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Looking for a Good Solder/Desolder Station?? Look here!

EchoWars

EchoWars

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Hakko 703 Solder/Desolder Station

I've been looking for one of these units (two solder stations + a desolder station) for months and months. A near-new one popped up on eBay about two months or so ago with a starting bid of $199. I fired up my sniping tool, but it failed to place the bid and I lost out, and the unit went for something like $400 :tears: (they retailed new for $1000+). Since then, nothing but beat-up power supplies with no irons on the 'Bay. About two weeks ago one popped up, nearly complete and in nice shape, for $650 BIN. The sting of the missed $400 unit still bugged me, and I took too much time to pull the trigger. When I finally decided to go for it, it was sold that very day. So I relegated myself to more months of watching eBay.

In the meantime, I did a Google search just for the hell of it. There are countess links to places that 'used' to sell them clogging up the search, but with nothing to lose I waded through page after page of search results till I found some guy selling several 'refurbed' units for $550, supposedly compete. I emailed him, fully expecting him to say 'sorry, those are gone', but instead tells me that he has them, they are demo units from Hakko, and are nearly new with all the accessories included. And, the price has dropped to $450!

Needless to say, we did the deal and it arrived today...amazingly well packed. Everything that comes with a new unit was there, and the unit itself looks like brand new except for a couple of small dents on the metal cover which are easy to overlook.

The man is Bruce Sander of EAE Sales in Grabill, IN. Apparently he works full time for ITT in Ft. Wayne, and sells solder tools & accessories on the side. He was a pleasure to work with, and I can't recommend the guy enough. He has at least one of the Hakko 703 stations remaining, and says he might be able to source a few more 'demo' units...all to be sold at about the same price of $450.

This is a fantastic deal, and I wanted to post here for any AK techs that might be looking to step up to a professional type soldering/desoldering station. If you're interested, contact him and tell him I (Glenn) sent you. He's such a nice guy, and I'm so pleased I wanted to see if I couldn't send some business his way.

(Yes, you could probably buy one and resell it on eBay and make a few bucks, but the going price is generally around $600, and after having Bruce ship it to you, and paying eBay fees, and taking & posting pics, the gain is not really worth it, IMHO. Plus, it's just plain bad karma. I'm posting this to help fellow AK techs, NOT so that the units can be flipped on eBay.):no:
 
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EchoWars said:
703.jpg

Hakko 703 Solder/Desolder Station

I've been looking for one of these units (two solder stations + a desolder station) for months and months. A near-new one popped up on eBay about two months or so ago with a starting bid of $199. I fired up my sniping tool, but it failed to place the bid and I lost out, and the unit went for something like $400 :tears: (they retailed new for $1000+). Since then, nothing but beat-up power supplies with no irons on the 'Bay. About two weeks ago one popped up, nearly complete and in nice shape, for $650 BIN. The sting of the missed $400 unit still bugged me, and I took too much time to pull the trigger. When I finally decided to go for it, it was sold that very day. So I relegated myself to more months of watching eBay.

In the meantime, I did a Google search just for the hell of it. There are countess links to places that 'used' to sell them clogging up the search, but with nothing to lose I waded through page after page of search results till I found some guy selling several 'refurbed' units for $550, supposedly compete. I emailed him, fully expecting him to say 'sorry, those are gone', but instead tells me that he has them, they are demo units from Hakko, and are nearly new with all the accessories included. And, the price has dropped to $450!

Needless to say, we did the deal and it arrived today...amazingly well packed. Everything that comes with a new unit was there, and the unit itself looks like brand new except for a couple of small dents on the metal cover which are easy to overlook.

The man is Bruce Sander of EAE Sales in Grabill, IN. Apparently he works full time for ITT in Ft. Wayne, and sells solder tools & accessories on the side. He was a pleasure to work with, and I can't recommend the guy enough. He has at least one of the Hakko 703 stations remaining, and says he might be able to source a few more 'demo' units...all to be sold at about the same price of $450.

This is a fantastic deal, and I wanted to post here for any AK techs that might be looking to step up to a professional type soldering/desoldering station. If you're interested, contact him and tell him I (Glenn) sent you. He's such a nice guy, and I'm so pleased I wanted to see if I couldn't send some business his way.

