858D Hot Air Gun Rework Station SMD Solder Soldering Digital 110V 700W

This little guy is so cute. For <$50 I don't expect much in the way of longevity, but for the money you can't beat it. It even turns on and heats up when you pick it up from the cradle, then cools down and shuts off when you put it back. My expensive one at work doesn't even do that, though to be fair this one doesn't do ramps and soaks.

Got the job done, but I don't expect it to last very long. Might try the replacement firmware and other potential upgrades. Description is for Youyue 858D, pictures are for the Youyue 858D+, and I received a unit labeled Haitral 858D+ that looks identical to the pictures. Immediately disassembled it and it was wired properly, although 3 of the 4 screws holding the sides of the case together were stripped. Front and rear panels are plastic, I thought I was going to snap the back panel in half trying to push the power cable into place - there is nothing but thin plastic holding the IEC socket in place, and the back panel flexes a LOT. The front panel has the PC board and the control knob, switch, and connector mounted on it giving it more rigidity, but there is very little force ever applied to it. For light duty hobby repair use this is a good unit for occasional SMD rework.

I got the hot air gun today and it seems it works as expected. However I have a major concern about safety: the holder hook is poorly designed and the gun may fall of the hook. If the gun is in vertical upright position on the hook it automatically drops the temperature to 100C. If off the hook, the gun may deliver up to its maximum temperature, This creates a serious fire hazard. I am modifying the hook to make sure the gun is safely hanging - this is not a fool proof solution, so if you implement it you do it at your own risk. If you do not feel comfortable doing it, my advice is "return it"!

The 858D is a very popular hot air rework station. It is pretty good for hobby work. It is underpowered so it is not great for large chips. It can also be very inaccurate and inconsistent in terms of temperature. However there have been many custom hacks available to replace the code on the MCU to improve operations. Still, you never know what you are going to get when you order an 858D (Even from the same seller) because there are many different versions of the PCB. I ordered from Sandy Anake and received the 858D06 version of the PCB dated 3/14/2017. It is mainly surface mount with some improved cooling not found in earlier versions. The components are low quality such as Huahong electrolytic caps. The MCU is socketed. Unfortunately, it is a no brand MK1840D3. Most of the custom firmware is designed to work with Atmel MCU’s. However, there are adapter boards available that allow you to swap in an Atmel for the MK if you want to go the hacked route. The gun and power cables are removable which is an improvement over other iterations of the 858. The reed switch in the gun is held in place by hot glue which is sketchy since it is next to the heating element. Still the switch works when the gun is placed in the cradle. The IEC socket is fused and the fuse is on the hot line. Many 858’s are dangerously fused on the neutral by mistake. Unfortunately the power switch was on the neutral leg instead of the hot so the unit has mains level voltage inside even when turned off. However, it is an easy fix. The gun is properly grounded although the resistance is a bit high. The case is also grounded but it relies on painted screws for continuity so again the resistance is high. There is a ground jack on the back which is wired directly to the IEC. The wiring color is inconsistent and unintuitive such as using red for earth ground wires. I had some trouble removing chips from boards with large ground planes but otherwise it works well. I found that it is usually necessary to let the gun stabilize for a minute after you change the temperature. This would be inconvenient for high volume work, but for DIY it’s not a big deal. Despite the issues you really can’t beat this unit for the price. A decent hot air rework stations is going to cost several times more.

I knew what I was ordering - a YOUYUE - but I received a UYUE (forums say it is not the Atmel processor) with a Euro power cord. However the label on the back did say 110volt and I found a spare power cord, maybe I can work with this... Did a quick check with a DMM and the grounds checked out "fair" and it indicated the switch was switching the hot pin in the output jack, so I connected the handle, put it in the holder, plugged in to power and turned it on. FLASH POP and nothing. The fuse (8A) was blown, and the power switch feels like it welded its contacts to the 'ON' position, and it won't stay flipped to off. Packed it up, tomorrow it's heading back to Amazon/toppowersellerus. Maybe I'll try to get a YOUYUE from elsewhere.

I really liked this rework station and have been using it off and on since 2016. Unfortunately it blew up in smoke and almost started a fire today. I know it is beyond warranty but I would have preferred it to just die of old age rather than be a fire hazard... buyer beware. These things work well enough but don’t leave the room with them on. I just bought another because it worked well but I feel like the value is less now that I know these don’t last long.

I "upgraded" recently to the Hakko 888D and boy, do I regret it. This thing is bang-on with temperature, temperature recovery, and ease of use. I never realized how valuable that single temperature knob was until I lost it. The competition takes several times longer to set the temperature and it's not much better if at all. This iron is excellent and I recommend it highly.

I'm not sure how accurate the temperature is on the screen (currently have no way of testing), but it does stay consistent relative to the setting it's on. It heats up very quickly and stays that temperature consistently. Getting surface mounted devices off or pulling solder out of a pin hole would be way more difficult without this. As an added bonus, it can put a nice char on wood.