I've used a production desoldering station previously, so getting this unit up and running was a breeze. I managed to damage a clogged tip during a production prototype run, and had to order a $30 replacement parts set. If you have flux on your board, it will get into your filters. They can be alcohol washed, but I ended up replacing all the filters with a few layers of paper towel. During actual production work, the unit needs to be periodically cooled and cleaned. A hot soldering iron will cut the solder mass away from the spring coil (120W JBC w/ chisel tip or equivalent) for cleaning. I expected to end up buying a $1400 JBC setup for real production work, but I haven't been able to kill this unit. My only real performance complaint is that if you desolder as fast as you can, the glass tube gets very hot (won't burn you if you don't touch it), and the tip struggles to transfer heat. Removing RoHS compliant solder requires high temperatures to eliminate tip jams (415C) during production work. Leaded solder keeps things flowing great at 385C.
Edit:
The tip jammed up and it wouldn't clear, even tapping the cleaning rod against a table with the station set to 480C. I threw a wrench on the metal nut to try replacing the whole assembly with the the one I ordered, and the black plastic (Bakelite?) mounting point shattered. I don't see an easy way of fixing this, because the whole hand piece will not function without this part. I went with a JBC setup as a replacement because I can't afford any more downtime from broken parts on this station.
I've changed my rating from 5 stars to 4 stars, because it did well on most of the work, was 1/10th the price of JBC equipment, and I expected it to fail under actual production work at some point. Just not this soon.
| Manufacturer | Anesty |
|---|---|
| Part Number | ZD-915 |
| Item Weight | 7.43 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 9 x 5 x 6 inches |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Material | Metal |
| Power Source | Ac |
| Batteries Included? | No |
| Batteries Required? | No |
