UPDATE: I’ve been testing the FX951 vs the FX100 side by side for awhile now with identical tips is respective series. I use 350C tips in the FX100 because it’s always enough. Generally, the smaller the tip, the larger the FX100 advantage. But it’s often very subtle. If you use discrete hardware that’s generally larger and don’t need the lighter weight of the FX100 hand piece, get the 951, it’s less than half the cost and 95% of the performance. Trick: Thermaltronics has tips that work perfectly in the FX100 and are a little higher performance because they use thinner plating more like JBC. Hakko biases tips towards life, so they have thicker plating and always lose head to head tests of pure performance. But the Hakko tips last a LONG time.
I was going to comment a bit on that too. I go by relative masses. If I have a huge heat capacity disparity, I heat the larger one first and let the solder flow to the smaller one. I think heating the board here with some good flux would let the solder flow underneath just fine. But heating the chip here seems like a technique that could make things harder.
In almost any test of pure thermal performance, a Hakko will lose for one reason above all: they use an extra-thick tip plating which carries a significant thermal performance disadvantage. This makes their tips superbly durable, but at the cost of ultimate performance. The standard JBC tips are Ferrari-like: optimized for performance, but not for durability. This is why JBC offers a separate line of "extended durability" tips that have thicker plating more like the Hakko tips. The hakkos would compare more favorably to those "high durability" JBCs. Which is not to say that the Hakkos would suddenly outperform-- they most likely won't. But the gap will narrow somewhat. The second reason Hakkos often lose is that they often don't offer high-heat tips in many of their lines. This test is a bit apples/oranges in the sense that the JBC tip is substantially larger and has more thermal mass. But it's also apples/apples in the sense that you bought essentially the highest heat tip you could get for each station. The fact that JBC offers a larger tip doesn't make this an unfair test-- it actually reveals potentially a significant reason to choose the JBC. Especially since these stations are comparable in price, at least in the USA. Almost all the JBC tips have a larger section near the tip that only exists to increase thermal mass. None of the FX-100 tips have this feature, only ONE T15 tip has this feature (XD1.5). This is a basic weakness in the Hakko designs relative to JBC. It's one of the key reasons JBCs perform so well (along with the thinner plating), and it's also a big reason why the JBC tips cost a bit more. There's simply no replacement for having a hot mass near the tip instantly available to discharge heat into the work, and this is a major design advantage of the JBCs.
And besides that, everybody forgets to mention one "small" detail, that Hakko has 50W of output power and JBC has 130W of output power. He tries to compare devices with almost 3 times difference in output power. Hmmmm, who will be the winner? )))))
@@dmitriykhalimov161 If all factors are put into consideration, I believe this Hakko wins over the JBC. FX-100 has a boost function that can spit out 80w temporarily, and combined with its induction heating technology, FX-100 can easily win the thermal battle.
JBC tips seems to wear out fast for me and they're quite costly to replace. I had only used them to solder at at most 350C and average about 300C for the majority of time.
@@dmitriykhalimov161 Resistive heating with Thermocouple PID loop is not equivalent to Curie Point with RF induction. I use a 40 watt Metcal station to solder wires on a steel chassis with no problem because thermal recovery is instant with Curie Point.
So I just took delivery of an FX100. Preliminary testing against FX951 shows 951 to have advantage with the tips I have at hand. With some tips, it is a substantial advantage in thermal performance. Why is this? It's because the equivalent T12/T15 tips are generally a lot shorter and therefore give superior thermal response. Hakko has announced very recently that many T31 tips are being replaced by T31B series which is shorter. This improves thermal performance enough that they have discontinued the hottest 480C temperature line. For example, BC28 tip in T31 series is 17.6mm. But the BC3 in T12/15 that I used for comparison is much shorter at only 10mm. This makes the gradient much less and improves performance. Unfortunately, I don't have any tips identical in both series. I have many T12/15 and only two T31s. I will be getting a 2.4mm chisel in the T31 that should allow true apples-to-apples comparison. But so far I can say very confidently that the advantage of the FX100 over the 951--if it ever shows up-- is likely to be very small. That said, the FX100 definitely feels more professional, has superior ergonomics and is a joy to use. I just wish it had some of the same tips available as the T12/15 (like big bevels, tinned face only, stubby chisels, etc).
It seems Hakko and JBC target a very different market. I have very little knowledge about JBC, but Hakko obviously targets production facilities, so Hakko’s stuff is all about being durable, controlled, consistent, and most importantly running cost.
@@acoustic61 I finally got a cloned JBC with genuine tips. It turns out the heat conductance is the key, and performance is somehow related to the tip design and material used. Wattage isn't the key criteria for a soldering station as most of the time my station was under 20% of rated power.
Awesome video. Thanks for making. I have a 951 and recently acquired the ultra heavy duty 300w Hakko for testing. Real world, very little performance increase with huge tips and 300w unless you crank the temperature up. It’s because you can’t force much power out of the station if you aren’t pulling much heat out- and the heat flow depends on the temperature difference. At 450c, a significant difference in performance between the 951 and 801 finally emerged. The lesson here for me is that until your old station fails to be adequate at it’s highest temp with a bigger tip, more power probably won’t help. Also, jbc tips have thinner plating and superior heat flow, but less durability than the Hakko tips mostly intended for durability
Thanks. This is exactly what I want to know. I've been using Hakko for more than 20 years. You are right about Hakko's tip durability. My current soldering stations are FM-202 & 941, both purchased 15+ years ago. During these years, only one of the 941 tips failed. They are much better than my previous Hakko 939.
@@phuang3 How often do you use the tips? Fifteen years of durability is unusually long. Most people say that full daily use will wear out any tip in just two years.
I can't believe this JBC beat the Hakko FX-100! Something just doesn't make sense. FX-100 has a boost function which will increase its output wattage (I'm not sure exactly by how much). Can you put it into boost and blind the JBC with a joint it can't handle. Metcal MX-2000 series irons easily beat JBC by their 80 watt output. Induction heating technology shouldn't lose at any cost. I think you should do another video.
What wouldn't "make sense" is if the Hakko managed to outperform the JBC which has nearly twice the peak wattage available to the tip. This was a bit of a clumsy presentation and a slightly lopsided comparison, but in terms of thermal conductivity and power capacity, the JBC wins handily.
@@claya6581 you're technically correct but SDG Electronics video shows a comparison between 130W JBC vs 80W Metcal where the Metcal beats JBC with obvious contrast. That Metcal beat all of the soldering stations he tested against it, including a 120W Pace. Induction heating technology has a good length of thermal advantage.
@@claya6581 Still a variety of variables to account for such as the efficiency of the mechanism used to deliver heat to the joint. The JBC might spend more getter it's thermal buffer filled because the Hakko lacks one and the energy that was lost outside of going straight to the solder joint. The Hakko FX-100 is similar to the Metcal's which also don't really need the extra thermal mass to liquify solder. The idea is to deliver heat fast enough to heat up only the contact surfaces and the solder that they adhere. For example, you don't want to heat up the entire heatsink to solder something to it.
@@garbokaba3422 this is exactly what I saw before. JBC starts to melt solder sooner but when it comes to massive thermal requirements, Metcal eventually performs better. Check out SDG Electronics review to see for yourself.
