Eye On Hakko | How To Change vs Adjust the FX-888D Soldering Temperature 

So I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my station for my modding business and my god I finally understand the hype with this station. Kenta legit called me out to t as to what I did wrong and I couldn't help but laugh lol. seriously a awesome little unit and worth every penny!

appreciate the honesty about the interface issue. alot of companies just stick their head in the sand on something like this. Love this soldering iron. I'm coming from the old radio shack 40 watt. This thing is really awesome.

Great video. Found 10 unboxing videos that told me nothing before I found this one that covered everything I needed to know

Thank you for the explanation of setting the temperature verses adjusting the temp. Yep, I did exactly what you were saying, setting the adjustment 3 times! Now I know I need to go back and do the factory reset. A better way of saying "adjusting the temp" might be "calibrate the iron". I think that would be a lot less confusing. Thank you though for getting me back on track! This is a really nice soldering iron.

The luck find of an as-new FG-100 on eBay and this video has resolved a problem I've been having for months. Of course, I must have used adjustment mode and messed up the calibration. Now, I'm back to within 1.5% of indicated temperature and I'm in love with my FX-888D again! Turns out I could have just done a factory reset, but hey, I'm still happy (and I have an FG-100).

Thanks guys I bought a FX 888D and I figured out how to resolder a switch on my car remote. Saved me $100 dollars. Now I'm onto soldering custom mechanical keyboards. Having lots of fun. Create! Unite! Inspire!

I bought the fx 888d back in 2016, i’m glad that it’s still going strong with new accessories that I have not heard about until now that I surly will acquire 8805 (T 19 series tips) will be a game changer.

So this video describes EXACTLY what steps I went through, being confused by the adjustment settings... The fact that there is a 18 min vid that covers this exact situation from 7:06 to 15:20, tells me that I'm not the only one. If you know your customers might fall for this trap, why not move the adjustment functionality deeper down into device settings menu so that the odd customer won't accidently stumble upon this setting. Anyways, I'm glad this video exists and I guess I'm off to factory reset my new FX888D because apparently the alternative is purchasing an additional temperature sensor (FG100B) that costs 3 times what I paid for the FX888D...

Brilliant! I made the mistake of going into the adustment setting without knowing what I did wrong and I've been really unhappy with the performance of the soldering iron here in the UK. After watching this video, I did a factory reset selecting A for "Asia" to give me centigrade and the iron is performing brilliantly!

I just bought the FX 888D and it's the most amazing soldering station I've ever used by far . I can't believe how amazing this thing is because it totally changed the entire game for me literally overnight . I could never solder worth a damn before I got this and now I never have issues the FX888D makes things effortless. Thanks for making such an amazing soldering station. NEWSFLASH: You NEVER need to adjust anything on this soldering station , I don't . Just turn it on and it goes right to 750 degrees which is plenty for anything you want to do , when you're done unplug .

I can't imagine how much phone time this video is saving your techs. It was spot on. Thanks!

Thank you. The factory reset instructions were exactly what I needed.

Very useful video, thank you. I was confused by the adjustment mode until I found this.

This is exactly what happened to me. Was very frustrating. Watched this and performed reset. Soldering station is great again. I felt a bit silly but it's an easy mistake to make. Thanks much!

Simple easy to understand instructions. Thank you .. just what I needed to know.

Nicely produced and helpful video. Thank you Kenta and Hakko.

Thank you for the video. I accidentally adjusted the temperate and this video helped to reset to factory default.

Thank you for this. I messed mine up, realized after waaay too long what I'd done and was trying to figure out a way to cheaply recalibrate, since I really couldn't stomach buying a tip temp sensor. Factory Reset, which I guess I just missed in the manual, was a life saver.

Thanks! I set mine years ago and it works fine for soldering but today I used it to set brass inserts into 3D printed parts and I needed a much lower temperature. I actually goof'd and changed the ADJ instead of the Temperature :)

Excellent video. Thank you for making & posting it. This unit's well designed/thought out, with excellent care of tolerances (particularly the iron/tip(s)/heater/handle itself). It even looks attractive. (My compliments to you, and the design team). My input is this: if you do re-design this system, please consider having the upgrade backward compatible, (so that owners of current design can replace the front panel [upgrade kit], and have the new design interface). Users need to take the time to learn it's interface/functions/features.

Excellent video and no BS. Now that I own a Hakko 888D I know why I struggled with those cheap irons. I love this thing. Don't waste your time and money on a cheap irons like I did. Buy this first then learn how to solder. It's that good and worth way more than you paid by NOT frying and lifting solder pads due to uneven and erratic heat.

Excellent video!

Being a Weller user for decades, I decided to give Hakko a try after my trusty iron died. After using the FX-888D for a short time, I kick myself for not trying it sooner. I am not saying that Weller isn't any good, I am just saying that soldering with the Hakko is head and shoulders above anything that I have experienced with Weller. I am still a Weller fan, but now I am a Hakko user. Thank you Hakko for this little gem.

