Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station FX-888D FX-888 (blue & yellow)

Ive been doing electronics work for a long time - both for fun and at radio stations and my home recording studio - and Ive used a lot of irons. Ive used mostly the pencil sort and not paid any attention to how worn the tip was and such, because Ive always thought of the extras more as frills, and if I can do surface-mount laptop motherboard repairs with a 25w Weller, why do I need anything else? Because it makes life easier, thats why, and I was an idiot. Sure, its not as portable, and I still have my pencil irons for when I have to reach into cabinet equipment, but on the whole I wish Id had one of these 10 years ago. Mostly I just love the speed; theres no wait to speak of for heat up or cool-down, you dont have to dive in and out super-quickly for temperature-sensitive components, and, most of all, I dont have to worry so much about some of that stupidly fragile (and heat-sensitive) insulation thats floating around out there in audio cables these days. I havent had to re-do a cable end due to insulation heat failure since I bought this iron, and I _very_ much like that. I put extra tips in the back behind the metal sponge, and it all just fits together nicely. Its a lovely little design. If you dont like the looks - and I think it looks fine, I dont know what people are complaining about - wait till its out of warranty and paint it. But buy it, regardless. Its a good little iron.

Great products !!!

This is my first soldering station and I may have burnt myself lightly (completely my fault haha), but it gets the job done amazingly, even with my unsteady hands.

Ill begin by saying that I dont have very much experience when it comes to soldering. I have owned a butane Weller for a while that I use for soldering wires and large components, but I recently started working with circuit boards both at work and as a hobby. I decided that a decent, temperature-controlled soldering station was a good investment, and went with the Hakko on my fathers recommendation. I took the FX-888 to work to compare it side-by-side with their Weller WES51 stations and was blown away at the difference. To be fair, the Wes51 had a used tip vs. the FX-888s brand new one, but neither was oxidized. The Hakko heated up slightly faster, tinned slightly easier, and was generally a pleasure to work with. The Hakkos cord between the iron and station is also lighter and more flexible - a small detail that I noticed right away. The inclusion of the brass sponge and rubber tip cleaners in addition to the standard sponge is very welcome, and having them all right there in the stand means that you wont have extra items cluttering your desk. I do wish it came with a smaller tip, either a conical tip or a smaller spade. It is also impossible to find tips for the Hakko locally - a problem I wouldnt have with a Weller, since theres a supplier in the area - but I knew both of these issues before I bought it, and they arent major. Overall, Im loving this iron. Its within the budget of a serious hobbyist, but I feel certain it could be used every day at work with no problems.

Ive been soldering for about 55 years and am an electronic hobbyist. In the 50s, I had a Weller gun. It looked like a gun, had a trigger like a gun and worked fine on radios and TVs that I worked on. As electronics got smaller and more sensitive to overheating, I switched to a Weller or Unger iron. I think one has since bought the other. These irons and 1/8 tiplets served me very well for many years. The only problem was that the tiplet would eventually break and need replacement. They are threaded but it is impossible to get the old one out unless you drill it out. Too much work so I just bought a new heating element and put in a new tiplet. My tiplet broke and I decided to search the internet. Perhaps someone had by now figured out a way to replace the tiplet without drilling. No luck, but I kept seeing replies that essentially said toss your Unger and get a Hakko soldering station. If youve looked at soldering stations, you will see that prices are all over the place with some too expensive for a simple hobbyist like me. I think you could find something for less but then I dont know if it would be as well rated. So, I purchased this unit. I really dont need precise temperature calibration so I just set the dial in the middle. The reason that I like temperature regulation is that the the iron heats up extremely fast, about 15 seconds to melt solder. Im so old that I cant afford to wait 3 to 5 minutes just to solder one joint. Temperature regulation also ensures that the iron wont cool off if you have several joints to solder. I also like the very small handle and very flexible cord. The smaller handle gives you better control when you have to very accurately position the tip. It wasnt clear which tip the unit came with so I ordered a D16 chisel point separately. I was afraid it would come with a pencil tip which I dont like because its sometimes hard to put enough heat into the joint. It did come with the small chisel tip I prefer so I should have waited to order the extra tip. The two tips will outlast me, Im sure. Lastly, the base unit comes with a sponge and a metal cleaning wire which looks like a cross between a Brillo pad and a wad of metal shavings. This seems to work pretty well. Ive always just used paper napkins to remove excess solder and clean the tip. This is not a perfect process as sometimes solder goes places where you wish it wouldnt. Like, I have a solder-splash shaped tatoo on one foot. The quality of this unit looks very good on the outside. There is an article online which shows how to modify this unit so that the light on front indicates ON as well as Tip Heating. As it is, the light only shows when the tip is heating so one might be concerned about leaving the unit on because there isnt an ON light. I wont make this mod because Im very careful about leaving stuff powered. The point here is that the article gave me a chance to see what the guts of the base unit looked like and it also looks to be of high quality. Soldering is not that hard, but there is a learning curve. I would recommend this unit to beginners as well as experienced solderers because it just makes it more easier to make precision joints where connections are closely spaced and parts are more heat sensitive. If youre just soldering railroad track together, you dont need this. For IC and microprocessor work, this unit will save you time by not having to rework cold or bridged joints.

