Hakko T12 tips and using them in a non-Hakko soldering station.

I use a variety of tools in my work, but one of the most important tools for an electronics engineer is a soldering iron—perhaps the most important one.
Soldering irons come in many different types. I mentioned one kind of mini soldering station in one of my reviews a while back.
But I also have a second soldering station, which needs consumables in the form of tips. That’s what this article is about.

I use my second soldering station much less often, partly because its tips are quite expensive. In local stores, a tip costs about as much as a soldering iron—around 10–15 dollars.
Soldering irons can be divided into several categories.
The simplest type has a copper tip and a nichrome heating element insulated with mica.
A more modern type uses a ceramic heater with a bimetallic tip fitted over it.
Tips with an integrated heater.
Induction soldering irons.

The first two types have been reviewed here many times. The fourth is rarely seen because it’s quite expensive.
I decided to review tips for soldering irons in the third category.

After lead-free soldering became common, it turned out that these jobs are a bit harder to do with a regular soldering iron, so I bought a soldering station with that in mind.
I went for a relatively inexpensive option: the Aoyue 2738 station.
Sorry about the photo. I couldn’t find one of exactly the same model as mine without advertising, and mine isn’t very photogenic. But the one in the photo is exactly like the one I use at home.


It’s quite convenient to use, and I especially like how quickly the iron heats up: from room temperature to 350 degrees in 13 seconds (the station signals when it reaches the set temperature).
The heater in these tips is rated at 70 W, with a resistance of about 8.5 Ω.
But the station came with just one type of tip, and that wasn’t enough for me.
Then I came across an article online saying that Hakko soldering station tips are compatible with this station.
So I ended up with a set of these tips to review.

I won’t show the packaging, but they came in a neat resealable bag.


The set includes 5 tips of different types.
I counted about 85 Hakko tips with built-in heaters, but you probably don’t need that many in real life (though I’d really like to have them all :) )



This is the soldering iron these tips were bought for.
The iron has a fume extractor and connects to the station's compressor.


Changing tips takes seconds. The design is like an audio connector, which is very convenient.
But there's also a small drawback, which I'll get to later.
As you can see, the original tip (with black insulation) is shorter.



After installing the new tip, it became clear that I could safely remove the fume extractor, since it was now completely pointless. The iron is actually easier to use without it, though it's more harmful.


But I ran into a small problem here.
After installing the new tip and connecting it to the soldering station, the station beeped to indicate that the soldering iron wasn't connected.
A closer look showed that the contact section of the tips is slightly different.
As you can see in the photo, the insulating rear section of the new tips is a little longer.


And then it was almost like the old joke: after assembly, file it to fit :)
So I grabbed a needle file and spent 15 seconds trimming the rear section to the required size. Everything worked right away; the plastic files down quite easily.
My first test suggests the temperature is higher now. I can't measure it accurately yet; once I get a suitable thermometer (the pyrometer won't measure the tip temperature correctly), I'll calibrate the station for the new tips.
I think I have a thermocouple for a multimeter somewhere, but I have serious doubts about how accurate its measurements are.


This is what the original soldering iron stand looks like now. I even used a new sponge so it wouldn't be embarrassing to show it :).
The photo shows 4 tips still with their stickers. I removed the sticker from the tip installed in the iron and cleaned off the adhesive residue with acetone. After taking the photo, I tested the other 4 tips and found no problems; they all work.


Summary.
Pros.
All the tips work.
Fast heat-up.
Very comfortable to use.
Cheaper than in local stores.

Cons.
I would have preferred a “hoof” tip in the kit instead of the T12-I, but that's more of a wish than a drawback. I hope they'll expand the range to include more tips of this type (T12).

Drawbacks when used with a non-Hakko soldering station.
I had to file them down a little to use them in my soldering iron, but I suspect this is an issue specific to the Aoyue station.
They're longer than the original tips, but again, that's a compatibility issue between different stations.

My opinion.
The tips are very convenient. Filing them down takes half a minute at most, and you only have to do it once. Otherwise, there are no problems. Recommended.

This product was provided to me free of charge by the eachbuyer store for testing and review.

I hope I'm not the only one using this kind of soldering station and that this review will be useful to someone.
They're on sale now, with the price slightly lower than usual.