TS80 USB-C Portable Soldering Iron Follow-up

A quick follow-up video on the TS80 USB-C Portable Soldering Iron, using it with a QuickCharge 3 battery pack and replies to some comments on the review video.
USB meter: www.aliexpress...

[@p_mouse8676]

It's amazing what 18W can do. Conclusion of the story is that thermal design is everything, not just power.

[@tazztone]

so is the ts100 worse in terms of thermal design?

[@usoppbarbosa981]

@@tazztone No, it's just less convenient to use on the go as you need a specific battery or access to a mains plug. Depending where you are, at customer sites for example, you don't always have that, nor a 40 meters extension lead :) Both irons are great, depends on your particular need.

[@tazztone]

@@usoppbarbosa981 i want it for home use. i am no professional. and the ts100 can be found for about half the price of a ts80. i ordered one today. thanks for your answer

[@AnoNymous-dh2sv]

It's pretty much confirmed for me that the main reason this is better than the ts100 at the same wattage is that the tip is better or just has higher mass. I seriously doubt they updated the electronics much so the only logical explanation is just that the tip is a bit better or just bigger/heavier.

[@tunahankaratay1523]

@@AnoNymous-dh2sv TS100 is more or less an attempt to fit the FX-951 into a tiny handle. It has many tip geometry options. It is a very successful attempt tbh.

[@mortensentim511]

Another point. A LiPo needs a dedicated charger, whereas your battery bank will charge from the same one your phone already uses.

[@hrshovon]

Tim Mortensen plus the same cable can charge the power bank

[@CM-xr9oq]

My new battery bank claims to have LiPo cells within, and uses a standard USB charger.

[@JoranGroothengel]

Cameron Miller I think Tim meant the loose LiPo cells you would use with the TS100. The dedicated charger for the lipo cells in your battery bank is built into the battery bank.

[@Buizie]

Tim Mortensen good point. Those packs need those chargers for themselves especially LiPos nowadays comes with an XT60 plug

[@GRBtutorials]

Then put one of those cheap Li-ion charging modules that have a micro USB connector in the battery pack. Problem solved!

[@ericoudammerveld424]

Just ordered my TS80, thanks for the review, Dave!

[@reckless_sniper]

Going to agree this would be far more convenient iron for an EDC pack especially with the (dual use) power bank (for your phone/devices/soldering iron and less weight) and safer rather than carrying around a (risky) lipo pack (also, safer to carry on a flight to a remote work.)

[@fuzzy1dk]

depends on what you do, I'd think quite a few people doing field work have a battery drill, that would be perfect for powering a ts100

[@linagee]

Why not a USB-C powered drill? Coming soon maybe? LOL. edit: It looks like a few companies make USB rechargeable drills now.

[@CM-xr9oq]

My new USB power pack claims to have LiPo cells and uses a standard USB charger.

[@ASJC27]

There are usb powerbanks that also have a DC barrel jack with selectable high output for powering a laptop. I plan to get one as for me the only thing I consistently run out of power for is my laptop. Incidentally, these will basically do the same job with a TS100 as a usb only bank with a TS80, so best of both worlds.

[@redemptusrenatus5336]

Exactly this. Doing my research I found I could powet the TS100 with just such a power bank and so decided to go with it over the TS80.

[@michelfeinstein]

Dave, what about a review of the Unisolder 5.2? Open source project for driving JBC irons and others

[@jasonwilliam2125]

You can actually set them to lower voltages but you have to download a flash for it. Great review though and the use of the USB meter was excellent.

[@xenonram]

I can't believe some people said that's a "credit cards stand" that you're meant to put into your wallet. WTF. Obviously they don't know how sharp, thin punched steel is. That thing would chew up your wallet, and that's just dumb anyways, even if it wasn't sharp.

[@SeanBZA]

Best thing for that stand is to drop it in the recycling as sub grade steel. If you really need to have the soldering iron tip go with you when hot then simply take a short piece of 15mm copper pipe and 2 solder on end caps, and make a copper holder with caps that will hold the hot tip in the pouch, and allow it to cool. 15mm copper pipe will fit in there, and it is cheap. Nice thing is that the USB C cable obviously is also a data cable, as it is able to communicate with the battery bank to change state, so you only need a single cable with the power bank to work all the USB C equipment in the field, and then only one regular USB micro cable for the rest.

[@chaos.corner]

You don't have a kevlar wallet?