I love this soldering iron, it heats in less than 15 secs and the quality is very good. Im not a professional but I using the soldering station very often and this one is the best you can get for the money. Hakko is one of the best brands on the market.

I bought one of these to use at home -- at my workplace we have JBC soldering irons and I can say without a doubt that this Hakko doesnt compare. The interface is annoying, but you really only need to input your desired settings once and then you can forget about it. It takes a little while to heat up but nothing too unreasonable. My main complaint is that it feels very cheap. The iron itself feels light and hollow and the iron only came with one tip, which is a little to large for most of the small soldering work I do. Ive noticed that it also has a hard time heating up joints that are grounded -- or really anything with a lot of heat capacity. Overall it works fine but its nothing super impressive. Id recommend that you order a few extra tips because it only comes with one.

It’s nice but overkill for hobby work. It heats in seconds and once hot it idles along at reasonable power levels. I cannot seem to get to the presets, the up arrow button does nothing unless you you hold it down to get to the adj settings. However, for this price it should come with a few more tips. The provided one is only good for heavier stuff, you wouldn’t use it to put pigtails on the leads of to92 parts. I’ve had a lot of soldering equipment in 40 years but always pretty much took them for granted, a good station was just not that important. I also bought a $24 kit that honestly is as good as my ancient weller and would serve my purposes now but the quality and solidity of this Hakko is something I appreciate.

Ive been a technician for over 30 years and always used the big W brand soldering stations at work. I finally decided I wanted a decent station at home -- instead of a direct plug-in type pencil. I looked at the usual suspects but decided to try simple instead of high tech. Hey, all I want is a soldering pencil, not a flashy tech toy. This little guy has a classic retro kind of Art Deco of look to him. From the photos here you might think that the brightly colored bodies of this Hakko station are plastic. Theyre not. Everything is cast metal, maybe aluminum or more likely pot metal. It feels very sturdy and solid and definitely not like cheepo plastic. The bright color is baked on and matte in finish. The unit is quite heavy (transformer) as well as sturdy and simple. You dont get a fancy digital temp readout or glitzy high tech gizmos to impress your non-techie friends. This is a simple and competent iron with good temperature control and a nice solid feel to it. It would be nice if it came with a few more tips but the one supplied is the type of chisel point I use most often. The price could be more reasonable but its made in Malaysia and not China. If the heating element is reliable then this little guy could last indefinitely. Although I didnt look Im sure the temp control circuit is very basic and reliable. Ive used it for three projects and it works great. It heats up to mid dial @700F in 30 seconds and is immediately responsive to temperature loads. I like it.

Paul Carlson of “Mr. Carlson’s Lab” uses one. Mark from “Blueglow Electronics” uses one. 90% of every EE video I see has an FX888D in the background. That’s enough of an endorsement. I bought one and love it. Temperature control is not as bad as everyone claims. It heats up quickly and adjusts the newly-set temperature quickly. The grip is wonderful. It’s such an improvement over any Weller. I *do* wish the iron stand/holder had more heft to it but that’s about it.