![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.hakko.com\/english\/images\/products\/products_hakko_fx901_img.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe\u00a0Hakko FX-901<\/a>. It’s a battery-powered (alkaline or NiMH) handheld soldering unit that boasts about an hour of effective (300\u00baC) runtime on 4 AA alkaline batteries, or up to two hours (with far more stable temperature) on 4 NiMH rechargeables.<\/p>\n Replaceable tips in the typical Hakko style make it a pretty flexible unit. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Any other suggestions are more than welcome, as well as comments and discussion on the topic.
\nThe unit itself is kind of unweildy however, with the battery compartment making up a rather bulky handle.
\nI have one of these, but haven’t really had a chance to play with it yet, so I can’t make too many comments on real-world performance. It’s not a wallet-buster at around $40 shipped from Amazon, and\u00a0B+D Enterprises<\/a>\u00a0has the extra tips for a reasonable cost. Seriously don’t get the tips from Amazon, you’ll pay at least $10 more.
\nThe base unit includes the more expensive conical B-shape tip, so the D chisel tip is only an extra $13 or so from B+D.<\/p>\n![\"1860831442237758384\"](\"https:\/\/www.thepoorgeek.com\/techblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/1860831442237758384-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>This one<\/a> I discovered today when browsing\u00a0hackaday.com<\/a>. It’s a Hakko controller clone, with a boost regulator and LiPo battery attached – and can also run directly off a 12V supply, like your vehicle accessory outlet. The controller interface layout and case design was done by\u00a0Xavier Werquin<\/a>, and he’s done a magnificent job here.
\nI’ve looked at these controller clone boards on eBay for awhile, mostly to make a small but low-cost workbench unit, but the fact that this works so well makes it worthy of mention.
\nThe boards are available for anywhere between $15 and $30 on eBay, and typically use the inexpensive Hakko 907 handle, which also supports replaceable tips. A simple search on\u00a0eBay<\/a>\u00a0will net you a bunch of results, some which include the handle.
\nIf you watch the video on the project page, the iron doesn’t heat up anywhere nearly as fast as my FM-202 (which goes to operating temp in <10sec), but it does get up there pretty quickly. I don’t know if this is due to the controller, the battery, or the type of iron itself.
\nOverall, this ends up a little pricier than the FX-901 above, but\u00a0gives you workbench-class soldering capability in a package that’s fairly easy to carry around.
\nI can’t wait to build one.<\/p>\n
\nEventually we’ll re-open the forum for further discussions, but we’ve gotta figure out a good spam shield first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"