[@ekaa.3189]

For 3 decades I used a temperature controlled micro soldering iron that only drew 13 Watts from the wall. Yeah, it wouldn't do the newer heavy ground planes, but otherwise it worked nicely. This soldering iron looks interesting. I'd still likely get a second TS100 first because I am set up for powering it from a battery bank. I have plenty of video battery packs, and a hacked together boost converter to output 24 VDC from one of them, or any 9-18 VDC power source of sufficient amps. For a stand I bent some very stiff stainless steel wire. My next iteration will be foldable, and have a silicone rubber sheath over the part that contacts the plastic handle. Because of the height of the stand and it's legs to keep it stable, I don't think it would fit into that little case. Right now it has an 8x12 cm PCB as a base.

[@mduvigneaud]

Awesome, Dave! :D It is really amazing how much energy LiIon, LiPo and lead/acid cells contain and how fast they can dump it. As a demonstration, a few years ago, a friend of mine shorted a lead/acid battery using a wrench. In just few seconds the wrench started to glow red hot!

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Martel DuVigneaud Car batteries are specifically optimized to repeatedly dump their load into the starter motor at currents that would kill a similar normal lead/acid battery. LiPo car starter packs are built to do a similar dump a few times and die.

[@Bige4u]

Impressive... i like the power bank that features up to 12v, just ideal for using with the TS80 soldering iron in the field.

[@jpsalis]

I think this one is better for certain applications, i'm going to be either using it with my RC planes or on the desk, and it works really well with the lipo battery tester I carry anyway.

[@martshal]

As always, your use case determines which is best for you. The other people I've seen review this were avid RC model builders. For them I can understand why the ts100 is more convenient. I have to admit that I tend to be more in the "Dave camp" on this one.

[@brendanfarthing]

You can get the USB meters from Aussie eBay too, pretty much the same price as Ali Express. And the bright yellow coloured one is the latest one that also supports USB 3.0. Either with or without bluetooth. There is also a companion Android app.

[@shreyaskul]

I have that Xiaomi QC3 powerbank too. Actually a great idea for a portable little (actually pretty capable one) soldering iron 👍

[@SomeAngryGuy1997]

For the record, you could use a powerbank that also has 19v output for laptops. I have a jumpstarter that features 5v, 12v and 19v outputs, as well as big aligator clips for jumpstarting cars. That, along with a TS100 could easily replace your TS80, in case you need more power.

[@alchemicalanarchist]

For portability you can use a cars 12v system via a USB-C fast charging adapter. So if you are on the go you can just plug into any car and you have power. And you can plugin to a LIPO with a QC 3.0 adapter

[@JennyEverywhere]

I sometimes have to solder PL-259 or SO-239 connectors in places I don't have a workbench. The TS100 has that extra bit of oomph with the 19v Anker pack that'll charge a laptop. Works well for those large thermal masses. I haven't tried the TS80, but if it works, that's cool. Anyway, my partner and I have already purchased TS100's for each of us. I don't see the reason to spend another $70+ to get a TS80 until I actually have a use case for it where it'd be better than the TS100. Maybe when that happens I'll spring for it, but I spend enough on stuff I wind up not using.

[@sm9300]

TS100 works off a power bank 3.0 port as well, you just need a usb step-up cable 12v or more or a quick charge power bank like mine, with a push of a button it puts out 12v without the need of any boost cable! time to update your info mate...

[@lokinya]

That's a pretty nice solution with the powerbank. Just don't let miss JBC know that you solder around in secret away from home. I do want some of those silicone usb cables though!

[@AlpineTheHusky]

You can use it with 5V. There is custom firmware that allows 5V support

[@MacCalder86]

I was semi-hoping that I had lost my TS-100 when the TS-80 came out - turns out I had left it in my glove compartment. I use my drill battery (AEG 18v) as the power supply. They had a little adaptor plate for plugging in a 12V warming vest and charging USB (5v@2a). I gutted that, and soldered the barrel connector straight to the battery terminal - it is really convenient, as I often fly to site and carry my impact driver and drill with me - so I didn't need to add much to my luggage to have a soldering iron... especially as the airlines are tetchy about butane. The other thing is the drill battery has a belt clip ... So for my on site "travel iron", it is awesome. But... as you say, I ALWAYS have my battery bank - which means when I am working in my home state of WA and have only bought my bag in with me, and left the tools in the car, it would be a lot handier... I am slightly disappointed that they did not go for USB-PD over usb-c - as I do have a battery bank that can charge at 65W over USB-PD.