Lack of views compared to sales tells me more users need to watch the video! While the tool is delightfully affordable the user interface fails to be intuitive, but an intuitive interface would require greater complexity and increase cost in an industry where margins are thin. A version with a simple rotary temp control (small and recessed, not large and wear-prone) would likely sell well. I'm a former avionics tech who would have loved to have one of these in the 1980s. Customers should remember that "choices" require understanding and this tool is not some plumbers soldering copper heated by blowtorch! The video makes understanding the equipment a breeze. I'll be adding more Hakko products as I outfit my electronics bench.

I like this iron because it just works , and well built

This was a great video

Very helpfull! Thank you.

Factory reset saves the day on my misguided use of the adjustment mode. Thanks!

Spot on. Thanks

Thank you for the video! I did just what you described and messed up my actual temp! I think if you say "calibration" instead of "adjustment" it would describe the function better and its less confusing.

Exelent Products the hakko Fx888d, tks. 🎩

Thank you. this was helpful

Thanks for the info. I did read the manual but it was a quick read & it was a couple days before using the unit. Did the adjustment mode twice & realized I’d screwed up. Should get a FG100B or similar. EDIT WOW! The FG-100B is around $240 so won’t be getting that unit. I’ll just have to trust the default setting unless I find a more reasonable alternative.

Great video! Could you pls describe what is/are the difference(s) between A, U, A2 and U2 presets when performing factory reset? Mine is a 888D-16BY (from around 2013) which displays these four options in factory reset and I cannot find those in the instruction manual. Other: can the firmware version be determined and/or the fw be upgraded?

This saved my live. I was wondering why my iron seemed so much colder when I was trying to make it hotter lol

Boeing 800 came to mind, kidding! this helped me figure out my used FX-888D i bought without manual. Adjustment was off 200 degree's, thanks again.

As he said in this video, " Offset" is the right word instead of "Adjust". "Calibration" means changing the offset and the magnitude, so it is not so appropiate.

Wow I was the idiot that did this, but I adjusted it 50F lower for two to three times (couldn’t remember exactly how many times) until I looked at my blackened brand new soldering iron tip lol. I looked up the factory reset and did that, then ordered 3 backup tips for this idiot. I will still recommend Hakko. It was operator error. I was lazy and didn’t want to hunt down the manual because it was only a two button interface.

That was easy. Thank You.

will (A)sia mode when factory resetting change the temperature value from Fahrenheit to Celsius?

I have this iron and love it but this interface was unnecessary, i would happily trade this for the older 888 with the analog knob

Nice! Love my 888D

I will be receiving an extra FX888D soon. I hope that it has all 5 presets enabled.

I have tried and succeeded

Any way to switch to centigrade?

can it be changed to celsius? also, why not add a down arrow for an easier interface?

This is an excellent and honest advice video. But it raises an important point about what is otherwise a top-rate station. Any piece of equipment should really be largely intuitive in operation, and not rely, at least for basic, everyday work, on a study of the manual, which is always missing or lost, or the device is not being used by the purchasing owner. Frankly, the controls are mickey mouse. It is not helped by incorrect or unhelpful use of language. What you are doing is not 'adjusting' the temperature. You are calibrating it. If the display read 'Cal' as most other equipment does, the confusion would disappear. Incredibly, the instruction manual enclosed with the station omits sections which are available in the on-line version, the section numbers being differently numbered. And my iron came with a set of tips. Nowhere in the manual supplied, or on-line, can I find any reference to how you change tips or what precautions you need to take, and there are several. Of course, Google is your friend, or you work it out, but not having the information right there in the box is, honestly, bizarre. Surely the marketing people had a say at some point, to explain to the boffins that what is obvious to those who have designed the thing may not be so obvious to the first time purchaser. And as the presenter acknowledged, while you are hamfistedly mucking about you can mis-set or damage the device, or your workpiece, so it is not without consequence. (And, amusingly, the calibrator has a calibration certificate on the side, so described. That might give a clue to the correct vocabulary)

Hi, is it possible to automatically set a default temperature ? When I turn on the soldering iron I want the temperature to automatically set to 350 degrees, is this possible ? Or is it possible to set preferred temperatures, for example set three preferred temperatures, 300 degrees, 350 degrees, 450 degrees, is it possible to quickly switch between these three preferred temperatures ?

What is the difference between A (Asia) and U (US) settings? Is there a E(urope) setting? (I mean if if sets the supply voltage, getting it wrong could be... Interesting).

Interface sucks but it's such a good solder station at such good price I'm willing to overlook this.

They should change it from "Adj" to "Cal" Having it stand for Calibrate is much less likely to cause confusion.

