EEVblog 1543 - Mailbag FNIRSI HS-01 USB Portable Soldering Iron 

you have to take the nut off .. then slide the tip in .. then put the nut back on and it will hold the tip in using the ring on the soldering tip..

Hi Dave, few tips for you and other people with similar soldering pens 1) The bad contact problem appears in most Hakko T12 derivates. Just insert the tip fully inside, rotate it few revs and it will be alright. Just some surface oxidation. 2) you were right about the compatibility with Hakko T12/T15 tips. They are significantly longer, and sometimes must not be fully inserted, just 1 or 2 mm from the end position. But they work. 3) if you were soldering for a longer time, these irons may heat up. There are two standards - T65 and SH72. They are very similar, but differ in length, approx 1cm. It's enough to make your hand less hot. Well, only of FNIRSI uses the shorter T65 standard. 4) directly heated soldering iron tips use copper core, then iron around it, plus chrome that doesn't let tin stick to it. These directly heated tips like T12 or C245 shouldn't be cleaned in wet sponge, as they will die pretty soon. Brass wool is perfectly fine though. 5) they should really consider shipping BC3 (3mm hoof) tip by default. It's far more useful and powerful, as it actually has the copper core almost to the end, while some K type ( knife) have the flat area entirely made of iron, and iron doesn't like to conduct heat very much. Anyway, hope that these tips on soldering tips would be helpful, and thanks for your videos.

Oh dear, did you check it's manual? You need to unscrew locking nut, only after that insert the soldering iron tip and then screw back lock nut. It will prevent swiveling of the tip. Also it has very useful cover cap for iron tip, immediately after turning off, you can put on this cap on without waiting for tip to cool down. You can even put HS-01 in your pants and not worry that something will break or scratch your leg with that cap

I love using it, it's so ultra-minimal and neat. I've never had issues with disconnecting tips or the power because I use a decent laptop power block. Also, it's important to unscrew the metal thing before inserting tips because it's what holds the tip. It has lots of features, such as sleep more, etc. I absolutely love working with it, it's the best most minimal iron there is, so pleasant to work with.

Pinecil V2 is probably the best new portable soldering iron. Only 26$, 60W, USB PD and barrel jack, mature firmware. Even has Bluetooth control for those who want to do custom integrations.

Been using a Sequre SI012 for nearly a year, almost daily. My expectations were low but it's been so reliable and nice to use. I love being able to change temps with a button while working, it heats up really quick, and you can see all the guts.

As other pointed out, you need to losen the nut to hold the tips in. This thing has become my favorite soldering iron over the last few weeks. I use it for literally everythign and I love it. It heats up fast, has proper power, doesn't roll and feels reasonably well made.

The initial temperature fluctuation is a feature. All Chinese T12 series tips do this. Just "burn" them at 400°C for a while and then they work fine.

I got this! So lovely to use. I was able to use a 22.5w usb C power bank. I worked so much better than I expected but I'm not so experienced soldering compared to someone like you. So awesome!

Well, looking at the comments, it seems like the Pinecil fanboys have taken over from the rabid TS100 fanboys.

I like this shorter one item mailbag. Much easier to watch.

Who knew vaping would affect the quality of soldering irons.. amazing

Gotta give a nod to the cap, if you primarily get by with one tip you don't necessarily need a separate case for it, just cap it and throw it in the kit. Also if it's modelled off the oldschool irons then it should be heat resistant.

I use a TS100 generally but I'm no fan boy I don't like the plastic case or ergonomics particularly but when I got it the TS80 was the only real alternative but being USB only killed it for me. That's changing now with irons like Pinecil and there is now a TS101 with dual inputs.

I would still use my Pinecil. Which is a clone of the Miniware TS100, but with both DC jack and USB-C PD. And it comes with IronOS preinstalled. And it is also $26 The TS101 does have the 2 plugs but no IronOS.

The Pinecil is only US$26 and goes up to -72W- (version 2 goes up to 120W)! It doesnt come with a power brick, but at least it holds on to the tips properly.

I'm glad someone let him know about the nut Retainer for the tip👍

Two thumbs up for the short mailbag excerpt, and the nifty soldering iron! Amazing what $30 gets you. Maybe get a Pinecil and do some kinda shootout with the TS80 and this iron? 👍

Looks much better then the propane types for mobile work.

Thanks for your video. To be fair i guess a new review is needed after using the screw to tighten the tip 😊

Where’s our 200W T245 tipped portable iron with an XT60 on the back? The RC guys will love those, you know, for resoldering more XT60s. The aluminium design with the hot tip cover is really nice though, if they made the cover a bit long you could probably even use it to store more tips, maybe even have a little gripping tool for changing tips on the fly without burning your fingers.