[@followthetrawler]

looks like the latest TS80 offering on Banggood has the same stand the TS100 offers, much better. Also the seller says replacement tips will be available in September. For me the TS80 looks like a much better option for field work, as Dave says I always have a charged power bank in my bag.

[@blaser80]

My only issue with the TS80 is they aren't selling replacement tips yet and haven't indicated the price they will eventually sell for. One of the good things about the TS100 is the tips are only $10 or less, so I've been able to test a few. If it turns out the replacements are $30 or so, I believe there are open source alternatives using Weller RT tips which are $25-$30.

[@aneeshprasobhan]

Have you tested the ts100 with a 24Volts power supply ? If yes, how much amps did it draw ?

[@blaser80]

It's roughly 70W so approx. 3A

[@aneeshprasobhan]

@@blaser80 did you test how much power it consumes after it reaches the set temp, while soldering ?

[@blaser80]

8W-10W roughly I can't remember exactly as I brought it over a year ago.

[@aneeshprasobhan]

@@blaser80 hmm.. thanks for the reply...i guess the ts 80 is not bad when compared to the ts100 then..

[@chaos.corner]

To be honest, there are pros and cons to both. The major difference appears to be a QC charging chip and a leatherette case. It would be nice to see a device capable of both. Also nice would be cables capable of converting from one to the other. It would be nice to be able to run a laptop from a QC/PD power bank. On the other hand, there are power banks capable of directly outputting 19V (and a range of other voltages including 12V so potentially quite useful). So it seems like it's a wash.

[@TauCu]

I did a few mods to mine, ended up replacing a few components to support higher voltages and got mine running on 35 volts.

[@Jakeman90210]

I have this iron, and I bought a “quickcharge 3.0” power bank to use with it but it only put out 5 volts. Aukey pb-y3 does not work with the ts-80 in case you were wondering

[@Direkin]

I've got one of those Ruideng power meters. Very handy.

[@koz]

The USB meter is a "UM24C" (the one with the 'communications/bluetooth'). Another version is the "UM24" without bluetooth. Just search for "UM24C UM24" on any of the online marketplaces. They've all got them. :)

[@stephenoliveau]

You can tap the car's system through the lighter socket, but I have a qc3 charger in mine right now. 😀

[@jaynone9262]

12 v to 5 volt.

[@rimmersbryggeri]

If you work in automotive you just use a QC3 ciggie charger But a longer usb lead could be useful.

[@therealb888]

All I wish is that this was 80W. With it's AMAZING thermal design, I would be welding steel with this!

[@kruppin]

Good followup, thanks! Yeah, ts100 may be faster to heat up, but I'm pretty sure this has better thermal performance actually from what I see. So I think this is superior in most use cases. Will get one and make up my own mind as soon as stock is better, even if ts100 have served me well. And if the tips of the ts100 are any indication, they will have good life on ts80 as well. Time will tell I guess.

[@Moonbase59]

Totally forgot about QC3 … this makes the TS80 an interesting product again-for the travel bag. It’ll probably always negotiate for the highest available voltage, correct? (Thinking of using it with a 10,000mA Xiaomi Powerbank 3 which could do 9V/2A and 12V/1.5A if I remember correctly.)

[@jaykoerner]

I really think they should have done a USB PD(power delivery) version instead, the PD standard allows around 100w over USB type c, and the adapters aren't much harder to find then quick charge since they are used in laptop chargers and the like

[@shihan74]

one comment for the drone pilots i hear complain alot about the TS100 can be driven by a drone battery, its not too had to do the same for the TS80. Look for a thing called "qc3.0 charging board" (theres a number of different options) and throw and XT connector on the input for it... no need to carry around a extra battery in the form of a power bank just for the TS80

[@CM-xr9oq]

I agree that the TS80 is more convenient. Both can be used with a battery bank, however, the TS80 is more convenient, since you don't need to make a custom cable, as you would need to do with the TS100. I think I just got mixed up with your outback English ;) I assumed all of the battery banks were now LiPo, since the one I bought last week claims to have LiPo cells inside. Certainly, a standalone LiPo battery would not be convenient, as it requires a separate charger.

[@martinocko9]

well you could carry usb pd powerbank and use a pd trigger to conect ts100

[@233kosta]

No manual in the box, but they do have a PDF one on their website

[@tianharvan]

Yeh I want one! (a bit expansive) ,this is a really portable, better than the 100 .

