ok guy so i' had the HAKKO FR-300 for little over a year now, and i have burn out the heater on it.
Also around the same time i bought this S-993A, 110v version just as picture above, and i had burn the heater out of it as well…
so i have only used the S-993A about half the amount of time as i have used the FR-300, and both heaters burnt out after a little over a year.
so the original cost of the FR-300 was around $300, The S-993A was about $100.00
Basically because the S-993A only came with a 2.0 mm tip, I just used that for Analog boards, because bigger tips are needed anyways.
the Fr-300 came with a 1.0mm tip… and i would say over the time i have used it, i'v bought 2 additional 1.0mm tips… sometimes they get so screwed up, plugged up
you just can't get it clean and once you break the tip cleaner off in the tip its toast… you can drill it out but… the tip cleaner is weird metal...
so i ended up getting one of these and use it after about every job.
( for the FR-300 )
it helps to keep the tip from getting out of control plugged.
also the last 2 replacement tips i got were 1.0mm elongated slim nose… really helps when trying to get between narrow legs of I/C's
the stock 1.0mm tip, it kind of a fat nose and can cause issues.
so when the heater went out on the FR-300, it was about $65 dollars, and was here in able 3 days.
http://www.bdent.com/hakko-a5000-heater-core.html
the gun is designed to be torn down, and serviced, witch is kind of nice.
The S-993A heater was $15 plus $6 dollars shipping and took DAM near a month to get from china.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/361249327143?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
its not as easy or as friendly to take apart, i had to use my fr-300 to desolder the power and temp wires, there was no quick disconnects like with the hakko.
while i was waiting for the heater to drive for the S-993A i decided to order a 1.0mm slim tip for it, and so i can start using it more with MB's instead of just with A/B's
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111334870055?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&var=410319590384&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
this was $7.99 plus $2.99 shipping.
anyways, so i finally got both guns back together… and i just desoldered about 160 pins with the S-993a and the new 1.0mm slim tip and i'd say it works pretty good really.
also i wanted to toss out there the Filter the S-993a comes with is a joke… basically you can shove the standard hakko FR-300/808 style of filter in the tube and they work just fine.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141116538218?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
so long and short of it … if you plan to use these things regularly you want to make sure to have tips and heaters on hand… especially for the S-993a because it takes so long to receive things from china, you don't want to be down, and waiting for parts to finish the job you were working on.
other wise if you have a Fr-300,,, they cost more, Parts can get to you pretty fast… Parts cost more… The heater lasts about 50% longer then the S-993A… i don't know its a wash… The S-993A has good suction and does deliver a healthy amount to heat witch is a good thing. i bought a whole new back up FR-300, so now i have 2of those, little more redundancy.
Also around the same time i bought this S-993A, 110v version just as picture above, and i had burn the heater out of it as well…
so i have only used the S-993A about half the amount of time as i have used the FR-300, and both heaters burnt out after a little over a year.
so the original cost of the FR-300 was around $300, The S-993A was about $100.00
Basically because the S-993A only came with a 2.0 mm tip, I just used that for Analog boards, because bigger tips are needed anyways.
the Fr-300 came with a 1.0mm tip… and i would say over the time i have used it, i'v bought 2 additional 1.0mm tips… sometimes they get so screwed up, plugged up
you just can't get it clean and once you break the tip cleaner off in the tip its toast… you can drill it out but… the tip cleaner is weird metal...
so i ended up getting one of these and use it after about every job.
( for the FR-300 )
it helps to keep the tip from getting out of control plugged.
also the last 2 replacement tips i got were 1.0mm elongated slim nose… really helps when trying to get between narrow legs of I/C's
the stock 1.0mm tip, it kind of a fat nose and can cause issues.
so when the heater went out on the FR-300, it was about $65 dollars, and was here in able 3 days.
http://www.bdent.com/hakko-a5000-heater-core.html
the gun is designed to be torn down, and serviced, witch is kind of nice.
The S-993A heater was $15 plus $6 dollars shipping and took DAM near a month to get from china.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/361249327143?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
its not as easy or as friendly to take apart, i had to use my fr-300 to desolder the power and temp wires, there was no quick disconnects like with the hakko.
while i was waiting for the heater to drive for the S-993A i decided to order a 1.0mm slim tip for it, and so i can start using it more with MB's instead of just with A/B's
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111334870055?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&var=410319590384&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
this was $7.99 plus $2.99 shipping.
anyways, so i finally got both guns back together… and i just desoldered about 160 pins with the S-993a and the new 1.0mm slim tip and i'd say it works pretty good really.
also i wanted to toss out there the Filter the S-993a comes with is a joke… basically you can shove the standard hakko FR-300/808 style of filter in the tube and they work just fine.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141116538218?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
so long and short of it … if you plan to use these things regularly you want to make sure to have tips and heaters on hand… especially for the S-993a because it takes so long to receive things from china, you don't want to be down, and waiting for parts to finish the job you were working on.
other wise if you have a Fr-300,,, they cost more, Parts can get to you pretty fast… Parts cost more… The heater lasts about 50% longer then the S-993A… i don't know its a wash… The S-993A has good suction and does deliver a healthy amount to heat witch is a good thing. i bought a whole new back up FR-300, so now i have 2of those, little more redundancy.