A nice review video

thank you ive been looking for a good field soldering iron hope you get into options on the market . .

Those very long videos I can only watch on the weekend, so I very much like the idea of shorter mailbag segments!

@EEVblog I got it few months ago. I don't experience temperature jumps at all, my startup is a lot smotther, just few stops at few temperatures (might be just PID calibration thing) and than stays at temp with no problems. I use 100W powerbank or 100w power brick. It might help to lower the voltage depending on power source.

Another Pinecil fanboy here. Open source, well built, and great price. Can't go wrong with the Pinecil.

Hey Dave, fair review I thought. I’ve owned and been using one now for a few weeks after watching Richard at Learn electronics repair channel. Bought it to replace my very tired old Weller pu-2d iron. I purchased the full kit which comes with a usb to laptop charger adapter and loads of tips. I’ve been using the iron on the laptop charger and can confirm it heats up fast and holds its heat well using a better supply. Don’t know what your one was doing going up and down when you first used it ? Never seen mine do that, even under load on heavy ground planes I found the same as you. It would do it but it took time, even with the bc3 tip. I’d like to know how to tear it down and replace the usb port and what one it takes as I can see this being a failure point in the future. Brill review cheers Dave !!

I actually bought myself some 510 (vaping devices socket) soldering iron pieces: 8W and 20W ones, and I'm quite happy with them for now. Yes, they won't do you beefier soldering joints, but for smaller jobs they actually serve me well, and they have several kinds of tips.

It's easy to fix the loosely problem and it's really cheap to use, great!

Heh, You over there mr. professional think these things aren't for use with the plug pack. However for us amateurs, these things are better than soldering stations up to a substantial hobbyist investment price point. Well after the nice oscilloscope on my priority list.

I know this is an old video, but the $30 option is for teh iron and tip only. You don't get the 65W supply or sexy cable for that much. They are about $25 more.

the HS-01 should have come with a barrel jack to type-C dongle in the box that allows you to give it 24v juice to get it to 96w, would love to see a follow up test and review

I would love to see a shootout between all these portable soldering irons (and a pinecil too if possible) to see which ones do best on a lower power budget. I already carry around a 30W PD battery bank with wireless charging for my phone and I'd love to see which iron does best with that. I'm obviously aware of the benefits of these attached to a brick but I'd be buying it mostly as a backup for on the road.

Ah glad this ended well, just bought one.

Good to see you rating the cheap hobby grade gear. I’m gonna get myself one

That kit shipped is $114AUD & the basic iron set is $42.63AUD, calibration between those T12 tips will vary by ~100degC

this is amazing! wow only 30$ and its crazy lol :) but its 30$ without cable brick and other tips its 60 to 70 with that silicone cable , brick, and few tips just checked.

I've been using one of these for months now and love it! It heats up so quick. Also I heard you should use brass wool and not a wet sponge to clean the tip. The wet sponge could ruin the tip. Not sure why, of if that's even true. I'm perfectly happy with the brass for all my soldering, TBH. Paired with good USB bank this has become one of my favorite portable tools

I see you are a fan of the ILS tip from Hakko. I use an ILS tip on my TS-100 soldering iron.

Bought it with your affiliate link. Thabks Dave!

Dave , it would seem you did what many of us do - do not read the instructions ;) , the box at 0:28 shows that the knurled cone is screwed off - insert tip - then screw cone back one ? Then maybe the tip with not " disconnect " ---- ? Thanks again

GOOD IRON ALL GOOD NEW SHORT VIDS. ALLLL GOOD HERE

The price that Dave mentions is for the iron with one tip but without power adapter. Not sure if there was a deal before including the power adapter.

I think, the new Sequre S60 is the killer of all portable irons. It uses the JBC 210 tips, and works a treat.

Dang, these things are evolving fast!

I already have ts100 and Pinecil in my arsenal. Please suggest something similar portable for micro soldering. It’s just for a quick rework of decently larger smd components (larger than 0402 size). Main drawback of pinecil is the length of the tip. Too large for micro soldering applications in the field. I had to replace capacitors on a few boards in a remote place. I didn’t have enough replacement boards at that time. Had to solder directly.

Dave, totaly the wrong iron :( The one to go for is the E210 with the 3 tips, as badged by NorthridgeFix !

Thanks for cheering me up. ps just bought the pine iron which is sim and grrrrreat. :)

I gotta point that the whole kit is closed to 80 bux rather than 30. 30 is the iron, one tip and a chinsy adapter to a barrel jack. No fancy cable, multiple tips or charger included

I have it and I love it!

The OLED display on my TS80 is almost completely burnt out, but it's okay because I set it up one time and never feel the need to change anything in it.

t12 tips? I might have to buy one of these immediately.