(Yes, you could probably buy one and resell it on eBay and make a few bucks, but the going price is generally around $600, and after having Bruce ship it to you, and paying eBay fees, and taking & posting pics, the gain is not really worth it, IMHO. Plus, it's just plain bad karma. I'm posting this to help fellow AK techs, NOT so that the units can be flipped on eBay.):no:
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Glenn,
Thanks for the tip and the help. I need just a little more help to get one of these. Can you loan me $450?:D
Actually, that is a cool unit, but way more than I will ever use. People like you and Jay and few others need this monster.
 
hmmm :scratch2: I could unload my two Weller stations and my Pace desoldering station...

soldr-desoldr-bnch.jpg


...and buy one of those Hakko combo stations, have all new stuff I can get parts for, and take up less space on my bench. Very nice! THANKS for showing this!
 
No affiliation, etc. We tried a couple of Hakko stations at work in the engineering lab. Now they are at all stations in assembly and test. Good stuff!

Glad you scored Echo!
 
Real cool, I might try one of the less expensive desoldering stations he has. EAE Sales has a lot of quality product at very good prices, it seems. If someone is looking for a good station or accesories, this might be just the place. Thanks, Glen.
 
What a beaut. Thanks for the tip. Looking for a good desoldering station and fed up with my Weller. Nice.
 
I have a really good desoldering station. but I have no tips. Where does one find them. I searched many web sites but found very little info on desoldering tips. All I saw were the rectangular end tips. I am looking for the round ones for desoldering through plated holes. It is a Motorola RSX-1002A.
 
paul79 said:
Is it pretty quiet Glen?
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Well, the motor only runs when the button on the desoldering iron is depressed to slurp up the liquid solder, so noise is not really an issue. But, no, it's not terribly noisy.

Satcom...tips are very specific to the unit being used. If the Motorola is as old as I think it probably is, parts have likely been discontinued for many years.
 
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EchoWars, crap:D I thought as much. But will exhaust my efforts in trying to find a suitable sub. After all, its just a tube of the right diameter size to shove into the heater element and the sucker does the rest. Right? As long as the tip is at least 700 degrees it should do the job.

I will endure to persevere. :banana:
 
Number 6 said:
I just ordered one of these. I'll let you know how it works out.
http://www.xytronic-usa.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=210
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I've had some time to test this out, and it works great. The vacuum has plenty of draw, and the temperature control seems pretty stable (I haven't seen it vary by more than two degrees). It also comes with the hot tweezers and hot air pencil. Its quite a package for an amateur builder like me. They also have a less expensive package of the base unit with a solder pencil and the desolder tool for about $395.
 
Just a quick FYI...I ordered some solder paste from Bruce (the classic Kester SP stuff is gone, but he has a good substitute), and Bruce told me that he still has a station sitting there waiting for a buyer.
 
Do you have any more pictures of the unit? I'm curious to see what the desolder iron looks like itself upclose. :D

Tip wise, I mean
 
Pretty nice, I like the features. I need to look into getting me one of these some day... :scratch2:

I need a dedicated desolder station, but probably solder too. I just never knew good ones like these cost this much either.
 
I probably don't solder enough to justify it, but damn that is tempting.

I was in Ft. Wayne earlier today- looking at a map probably 5 minutes from Grabill.
 
DingusBoy said:
I probably don't solder enough to justify it, but damn that is tempting.
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Same here. Very tempting. I'm in the market for a good station too. I'll probably pick up a refurbed 937 they have for 120 instead. My brother has a 936 that I used to build my ST-70 clone. It was a pleasure to use, so I'm sure the 937 will be fine.

Still, that 703.. :drool:
 
I bought the 936 a few years ago and was told by a family member that
I paid to much and you could get a similar unit for a fraction of the price.
Well I saw that cheaper soldering station he got at MCM Electronics :thumbsdn:
and it does not compare at all to the Hakko's quality, this is the nicest
soldering station I have ever used, it's made my hobby a lot more enjoyable
to me.
If I worked on electronics for a living I would be very tempted to get
one of those Hakko 703 soldering stations.
 
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