[@emmettturner9452]

The stand is exactly like the ones you get with crappy $5 soldering irons at Radio Shack. I think the manual is stored internally (mounts to a PC as a USB Mass Storage device).

[@chaos.corner]

It just lets them put "includes stand" on the ads.

[@emmettturner9452]

Chaos Corner A bullet-point feature! Yes. ;)

[@astrolite3192]

Everyone I know carries a 4S or 6S Lipo. I usually have about 30 4S packs on me when I need to use my TS100.

[@jensharbers6702]

To be honest, the TS-80 is a good Iron, and I would Buy it. But the Only USB I have with me is in my Car. And the Car is most time nearby. I do have Power banks, but not one of them is Quick Charge Ready, sadly. Also I don't carry them around often or let them sit in the car, I don't like it when Lithium batterys getting very hot in the car when the sun is shining. The TS-100 is, in my Usecase, more like a "Mobile Good-Quality solder Iron", but with a "limited" using Range around the House. It don't sees often the Daylight, because mostly I'm soldering at the Bench. But for me, It is enough. I would buy the TS-80 if I already had a QC3 Ready powerbank. It may happen..., because I like the Xiaomi one you showed in your Vid...^^

[@ovDarkness]

If it'd be possible to have more tips for TS80, I think that for me, and my daily SMD work it'd be perfect replacement for my venerable ZD916. But since TS100 is much better in this regard AND it can be fitted with T12 tips. I think I have a winner. I just design and 3D print better case for it. Maybe sth like PA12CF15 or PPSU?

[@Leif_YT]

As much as i like my TS100 - for portability this TS80 is much better. Almost everyone has a powerbank and if you want to fix something at a friends home you can be quite sure that they'll have a compatible power supply as well because almost every phone uses it these days. It's a great product. My only complaint would be that the tips are not compatible between the TS80 and TS100, but i guess that not many would want to buy the TS100 and TS80 together and the new shorter tip design of the TS80 has its advantage.

[@chaos.corner]

Does everyone have a QC powerbank? I know I don't. Then there's people whose devices use PD. I'm not putting this device down but I think people have to decide for themselves which fits their use case better.

[@Leif_YT]

Not necessarily a powerbank but at least a USB wall charger. These days most support QC - at least the ones you get with your phone or the big brands (Aukey, Anker and so on)

[@chaos.corner]

PD also seems to be a contender. Are most supporting both standards?

[@sarreqteryx]

I have the TS100, that TS80 seems to be heating up a bit faster than it does.

[@dorfschmidt4833]

I have to confess, a portable soldering iron is a smidgin more usefull than a portable, battery powered espresso machine.

[@DownhillAllTheWay]

Sorry to put an unrelated comment on here, but I have just noticed, all over the web, USB charger "power banks" advertising a capacity of 900,000mAh. I'd really appreciate your comments on them.

[@mbirth]

To be fair, there are Car Jump Starter battery packs that have USB outputs *and* a 19V Laptop charger output that can also be used for the TS100. Sure, it's "slightly" larger than your normal USB power pack, but then, if you come across some car with a flat battery, you can jump start that, too. ;)

[@aurthorthing7403]

Those things are cooler than the other side of the pillow! I use them for everything and the ones I have are equipped with LiFE instead of LiPO's. I found some are a little dodgy but I have three different brands that all work for everything except starting a car. Mine don't work well for for jump starting unless I use an additional gadget branded by "Vehemo."

[@JoranGroothengel]

Aurthor Thing Which are the ones you have? :P

[@aurthorthing7403]

Bestek, Car Rover and MoKo... all of them have a digital display, multi voltage output for laptop charging and at least two usb ports. I really like the Car Rover display but they all have bugs in the charing system. But I have recharged them all at least 200 times from 0-50% charge and they all still function. The MoKo has a built in cigarette lighter socket but you can get an adaptor that fits in the booster cable socket.

[@RoccoWocco]

Have you had a look at the new version? the new one (TS80P) has 30 watts! kinda crazy considering what this can do

[@AstAMoore]

Bloody USB plugs. “This way. No, turn it around. No, it was actually the right way the first time.”

[@Okurkaarrgghh]

I never had that with a USB-C plug.

