[HH] Hakko FX-888 Soldering Iron Review

[Tom Metro]

An Australian blogger reviews a Chinese knockoff of a Hakko FX-888
Soldering Iron:

http://electronicsreviewsblog.info/hakko-fx-888-soldering-iron-review-teardown-chinese-version/

  Unfortunately, if you were hoping for the exact same electronics as
  the standard Australian retail version, you'll be disappointed. As you
  can see from the photos below the main circuit board is quite
  different and much simpler than the original. Gone is the custom
  microcontroller and in its place is a much simpler analog design.

  The construction quality isn't bad...

  Turns out it actually performs pretty well and I really quite like it.
  I don't have a temperature measuring device, but I suspect the tip
  maintains a pretty constant temperature...


Also embedded on the page is a video from EEVBlog that shows how to hack
the real Hakko FX-888 to have a constantly lit up LED when it is powered
on (the factory design has the LED briefly blink on occasionally; odd
design choice for something that isn't battery powered). In the process
they show the internals and provide a review of sorts. (This seems to be
the iron recommended by the EEVBlog guy.)

 -Tom