of the tweezer tips. To make it work better, I had to shorten the tips and bend them in a more useful shape. You can see it in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6fTdomuis-Mf6c

[@chotuusian4127]

Nice tools

[@orange11squares]

all those 3 Hot tz are just garbage.... the one at 840 usd from weller was clearly at another level... i have this problem myself, but i think that can be solved with just 2 mini soldering irons like TS100 from miniware or similar and 2 soldering tips like the ts-K type. in the end probably that will be about 150 usd but with oled screens , adjutable temps,fast response. etc...

[@Tech-Relief]

Yes in most cases that should work. I use my ATTEN station with hot tweezers (about $220) which is every bit as good as JBC / Weller etc. but for larger components especially some connectors I use the spade bits using two T12 stations I build. I purchased two spade bits in each size of 10 to 25 mm wide and have had good success with that.

[@sylwesterirla9246]

thank you

[@maavaishnoservices9435]

How much cost in india

[@Tech-Relief]

You can check on AliExpress but I do not recommend any of these I ended up buying an ATTEN station with hot tweezers which work perfectly...

[@liaustria7790]

you never tin the tips of the soldering tweezers....of course you fail...this teach on every electronics schools

[@Tech-Relief]

You are probably right that putting extra solder on will improve heat transfer. However, I found that these cheaper hot tweezers have an additional problem in that their tips are either to straight, too long or at an awkward angle. This makes it hard to get to some components that are close together. The Atten tweezers that I now use do not have this problem. I plan to do a new de-soldering video where I will revisit this. Thanks, for watching the video.

[@MrDeadrage]

try to contact NorthRidgeFix youtube and market to find all tool expert

[@Tech-Relief]

Yes, they have tools that work but I personally find equivalents often for half the price. Of course, I am not criticizing NRF they probably only get a small discount when they but in bulk and the Chinese manufactures can sell cheaper on ALiExpress etc.