Does anyone here have any recommendations of channels similar to EEVblog that do a lot of audio equipment teardown, design, and such? Like how to properly isolate DAC outputs, ADC inputs, filter audible noise, etc.? I've found a few channels, but I'm specifically looking for ones this community has found to be valuable.

Well just received mine. Received from one of the famous stores. Didn't include the usb-c to jack thing cable and the stand while they said it was included. Not happy about that one.

What kind of power brick should be used with this? I'm interested in getting one for field work.

The portable iron makers should get together and standardize tips. Use the same heater resistance of 6 ohms and same physical dimensions etc.

The temperature jumping around is probably from a bad connection since it doesn't hold the tip securely. It needs a more robust power connector, I doubt it will take long for that USB C connector to get broken off.

based on the thumbnail I can already tell it is too good to be true. edit- surprised how capable it is, but I think I will just try not to do any soldering in the field to begin with haha.

I hope you're able to check out the $33 portable mini scope from the same company. Looks interesting.

be carefull: dynamic pricing so that the price increases over time and has reached over 34$ and of cause without that GAN charger, just the bare soldering ircon for that price. Even though I had ordered one with 2 tips from another store which filled up the next 20$ to get another 2$ discount. And I appreciate the move to Type C which is available more or less everywhere you find a smartphone, tablet or Laptop nowadays.

Get the Alientek T80P, supports 100w and supports JBC tips so you got a option of a ton of tips, performance is great, best portable iron and price is great, around 40usd

I love when cheap chinease stuff has a metal case, it's very nice for very cheap

And very nice for Soldering Iron Wood Art 😎

What power supply would people recommend for this? 🤔

Thanks for the video. I've never heard anyone refer to a soldering iron as sexy 😂

Also a Pinecil fanboy. Would be curious to see it's thermal capacity compared to these other portable models. I've only ever owned the one.

Would love to see that against fx951-51

the 30$ is surely the price for just the iron -- the 80$ for the ts80 is usually what it went for WITH the charger, the iron itself was also around $40 .. bit more expensive but, way sexier

It looks pretty nice though far from perfect, and the big grip looks reassuring. Hell, I wonder if that crazy Czech guy will make a video on it too. He seems to be the to-go Fnirsi review guy lately.

21$ with full tip set you could find with shipping. Looks gr8 for that money.

I prefer the gas powered ones tbh. They can get stupid hot if you need and have heat blower attachments as well. In the shed i will stick to the Weller :)

I love Mailbag!

Nice! I bought a smart watch for about 190 euro and it doesn't support the hand swap function.

Pretty short video dave we want more

You know what would be awesome sauce? A Pinecil that can accept TS80 series tips.

I think the best budget is the one that takes T12 tips

A USB c adaptor for 18v power tool battery would work great!

Dave, just get the nut on the handle oit and slide the tip in and lock the nut.

It doesn't come with a carrying case because it has a cap (which I find brilliant and too rare on portable irons)

One cool idea for those that may not want to buy a separate iron, lot of power tool companies like Ryobi sell mini inverters that run off their tool batteries, great way to power a plug in solder iron, or even a scope, out in the field. Good way to float a scope too. ;)

Can you check the hs 2?

Why didn’t they just add a threaded retainer for the tip, like in other soldering irons. That and the temperature reading are the only drawbacks I see.

i think the A$30 is for the iron itself with no tips, for the whole kit, with pd supply, cable, extra tips, its like A$117 ish... so you should note that in your video

for $30 that soldering iron is a banger. They even include a charger and good cable.

ITS 72$ not 30$! 34$ is WITHOUT power adapter.

Capable of 96W according to them. Not bad at all if accurate

Try Pinecil v2 with 140W PD3.1 power supply

it's not really $30 as shown here, with the power adapter, nice cable and accessories it's more like $90

I will buy it for the charger and type-c cable, can you do a teardown video about the charger? Can we use them on smartphone charging, is it safe?

£36 is the cheapest I can find in the UK and that does not come with either the PSU or the cable.

i bought one for 5$ it actually solders..tho for some rreason it does not keep power bank on ..at least tip does not pop out

Love my TS80P but the tips are NOT cheap.

Same problem with tips as GVDA300 :( It is great solder but since tips disconnecting all the time it becoming basically useless.

A question: is it not worth looking inside these plug packs from Ali express (and eBay, etc.) and examine the safety margins when doing these reviews? I've been wary of anything plugged into the wall from these cheap sites ever since seeing the blog posts dissecting cheap knockoff Apple chargers. Are these concerns outdated?

well, can't complain with this price

Is it actually that powerful? Just curious since most of these super cheap items lie about their stats.

i like the mailquickie

the 88w pinecil is $26

don't spill water on the manual - read it. the tip is inserted different

9h later and it's 40€ including shipping to EU.