Hakko FG-100, Fake or Not? 

Thank you, I appreciate the positive feedback and breakdown. That was a hard setup on a bench in an unfinished basement (acoustic reverb). I did photography for years before trying videography. I consider doing videos a hobby, electronics a hobby so now RU-vid a when I combined them. I did decide on a wireless lapel mic set and separate audio recorder instead of mics at each bench, I had two wired and that would have been my third and wireless can record in any room. I sold that house and moved so no kore basement and setting up the new lab will be easier without mic wires running all around. And grabbed a new camera with 4K and high frame rate that I use when traveling also, so it’s not just for RU-vid in my case. I know I won’t make money doing this type of channel, it’s just something I enjoy and share to hope other can learn or gain an interest in the hobby also. Thanks you, Scott

Your welcome, thank for watching.

I would expect the temperatures to be different as with most soldering units and different tips. It’s a thermal transfer property, the smaller or thinner the tip at the end has less copper and will cool off faster from ambient air. So smaller tips will have lower temperatures as with the micro tips. If I was to use this for the micro iron only then I would offset this by changing the temperature calibration on the unit. But since I use this for regular and micro tips I just know when using the smaller tips to increase the temp 5 to 10 degrees (F). And if I use a real fat tip the opposite is true and I decrease the heat 5 degrees. This is mostly true with soldering in general, as long as you don’t go over the components temperature rating for the set time allowed then you won’t damage the components your soldering. So sensitive things like Cree LEDs and others you may want to check the data sheet for max temp and cooling requirements.

@@GadgetReviewVideos- I think your theory would be correct based on a single heating element with interchangeable slip-on tips. I've found that with these cartridge style tips, it's a bit random. I had a C4 and D24 read very close to accurate with a gentle slope being 10° down at 450°C. Then I had a K, which is pretty beefy, start 12°C under at 250, go 18° under at 350 then slope down to 45° under at 450. It may have to do with slight differences in the heating coil or temp sensors. Anyway, all my temps read 0 to +5 at 250, 350 and 450 C now that I calibrated each one. I know the Hakko T15 tips use the same approximate 8 ohm coils as the KSGER, so they are interchangeable. I was curious if the Hakko tips had tighter tolerances from 250 to 450 and maybe that's why they are charging so much more money for them ($3 compared to $22). If you do get the opportunity to check some tips at those 3 temps, I'd love to hear the results. Thanks.

That defiantly sounds like somthing I would be interested in testing out. But unfortunately I’m in the middle of moving, and the lab is in storage with most of my house (don’t worry, climate controlled storage). So the only iron I have is my TS80 for now and some hobby batteries since I didn’t store any batteries. Sorry I can’t check at this time. Maybe ask the same question on the EEVBlog, I’m sure someone else can check the cane things. Let me know what you find, ide be curious of the results. Happey holidays, Scott

FYI: I have never pushed my Hakko to 450 degrees Celsius. I hardly go a little over 350C. The only time I pushed another 75 watt iron to 450C was on a 12 inch by 12 inch aluminum heat plate (3D printer) and 16 AWG wire. Later found out afte buying a new big tip with proper thermal mass made a big difference for these plates, so now I don’t have to run so hot for them. I should try the Hakko on the next printer I build. It seems to maintain the temperature loss better then some of my other units I used to use.

@@GadgetReviewVideos - I was considering getting a TS80 myself specifically for its portability. Could you recommend a power bank that has the correct type of output for this iron? I've heard not all QC3.0 will work for this iron.

I have no doubt, any big brand name these days get copied and faked.

The Tech Genie I did mention the F to C change, but I didn’t know the max hold will Auto update if the temperature changes. Good to know. I checked both of mine and if I want an update hold I have to press the max/hold button again. So they dint auto update the temperature change. Thanks, Scott

I couldn't remember so I just skimmed the video. I guess I didn't show I I got them back together. Mine still works, I found the real Hakko sensors work better on it, probably the metal material that the thermo-coupler is made from. A little solder also helps get a better reading. I just used one to test a station I gave to a friend and it was only off 2c to 3c from 100c to 230c and that could have been the tolerance of the iron station its self. But if you still need to know how to put it back together just let me know and I can shoot a small video for you.

@@GadgetReviewVideos Thanks, with the aid of a wire strap and some sticky tape I was lucky enough to get it back together. I tried one of the other supplied sensors and it was way off too. Neither of my cheap workstations heat the irons properly and I hoped the sensor might help me make a case for returns but now I have three pieces of garbage.

Ha ha, yes I remember taking mine apart and cursing the person who designed the spring mechanism when putting it back togdther. It took me like half an hour! My fake (Hakko branded) unit measures fine though. I'd never ever pay $200+ for an original.

Your welcome, thanks for watching.

