I'd buy that for a $: Retro bargains

Some cheapo arcade1ups for 30 quid each on donedeal:

https://www.donedeal.ie/games-for-sale/arcade-machines/36931444

Ya I got a while back, honestly only used it few times - nothing wrong with it but the Hakko is always on the bench ready to go so its get used for everything.

Have a TS100 but picked up a Pine64 'Pinecil' for USB-C ease of use and use the same tips. It's the only iron I use now really. If/whenever I setup a workbench I'd prob just keep it and get a good stand (recommendations please!). If someone was setting up a bench or wanted the best from day one, yup I'd suggest they go Hakko.

Tips are different for the T65 shown there compared to the TS100/Pinecil from memory.

Haha I'm going through the analysis paralysis big time at the moment! So many options these days.

That Lytool station has a nice heavy base to it, feels quality. I prefer the newer style tips that have the heating element inside the tip itself though, and moved away from those old Hakko T18 style tips. Some of the more modern soldering irons / stations have faster heat up time and better temperature regulation and thermal recovery but for general soldering the Lytool should be enough for you.

Thanks for the feedback lads, it's between the Alientek T65 and FNIRSI HS-02 now. More analysis paralysis to get through!

Small pliers and an old ashtray are your friend for this, you can pull them out and leave them to cool down in the ashtray

If you don't bother putting the screw that keeps it in place on, you could do as Kerbdog said but if you're putting pressure on the tip itz possible it could rotate against the component you're soldering.

I have a second handle for my KSGER T12 that has no lock in screw, and you can easily pull the tip straight out. Or I can just switch handles by unscrewing the connector that goes into the soldering station and pop the other one in.

Found another seller on AliExpress that ships the FNIRSI from Spain. It's a little more expensive but at least you're not waiting 4 weeks for it. I'll post up a link and some accessories after I'm paralysed!

Its the nut I meant, was going to say screwy thing originally! 🤣

Went with this seller that ships from France, had a higher seller rating than the one that shipped from Spain:

Just went for the base model. The carrying case won me over more than the Alientek iron.

Ordered some extra tips from here, a chisel tip and a large horshoe tip:

Also ordered this silicone usb type c cable that's especially for soldering irons just incase it touches off the iron :

There's a funny stress test video of it here

Just spotted these LED light boxes for various arcade games on AliExpress.

If the photos are not processed in any way,.I think they look fabulous:

Picked this up for less than 10euro for my Pinecil soldering iron, perfect - no more risk of it slipping off the desk and burning things/me. Would also suit the TS100/TS101

@Doge let us know what the new iron is like will you, I may just grab one if it's any good...or maybe two (be super handy for having different tips to hand)

The soldering iron came today. The tracking number provided didn't work and it was delivered with Fastway - just something to be aware of with the seller. It came with a fine conical tip instead of the knife / diagonal shaped tip in the pic. EEVBLOG on YouTube advises not to use conical tips but I guess they might come in handy for really small joints.

Bottom line, despite the superior tip technology I think I will use it as a portable iron. The buttons are nice and clicky but a little fiddly using the menu sysrem. I prefer the dedicated encoder and push button on my Ksger T12 station which I can use with my other hand. The ksger has a tip profile menu where you can calibrate the temperature per tip, the fnirsi only has a global temperature calibration.

the 3 temperature presets are handy though and it's a matter of one button press to cycle thorough them. 300, 330 and 360 are the defaults. so if 3 presets are all you need them go for it. I just prefer to have one hand on the iron and one hand on the station, as that's what I'm used to.

I couldn't seem to turn it off also. Theres a stand by and sleep function which will reduce it to a temperature you can set. Only way I could turn it off completely is to unplug the usb C cable.

It does heat up faster than everything I've seen beforE, almost makes the ksger seem slow even though that's quick too! had it hooked upto a 100W USB C charger with a USB C cable which has an led digit display embedded in the connector and it did indeed use the full 100 watts on power on.

It probably won't go over 40W after that though.

It felt nice in the hand although a little chunky.

if you're short deskspace and don't change temperature often then it's worth getting, if not then go for the ksger. There's mini versions of those stations too. Hope this helps.

Would you believe the t12 tip is so long that it leans up against the duratool stand too! But at least it's metal and not some plastic composite material like on my old stand.

I was also going to recommend this Jakemy JMY-02 plus electric precision screwdriver I have but it seems to be out of stock everywhere and is discontinued. Old video of the standard model:

the plus model just comes with more bits and a magnetizer / demagnetizer which is to really handy for magnetizing your bits. It has a torque setting from one to eight. You can get another model that just has a 4 torque settings too but I love the better range of selectable torque on my model, there's no detents either between the numbers, unlike the 4 torque settings in the jm-y05 . It really speeds up opening laptops and phones and I haven't stripped any screws with it.Only charged it up when I received it and the battery I'd still going despite owning it to months.

Some the of the YouTube videos are funny where they are butchering it, not setting the torque correctly, not using the correct size bits and using it to put screws in wood or try and unscrew larger screws like the ones in ATX PSUs which it's clearly not designed for!

Here the other model with 4 selectable torque settings if anyone's interested:

https://www.jakemy.com/product/jm-y05/

Completely understandable, you can set the torque so low that it's not an issue, you just need to be careful. Manually turning the screw just to loosen it a bit at the start and then engaging the motor works wonders too.

Stunning looking screen tbf. I'm sure the market for these screens/prices is quite small here in Ireland, but if it sells then someone's getting a cracker of a screen (and contact with a guy who'll always be able to fix it if it breaks - he's a crt savant.)

Nice little 14inch Trini on adverts for 50e

If anyone bought the Duratool D03171 solding iron stand for their Pinecil, just found a 3D print model which will aid it fitting snug

Doesn't touch the tip, grips the iron handle itself. Could do with a mod to hold the tube insert from the original holder - but seems ok. Not used in anger yet

I gave away a 29" one, but that was over ten years ago.

Thanks !! Just ordered one for a tenner, my original one fails to boot most of the time so this will be a bargain replacement.

18 for me. But i bought a similar one a month ago for 20-25, so will only grab this one if its 10 :)

Tried logging out and logging in with another account I've never used an now it's showing at 10.68 again.

Must see if there are any other bargains to be had for a new account!