Found out my soldering iron tip was 50 degrees off from what it said

Checked it with a cheap thermocouple I grabbed off Amazon last week and turns out my $80 Hakko was running way hotter than the dial said for months. I had been cooking boards instead of soldering them. Anyone else ever check their station temp and find a big surprise?

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2 Comments

wade7805mo ago

Man I felt this one, my old Weller was off by about 60 degrees and I was melting everything for months before I caught it. What temp were you actually hitting vs what it said?

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finley_harris55mo ago

Yeah my Hakko was reading 350 but an IR gun showed it was actually around 390. That extra 40 degrees made a mess of a fine pitch QFP package, lifted a couple pads before I figured it out. Bought a tip thermometer the next day.

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