[@MitsumaYT]

USB Joke aside, did you know there is actually a standard for the position of USB Type-A? On cables the USB symbol is always printed on top, making the white/blue plastic part the bottom side. On the other end (like a USB hub, mainboard etc.) the plastic bit is on top to match with the "bottom" of the cable. Actually makes it easy to know which side you have to flip Type-A since you just need the cable to be pointed up, with the USB symbol to the top position of the device. So pretty much always point the USB symbol to you. Granted there are the occasional bad cables or products that don't care about this or have a weird form factor to determine top/bottom but most of the time its correct.

[@bartomiej368]

Unless your usb ports are placed vertical...

[@MitsumaYT]

@Bartłomiej Z For the most part it still applies, see mainboards, they have a bottom (backside) and the top where you put things in. Granted if its some other vertical thing it might be more difficult but for most tower PCs for example you have the symbol pointing to you (to the left standing infront, right if you look at the back) and it should fit as the bottom of the mainboard is usually on the right side.

[@JennyEverywhere]

USB plugs are the only 3-sided spatial-anomaly connectors we routinely use. The way it works is you try it one way, it doesn't fit, you flip it to the 2nd side, and it still doesn't fit, then you flip it to the third side and it fits. Perfectly normal once you understand it. The third side doesn't show because it's spatially folded. It's a classic De Broglie twist -- you must reach the third side by perceiving that the other two sides don't fit. That collapses the wave function and the third side presents itself. The USB-C connector, conversely, is the first that makes use of a Mobius topology -- it's actually a one-sided connector. It only appears to be two-sided because of superposition of the single side into a 3-dimensional domain.

[@osterreichischerflochlandl4940]

At 7:45 one can see that the solder iron starts re-heating once it is taken - seems to have an accelerometer/mems/vibration sensor in it. Btw: Another guy (channel ZeroBrain) once tested several of those power meters - take care because some of them have quite high shunt resistors of >30mOhms in there - ok, at 10V that is not as problematic as it is a 5V.

[@chaos.corner]

I think it actually probably just stops heating while in the menus for safety. It's probably not multi-threaded.

[@magnets1000]

The Xiaomi power bank is probably the smallest size you can buy that does 12v QC output. You can't get any smaller AFAIK

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

magnets1000 10000mAh label on a powerbank really means 10000mAh from the 3.7V cells, not on the output. So 37Wh at best, or 2 hours at 18W if you're lucky.

[@OliverWolters]

Yeah, but who is working for more than 2h straight with a soldering iron with nothing more than a powerbank for power supply? An even than, those Xiaomi Powerbanks are quite inexpensive and slim so you can take more than just one with you and you're good.

[@igorzkoppt]

I was quite disappointed with the TS100 when I discovered that the temperature indicator was inaccurate, regardless of the calibration. After noticing that the iron was surprisingly slow at melting stuff, I tested the actual temperatures and I was in for a shock... Clearly, it's a simple scale that goes from 0 to 450 regardless of how much power is actually available for the heating. I noticed a very significant discrepancy depending on the power supply capabilities. "400" was indicated when the actual temperature was only 320 with the original supply.... Of course, with a power supply that matches the max power which it can handle, the values were closer to the indicators', but still quite off by about 15-20 degrees. (The original supply was borderline scam: its name suggested a 24v while it was a 19v only, with limited max current output, I bought a proper one later on. Nothing to do with the Iron manufacturer though) I do like the handling, but I also found that the plastic case looks ultra-cheap for its price. In the end of the day, it's no better than my classic, cheap 60w with temperature adjustment. I don't exclude the possibillity of an old or bad unit, maybe the calibration adjustment is broken, but i doubt it.

[@0202fabrice]

Don't know about the TS100, but its brother TS80 has a calibration function for temperature. Check your user manual.

[@tomgeorge3726]

Hi Dave, I went looking for a manual for the TS80 and all sales outlets say there should be one in the box. Looks like you are one in million.... lol

[@EEVblog]

Ripped off!

[@cannesahs]

that cheat sheet counts as a manual for chinese sellers

[@xRepoUKx]

Got mine today (20 March 2019) - insert only, no manual.

[@rikvdmark]

Nice! Didn't check for chick charge power banks yet! Have one on order right now :)

[@sourekpetr]

I guess, if you use Ralim firwmare you can use it with 12V battery, havent tried yet, but I had read that it should be possible. Only drawback for me are the tips, bought chissel one, but sometimes I would like to use conical tip which I am not able to buy, just yet.

