Equipment . Yihua 853D Solder Station

DIY STUFF
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For years I have struggled by with an old Antex standard Iron ( we had them at school and they were better than the Weller so I was brand loyal). Over time I lost, purchased replacement, found, broke, replaced… Etc… So I had 3 Antex and 1 cheap but usable Chinese thing.

They were all OK for intermediate work . So poor for solering on car wires, and poor for intricate work.

Having decided to become more interested in building and repair electronics I had to get something a bit better.

I started looking and almost bought something for £60 that I can’t even remember what it was. I randomly ( I think this was Boxing Day ) found the Yihua 853D , reviews were a mix of Great, Ok and Dreadful ( I think the latter was from Pro’s so not really fair )…

Strangely I found some on ebay that were clones for £9.99. So I ordred two!! days later ebay informed me the Member is no longer on ebya etc… So still waiting on paypal to resolve… Anyway I had not spotted they were only 110V so would have been a pain anyway.

I found a UK seller of the Genuine (who knows if it is or not!) unit for ~£60 and purchased that.

Not sure this is the same seller but this is the item…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3in1-YIHUA-853D-Soldering-Iron-USB-2A-Rework-Station-Desolder-Hot-Air-Gun-Nozzle/383375697290?hash=item5942f8e58a:g:uX4AAOSwM81eIXMM

It arrived 2 days later and hte box was of sufficient quality to reasure me that it was not total junk.

The Device is marketed as a SMD rework station, but at present I am not at the stage of working with SMD. But the hot air gun that’s part of the unit is good for general heat work like heat shrink.

The unit basicaly comprises
Temperature Controlled Iron
Heat Gun
Variable PSU
Volt Meter.

I have been using the iron over the last couple of weeks to do some general repairs on a Yamaha DX21 and it’s quite nicly weighted and heats up well. It has enough grunt for large guagestuff as well and comes with a wide selection of tips ( probably be unavailable in two years unlike Antex stuff ). I have also done a few other jobs like the pin headers on an arduino nano and it provides a lot more confidence than the older irons. My son is presently building 20 DMX cables and has not complained or asked me to do it!

480C is the max temp on both heat sources with 100 and 200 being the low point for Air/Iron respectivly.

Supposedly there is a calibration option, I don’t have an independent temperature sensor that goes to 480C to hand.

The heat gun I have used a couple of times, I think this will require a lot of getting used to as I was practicing on an old PCB and the track seemed to be bubbling!!! But I am sure it will come in useful.

The power supply bit seems ok, I am not sure how accurate the output is compared to the setting as it did not seem to match what my Fluke was saying at lower voltages.

And finally the test meter I have not bothered with yet, it’s a shame that you can’t use the PSU and meter at the same time.

It will display Fahrenheit for those that can understand it… (all I know is that at 451f is supposedly the ignition point of paper… )

Overall for the money it seems to be a reasonable entry level iron for the more serious amateur. I certainly won’t be usign the old irons except in unusual circumstances.

I do have two complaints about it.

  1. there is no solder roll dispenser, this is a pain when you knock the roll over and the cat plays chase…

  2. the cord on the iron is a little short, the base unit is quite large and has to be kept within about 50cm of the work area to allow for flexibility of movement…

Cheers

Rob

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I had one and the soldering side was ok but the SMD rework heat gun is dangerous, mine self ignited and blew the house trip. I had to remove the whole thing from the unit as it had melted and although you can ‘in theory’ turn it off it is still live. Binned the heatgun and blanked off the holes it left and still use the iron as its actually very good, the tip holds its form and remains pretty clean even under heavy use. power supply is useful but not great and the test meter is adequate.

TBH i wouldn’t buy another. better to pay a bit more for a branded model form a reputable manufacturer. ‘buy cheap buy twice’ is the moral here I think.

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Anything I looked at was 3+ Times the price for a brand that I may have recognized with similar features.

One of the big problems is that the original real manufactures ( or at least the one that contracted “Construction Plant” ) may have specified decent parts and build. But the “Plant” and the 500+ Fakers they have sold out too will sell any garbage they can get away with…

So It may be real, fake or very fake!

For the amount of use this one is going to get, I could not justify any greater expense and the Iron station alone was also cheaper than basic ones from BIG brands.

I half expect it to fail at some point and am ready not for disappointment but confirmation of expectation… In fact that’s how I work “Glass half empty” Start with low expectations and then things can generally only be a nice surprise…

Rob

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It’s really a crapshoot with those things. Sam had that desoldering station and it seems to have worked for him really well-my take is that he QA is shoddy and it can be really well engineered but the manufacturing and QA is very much a roll of the dice if it doesn’t have a trusted brand name on it.

(I hope you weren’t hurt in that incident, @sketchie!)

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not hurt but it could have been dangerous :+1:

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yeah spotting fakes is a real problem these days! I’m still using the unit as the soldering station part is ok and good enough for me at the current time :wink: :+1:

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Fake SD/USB are my bug bare. It’s just a waste of time for me and “eBay” don’t care that these fakes are ripping people off and destroying their data,

Rob

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The 853 is still going ok, Used probably daily for a few mins easily. Some days for much longer.

Son uses the hot air for Heat Shrink.

PSU gets used all the time for tesing. but the meter never.

Will think about a TS100 for the other location and see how that compares…

Would never have got all my ideas done with my crappy old Irons.

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Hey team, just looking for suggestions for a good super budget hot air station. I recall someone suggesting one in another thread but search is failing.
So alternatives to the 853D?

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858D mentioned recently here and following:

and was favorably reviewed on the EEVblog YouTube channel.

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Okies, and maybe some “newb” qs I’d appreciate opinions on:

Differences between 858 and 853 is the PSU and Soldering capabilities of the 853? From what i can tell there’s not alot of price difference ($10) or am I looking an non genuine 853s?

Is the PSU/Soldering iron on the 853 actually valuable?

Is @analogoutput always on here? As he’s usually the first to reply. P:

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I have a team of ghost writers.

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I never really considered the 853 because I already have two decent soldering irons (an holder Hakko clone, and a TS100) and have limited desk space. In fact the hakko clone tends to gather dust anymore and is out in my shop because the TS100 takes up so much less space, heats up quicker, and is just all around more enjoyable for me to use.

It looks like the 853’s soldering iron is another Hakko clone like mine and probably takes the same tips. Though I did find with my genuine Hakko tips didn’t fit as well - (the heating element was slightly oversized and got stuck in genuine tips when I tried some.)

My thinking was I don’t do SMD as often so don’t want to give up desk space for something I don’t use very often. So having the small stand alone 858D it’s easier to tuck it on a shelf when I’m not using it.

If you have a big desk and need an iron the the 853 may not be bad. But I love my TS100 and unless I find something like a Metcal at an estate or garage sale being sold for way too little I don’t see myself using anything else for through hole in the near future.

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