Yes, it is. And what it funds is worse. I started a thread on the EEVBlog about this. You should check it out and add you opinion. The link is in the description of this video. Thank, Scott

Yea, the real one does have some big differences. I look for the jumper most of the time. I can’t find the one with the w lids, assuming that was a way to calibrate offset. I rember looking for it. I think once someone makes a cheaper one they all go that way to make more money. Like not populating all the parts. I didn’t try the VR yet, but they haven’t drifted either and are both surprising accurate enough for my needs Im guessing the electrolytic cap is for noise filtering interference? But as long as you have the real sensors they work much better and easier to get a reading from. Thanks for watching, Scott

I got mine 2 days ago, I didn't test it yet with iron, but it has hakko logo, blurry screen (maybe i'll polish it or little with rework station, but is very thin), and yellow pcb, everything like yours. I was thinking of soldering 1k VR if needed, if it is more than 5~10C offset. Yeah, others on yt also said they are accurate like original, and they are probably calibrated with fake sensors, not original. Test on real hakko with fake sensor is 3C difference, but without solder on tip. I got few thermometers to compare FG100 accuracy, maybe later on I could loan it for money, cause i'll probably use it once twice a year. That's why I wanted one with green PCB, no missing parts there, 2 VRs, and looks more like "hakko" pcb standards. I'm not sure what purpose electrolytic cap has, but obviously yes for some noise, few years ago I soldered 2 caps in cheap mini USB microphone audio card for better audio quality. Saw some tutorial. How much was your iron set, 351-365C ? And people say max hold does not work, maybe not like original with "auto temp" memory chip. But with this clone I found out with just finger on sensor, after you click max hold, if you click it again in 1-3sec IF temp rises it will hold that new higher temp, maybe thats little better than manualy look until it stabilizes and click. And It's always better heat transfer with solder on tip than without. -For beginners.

The iron was a $50 digital tenma programmable station. It’s an old one, so it’s good for fast easy fixes on the bad,ent batter bench. But I’ve also used these with a real Hakko FX951 to see the temp difference between the micro iron and standard irons or different tips based on different amount of copper (or thermal transfer area of the tips) that usually require you to manually adjust the temp by knowing your equipment. Yes, both of mine also update the max temp if you press the button again. I think they both have a mat finish cover over the display also. My guess is this is supposed to cut back on reflection to see the display better? But in most cases the part your soldering usually isn’t that sensitive for a few C off, but more importantly is how long you have the heat on that part and if it needs to cool down in a certain time so you don’t damage the part. Like high end LEDs (but I use hit air for them, this is just an example). If you look at the data sheet of some LEDs it will state how many seconds max for the heat, and how fas to cool it down after. I use a big heat sync to cool it down in the time needed, But an unclean tip or bad thermal transfer can cause someone to keep that heat on the part to omg and damage the part. If some LEDs are too hot for to long that can damage the LED or the originally designed color range of the LED. I’m only talking about some single flashlight LEDs, not cheap ones. I have one flashlight I built driving at 4 amps from a single 18650 pushing about 1,100 to 1,250 lumens. I made some customers copper inserts for better cooling and the driver has a adjustable timer so you don’t run it for to long and burn it out on max, so you have to tune the driver based in the temp and tell it when to cut back a level based on the temp it reaches. Usually about the 4 to 5 minutes mark depending on the cooling, then I cut the time back another 20 to 30 seconds to compensate for ambient temp. So on hotter nights it won’t over heat, but in winter night you can just click it back into high again and drive the high mode twice. Well point being I guess is it can be good to know whah each tip varies in temp for sensitive parts.

Tenma station being old its better than some it has 3 temp settings which is useful, and just 50$ for 60W. I am building one 60W digital station myself. Spent 60$, +30$ more and Im done. About tips, do you know where can I buy real Hakko tips with low shipping? on ebay shipping cost 3x than tips. In Europe somewhere maybe. (need 3C tip mainly) I think mat finish is just production error, on yellow sticker is also, real fg100 in pictures do not have mat finish. Some fake on pics also do not have. Maybe it would be helpful if you got lot of lights above table, I dont, and I gonna be happier with clear numbers, if I find good way to fix it. Too bad I didnt buy better one last year with green pcbs, I got feeling yellow-blue PCB ones will eventually stop working. When I look that shiny black blob. Comparison: Top green I mentioned, 1/2 versions, bottom is real one img.mysku.me/uploads/images/00/88/20/2015/12/21/e8dd96.jpg I didnt open mine, maybe when i decide to make modification socket for K probe like original has (Correction, some do not have socket, like one on link), for measuring other things. Thanks for info about LED temp limits, I did not know that. I was planning to make flashlights with supercapacitors, SMD LEDs, depending how long can SC hold charge because current leakage... When i'll get free time, will research more.

Not sure about real tipsmin Europe, I buy mine from www.tequipment.net I was originally expecting the green PCB also. Big Clive did a review on one also and his was bought only a couple months before mine. My video is almost a year old and I had them for a couple,e months first. So I guess even a year ago you may not have had the green PCB. It’s still the blob chip on board, he identified the other chip and it had nothing to do with the temperature readings. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aYhHUjTqTlE.htmlm58s Maybe if you found one with the external plug it might have had the green board? When I first started building LED lights I didn’t have a hot air station, but I took a 15W stick Orin and just screwed a aluminum heating block from a 3D printer on the end. So when it reached temp, I placed the MCPCB with solder paste and LED on it, as soon as it melted the solder paste (Lower melting temp) I moved it to a computer CPU heat sinc to cool. That worked much better then I thought and is a cheap way to solder them on. Have fun, Scott

Well the both seem to work, but yea they are both fake. eBay has policies against this so I was refunded for both of them.

But for this application they can last a long time. If you get some solder left on it you can just wick it off. You wont find any electronics in the thermocouple. The price is probably because of the copper in the thermocouple. Most thermocouples are made of a copper-nickel alloy, paired with iron and Chromel® to form types J, T and E thermocouples, respectively. But making it with just wires and a crimp would probably give you inaccurate reading. Im guessing the thermocouple metal is under the crimp in you case?

응 온도가 좋았어. 그리고 오늘도 여전히 좋아. 나는 어제 열상 카메라를 테스트하는 데 그것을 사용했다.

Yup, I mention that at the end of the video that they are both fakes.