[@Cheese_1337]

I wonder how long the power bank will power up this iron. seems kinda neat! *EDIT:* I calculated that the powerbank could power this iron at 2 amps up to 5 hours, which is enough tho.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Cheese 1337 Sorry, it's 10000mAh at 3.7V. That's how power banks are commonly mislabeled, though this one has a smaller print with the actual numbers.

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

I'm honestly confused by the argument that one can use an RC battery with the TS100. You don't typically see RC batteries with barrel jacks, whereas QC3 typically has USB-A on one end and USB-C on the other. I mean, sure, you can whip up a Deans or XT60 to barrel jack adapter, but you don't even need to do that with a QC3 iron. If a TS100, a pile of LiPo RC batteries, and a bunch of wires and connectors are all you have, then sure, making a barrel jack adapter is understandable. But if you're poking around on Amazon or BangGood and you don't have a portable iron or RC batteries, I'd get the TS80 and a good QC3-capable battery.

[@richardgoebel226]

Dave, ever test or use any of the butane powered soldering irons? The little weenie ones are crap. Master makes a UT-100si which has been a real work horse when no power is available out in the field.

[@Blitterbug]

Nice one, Dave. Don't listen to the idiots. I reckon a fair few are a bit pissed they bought in a bit early into the TS-100 and are now a little bit jealous. To be fair, I'd feel the same (was actually on the brink of ordering one when your first TS-80 video aired).

[@kopierreko]

Hi, I have a SP03 with QC-3, I can charge my MacBook Pro with It, but with the same cable, the TS-80 doesn't boot... Do you have an idea ?

[@Audio_Simon]

This will run on a car battery too, won't it? Car battery is 12.6V and this has a 13V cutoff. I wonder if it could tolerate 14V because when an engine is on the alternator brings it to about 13.8V

[@АлексейДмитриев-ш1ф]

To be more precise, 14.6V at the low ambient temperatures or immediately after the engine start, 14.0V after some time after the engine start and up to 18-19V at fault conditions. This depends on alternator's schematic, but surely you should have some margin to be confident

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Алексей Дмитриев Does that mean a 24V truck peaks outside the allowed input range of the TS-100 ?

[@mohit3189]

You could get a QC3 compatible car plug and a long cable ... don't know about the voltage drop for such long cables though

[@АлексейДмитриев-ш1ф]

John Francis Doe Well, I don't know absolute maximum ratings of TS-100. While engine running on 24V car, the alternator should provide approximately 28 volts. So if TS-100 input ICs (I guess it has one linear stabilizer and one step down converter) is rated above 28 volts, then it should work. You can use step down converter to ensure that you don't exceed the input voltage. Look for LM2596HVS modules if you want this

[@chaos.corner]

Probably not. It has USB-QC negotiation circuitry in it. It's possible it would work but more likely it would refuse to operate or possibly be damaged. If you can find a 12V to QC adapter, you'd be OK but we're back to requiring extra equipment again.

[@seanwieland9763]

Would you mind sharing the dimensions of that Xiaomi QC3 power brick? (And where you bought it?) My Away brand luggage uses a similar one, and I ordered a similar noname (PowerAdd) brand with QC3, but it’s slightly too tall to fit in the luggage pocket.

[@sourekpetr]

And for the USB meter, I am kind of Power-Z guy, especially I like the KM001C for its size, but still not USB-C only so using convertors :-( But in this case it was C to C so it was great to measure between cable and soldering iron.

[@adroid1127]

what would be aproximate runtime for such powerbank?

[@gaoyichuan]

Actually I carry a QC 3.0 18W & USB-PD 65W power bank everyday :)

[@peevzi]

UPVOTE THIS SO PEOPLE ARE AWARE this soldering iron WILL NOT work off ravpower battery banks, I have tried two so far.

[@guillep2k]

There's a video from "The Signal Path" about this soldering iron where I've learned that there are different "quick charge" protocols/standards. This iron only implements one of them. The author of the video inserted a converter in the middle (not unlike Dave here) and everything worked out. I'm not saying it's OK, but at least it's good to know why something doesn't work.

[@peevzi]

I took the simpleton's way out, returned the two battery banks and bought the closest looking one to Dave's :D

[@LeCoffeeStain]

Wish I read this comment sooner :(

[@AdrianSchwizgebel]

Thank you!

