Chinese DeSoldering Guns

[Perkinsman]

I saw a well known brand (think royal blue and yellow) advertising their latest model desolder gun for about 1/4 the normal price. The company selling the product is from China. Does anyone have any experience with them? I'm thinking it sounds too good to be true.

[Mick Bailey]

Always clones/fakes/replicas - call them what you will. Not necessarily junk, but not the genuine thing. I've just ordered a clone of the FG-100 solder tip thermometer but its branded Daniu rather than the company passing it off as Hakko. I am under no illusion that it's anywhere near the same quality, but all the reviews point to it being very close in terms of accuracy. The Chinese do a fairly good job on the outside in terms of a convincing presentation, but inside the units is where the build quality isn't there. Sometimes, in the case of the Chinese T-12 solder stations such as KSGER with the OLED display, they make no attempt to clone the original and just use the T12/T15 tips and the performance, build quality and functionality of the station is superb. The cost saving is in the tip construction and hand piece assembly but genuine tips and if desired a genuine handpiece as well. In many ways the programming and menu options on the clone are superior.

I've no doubt that a clone desolder gun will work just fine. I bought a Chinese desolder station quite a while back just to get me by and it's been used pretty much every day as my main desolder station. In this case it isn't a clone or knock-off of anything and was (is) sold by CPC/Farnell in the UK and is also rebranded RS Pro by RS Components.

[galaxiex]

I got one of these....

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/110V-S-993A-...AAAOSwRn9eN7sh

It works ok. Seems well made.

I have no experience with name brand types, Hakko etc, so can't compare.

It needs diligent and careful cleaning if you use it often, and sometimes during a big de-solder job.

I did have an element burn out after many hours of use, but the element and other parts are available.

[TomCarlos]

Needing a mediocre unit for occasional work, I bought the Anesty Removal Rework Station ZD-915. The ZD-915 is sold under other manufacturer names. For $140 delivered, it works well. You can find YouTube videos on the various makers of this unit.

[Mick Bailey]

That's the one I have. I got it maybe when they first became available in the UK and wasn't expecting much but I've been really pleased with the performance. Mine originally had a heat-resistant plastic chamber and a conical spring, but they changed that in the more recent versions to a glass chamber and different spring. They do a retrofit parts kit for the older solder guns for around £3 ($4) and it makes cleaning much easier and improves the vacuum. I think with any desolder station it can be condemned by poor technique and with having it for so long now in daily use I don't give a second thought to getting a component off undamaged. I'd like a Pace, Metcal or whatever if I saw one at a good (cheap) price, but I'm happy with how this has worked out.

Edit: I just checked the tip temperature. With the display reading 310 degrees centigrade the measured temperature is 305 degrees. Not bad for a cheap station. The difference is probably down to thermal coupling losses between the element, sleeves and tip.