So the adjustment is really more of a calibration? It worries me that the iron in the video was apparently 30 degrees out of calibration, and the fact that one of the two main settings is a calibration makes me concerned that my iron isn't going to be accurate from the factory

Why is the word “calibration” not allowed? What they are calling “adjusting “ is calibration. Trying to pretend that adjustment and changing are different things only compounds the confusion.

Set temp is not calibration... my mind is mushy, thanks hakko :)

Good video Couple of things I don’t understand.. Why isn’t it calibrated from the factory, so buyers don’t need to buy something extra to calibrate it? Next. Why didn’t you just put a dial on it? People wouldn’t get confused plus it would be much faster to regulate the temperature

The confusion only gets worse when you act like setting and adjusting are distinctly different words and don’t clarify until demonstrating. It isn’t that one sets temperature and the other adjusts temperature, it’s that one sets the desired temperature and the other sets the measured temperature offset. Adjusting the temperature offset is not “adjusting the temperature” as the video mistakenly says multiple times since a temperature offset is not the same thing as a temperature. I do hope you finally wise up and make a V2 or successor that resolves these UI and terminology issues.

13:51 is when he shows how to reset to factory.

Hakko could have avoided confusion if adjustment was called calibrate.

Summary to change temp: @ 5:20

mine not working the same, I can't adjust it

How to change temperate at ~00:05:55. Enjoy.

Adj Mode should have been label as Cal mode.

Great video, but an 18 minute on changing the temperature, hmm... 5:40-7:02 is what you want. Everything else is extra!

Call it "calibrate" instead of "adjust" please. It is also easy to display "CAL" on the seven-segment display.

I just did that exact same thing 🤦‍♂️

Is this a language barrier issue? If you called it set temp and calibrate temp there wouldn't be confusion. The 2 button interface is what happens when you use a design house instead of letting engineers design a rational user interface but otherwise it's a really nice iron.

I'm honestly shocked that you have to calibrate this thing using a tool more expensive than the station every time you change the tip. And they can't utter the word "calibrate" because it plainly makes it apparent how this station wasn't thought out well. The digital display would be better represented as some kind of percentage power output since the temperature is not measured nor accurate.

Whoa! That FG-100B has a price - ouch.

Formally, calibration is the documented comparison of the measurement device to be calibrated against a traceable reference device. The reference standard may be also referred as a “calibrator.” Logically, the reference is more accurate than the device to be calibrated.

Adjustment mode should be hidden somewhere in sub menus. Its not very user friendly.

At 7:30 or so the guy is just "you can set your temperature, or you can adjust it. What does that mean? With setting your temperature, you're setting the temperature, and with adjusting, you're adjusting the temperature " like for real is this scripted? Who wrote this? I was apprehensive about the very simple interface, the manual having sections on both setting and adjusting was confusing, and this is the pedigree of video that's supposed to solve that confusion. Really makes me dread trying to use my new fx888

Some of this could have been avoided if they'd called it "offset" or "calibrate" instead of "adjust".

Dear Hakko, here’s how to fix your user interfaces: - eliminate the calibration function. Most users don’t need to have the temperature be a precise value, we just need to be able to quickly dial it up and down and tune the temperature by “feel” to a given tip. Anybody who actually needs calibration and precise process control should be buying a more expensive station intended for that. - temperature set point should be a knob. You should consider having a knob only labeled “max” and “min” with no temperatures at all! Users will have better success learning to adjust the heat to the work, rather than falling in love with some nominal temperature. - - please eliminate all “lock” features and such for a hobbyist iron. Again, we’re not doing production soldering with this inexpensive station. User convenience is paramount, not manager control!

The 888D is exceptionally infuriating... every use involves considerable time lost researching it's poorly designed non intuitive interface.

If you have to make a video explaining how to adjust the most basic of all soldering station functions, the user interface is a design disaster. It should be so obvious and intuitive that no explanation is ever necessary.

LOL! Even the thumbnail says “How to Change vs. Adjust the Temperature” Again, you are adjusting the offset, not the temperature, when you use adjust mode. “How to Change vs. CORRECT the Temperature” would have worked, but not what you have.

What a crap interface! It doesn't even end with the temperature adjustment vs. offset confusion. There are three alphanumeric display places but factory reset displays U rather than USA. Does this mean that A (Asia) displays temperature in Celsius? I assume the password protection comes in handy to prevent anyone who doesn't have a masters degree in hello kitty programming from making inadvertent changes to the operating temperature. Sheesh!

If ALL OF YOUR CUSTOMERS operate the soldering iron in the most reasonable way and get incomprehensible results, maybe your UI semiotics SUCK.

Once your Hakko is out of warranty and it shits itself forget about getting a circuit diagram for it... Hakko will NOT supply it because its confidential.... Lol really Hakko, its a frigging soldering iron and not a rocket you muppets. People don't waste your money on this overpriced junk. Hakko was great in the 90's but got money hungry