[@liquicitizendirk2147]

Also try flashing the modded firmware, it accepts my huawei charger now which before it didn't!

[@uglitor]

Is is hard to ground the tip on these TS80 and TS100 style irons? And how important is the grounding if just doing basic DIY electronic kits and not stuff like laptop/phone repairs?

[@AmazingSpanoMan]

New to the portable soldering world. Who is the manufacturer for the ts80? I search for it and find so many people selling it.

[@derkaiser9881]

Could you use a QC 3.0 battery bank with the TS-100?

[@DirtyRobot]

Beware of the KZbin expert syndrome. Especially the Drone twats who learnt how to solder six months ago and are now electronics ninjas.

[@kain0m]

Well, I never carry a USB power bank, but whenever I carry my TS-100, I also have a bag full of LiPos. And yes, a lot of "KZbin drone folks" can't solder to save their life, but to be honest - 18W is NOT going to cut it for some of that stuff. 12AWG wires to thick ground planes (far thicker than regular PCBs, with thermal vias inbetween) are a challenge to solder. But I can also appreciate that not everybody will see the need for that. No need to call them "twats" though.

[@Blitterbug]

Dave just showed this pulling 20W from a power bank, not 18... It's configurable up to 24W if your bank is meaty enough.

[@DavidMG99]

Nice one..😂😂😂😁😁😀😀

[@kruppin]

This ts80 drew over 20w when soldering on the ground plane, and it did it well, thanks to good thermal capacity. TS-100 on the other hand I haven't seen draw more than 15w when I solder high demanding ground planes etc, and it has much less thermal capacity, so unless you do ALOT of wires in very fast succession ts80 should actually be better. One thing ts100 is better with is heating time ofc, when used with 19v or more. If used on lower voltages its almost same wattage as ts80 anyway and in those cases ts80 is WAY better.

[@alchemicalanarchist]

The new tip design is superior to the old metal tips. A mere 20watt Iron can now out preform a 80 watt Weller or Hakko 888d that has the old style tips.

[@felixcat4346]

This 70 dollar soldering iron will make it handy to burn you tag in the desks at school.

[@jorgetucson8196]

Joseph Nicholas you are one smart guy

[@acmild]

Darn I was just about to do that, now the teachers would have known wouldn’t they?

[@OneManSmoke]

Hi Dave great reviews buddy. Do you have a source we can buy the tips from?

[@therealb888]

Hey Dave you should try the Unisolder board.

[@PsiQ]

next follow up: use it with a usb-c cable, with usb-c both ends. does it work better ? the c-plug should be able to work with less voltage drop/higher currents...

[@MalagasOnFire]

This is far better than the cheaper USB model and would be nicer to get it to work on the 5V at 1.5A. The TS100 is in another ranking since it has more power to it ,at cost of lower portability....

[@krabokiller]

7.5watts? for bug frying?

[@MalagasOnFire]

That was the power of previous USB soldering iron ... yeah that doesn't do much... thin wires, a couple of THT components

[@tripzero0]

What about USB PD on the USB-C port on the power bank? USB PD spec can go up to 20V 5A. I wonder if it only supports QC and not the proper USB PD standard.

[@johncoscia5258]

Would this not show if the RUIDEN can connect to a QC-2 old standard power bank ? Be handy .

[@eddiekytia]

CA ANYONE HELP ME.....I thought the power bank was 5v but the usb meter was reading 10v.... I'm asking because I DO NEED A PORTABLE SOLDERING IRON..... thank you for any help you can provide me

[@TheOnlyPsycho]

The only issue, at least for now, is that there aren't any good size tips, like a smaller chisel tip.

[@aguilaneth]

If you need the manual you can download it in pdf format..just google TS 80 user manual download

[@VeggeMight]

Really wish i bought this instead of the ts100 it came out a week after i bought mine.

[@mohit3189]

The TS100 is neat...only thing you'll miss is the tip to grip distance. The Type C vs Barrel jack thing depends on your use case :)

[@portraitonetelo1897]

Video is almost a year old. Not sure if you have found a way to get it to work with 5v. Anyway, long story short.. there is a custom firmware available that lets your TS80 do just that.. use your average 5v adapter or a power bank to juice up your iron Fyi.

[@nathan8703]

thats a QC2.0 powerbank but outputs 18Watt still. whats the limit of this soldering line input type C goes much higher then 18watt with a pd power source

[@GeoffreyFeldmanMA]

On the card that is not a manual did you notice the line "For Firmware update" - that might give you 5v operation?

[@abeleski]

i finally figured out what your "YMMV" acronyms in comments mean....*face palm* DOH!

[@reaktoringstech]

Maybe we can buid an USB Power Delivery Adapter for ts100. PD Supports Up to 20 volts. I think then it's maybe an alternative for the ts80.

[@hvili79]

which is better um25c or um34c?

[@MisterCOM]

i think that its just a lot of people that where in to rc stuff where the first to realy find the ts100 and are kind of biased but i gues that so am i since i picked one up for around 50 European pesos as my first iron since i wanted something decent but i didnt have the room for a proper station

[@PTFuZi]

There's an alternative fw for it to work with 5v supply (low power). Also ts80 doesn't work on Apple Usb-c chargers..

[@Jin-Ro]

Another reason Apple sucks

[@andremeissner9886]

There might be another reason why this black part screws off: Both the Weller tips and these have this metal cylinder on which the 3,5 connector is mounted. The Weller ones are shorter and therefore may not fit on the TS80. I assume this is to overcome patent issues with Weller. But what if you just screwed off this black bottom part? Does that make it compatible with Weller tips?

[@kain0m]

No, there is a replacement rubber grip piece which one can mount instead of the plastic grip piece.

[@avejst]

Thanks for sharing 😀👍 Interesting stuff 👍

[@chaos.corner]

Dave, I have a test for you. What happens if you plug this into a non-QC supply that is already running at 10 or 20V without needing the negotiation? Does it fail to fire or just keep right on going (or take it badly and die?). If it just works, a lot of the criticism would be a moot point.

[@dnb5661]

I like how the designers of that soldering iron used a headphone connection 😂.

[@Numian]

It looks so out of the place, right? :-D Next version will have HDMI there! :-) But it's nice iron, thats for sure.

[@juozask.446]

weller uses that too

[@alfoncejean8826]

this is definitely nice but sorry if im using a low power soldering iron I want somthing that works form everyting ie including 5V usb (im noot expeting the moon at 5V thought) if not I still prefer the ts 100 (ie the guy that caries a power suply evrywere), for realy out of the way places gaz is nice. so yea would be perfec but that firware limitation is a killer at least for me.

[@the-shork]

there's custom firmware that removes that limitation! It's great

[@johncoscia5258]

Great explanation , only did you test the T80 on a power bank already QC-3 functional ? W

[@sykskysyk]

Still waiting for the USB Power Delivery compatible version...

[@shiruba2004]

Me too. As it stands, the ts80 is in some ways better than the ts100, but worse in other ways. If it supported usb p. d., then it could have equivalent power and work with chargers for things like the MacBook and ThinkPad carbon

[@PlayingWithAndi]

My TS80 shuts off after about 20 seconds when I'm using a BlitzWolf BW-PF2 QC 3.0 power bank rated at 9V/2A output regardless of if I'm in heating, setting, or main menu.. I have tried running on different firmware such as stock 1.06, custom 1.06s, official 1.07, and even some random one. No luck yet, do you know what the problem might be and how I can solve it? Is it the power bank itself that is the problem? I really like the small size of it and I'd rather not replace it if possible.

[@OmairArif]

I tried FIVE QC 3.0 Power Banks and this happens with all of them, I haven't found a solution, but I know what the issue is. Most smarter power banks have an auto-sleep feature, where if there is no power being drawn it will shut off is self off. This makes sense in most scenarios, like when your phone is done charging. The issue is the the soldering iron draws current when it needs to heat up, but draws almost nothing when it is cooling down or at the desired temperature. This results in the power bank turning it self off. The Firmware version 1.06s was supposed to fix this, by drawing some power every few seconds to "reset" the power banks shut off timer, but at least for me it didn't work. The feature was added into 1.07 and is the setting called "source", but it still doesn't work for me. The only work arounds I know of are 1) live with it, 2) plug a light or something into the second usb port (if your power bank has one), or 3) either buy the Xiaomi Powerbank 2 Pro Dave has or keep searching for a powerbank that works. The brands I have tried and didn't work are EasyACC, Anker, UGreen, Rock, and Omars.

[@dhpbear2]

1:34: Crocodile clips! In the USA, we call them alligator clips!

[@marcoaurelio4903]

In Brazil we called "Garra jacaré" or "Jacarezinho"

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

David Perkins Because different local animals from same "family"