YIHUA948-II 4 in 1 Hot Air Rework Soldering Iron and Desoldering Suction Tin Gun Station with Suction Pick Up Pen °F /°C

The desoldering gun may take longer to reach the desired temperature compared to others, but it's a plus that the vacuum only operates when at the right temperature. While the desoldering technique has a slight learning curve and requires patience, once mastered, you may never go back to using wick or suction bulbs. After using it for about half an hour on a scrap board (surprisingly satisfying), I encountered my first clog. Clearing and cleaning it was a bit of a hassle initially, but with time, I believe I'll find the solution. Although a bit more suction power would be appreciated, there might be a delicate balance between maintaining temperature and suction strength that needs consideration.

I've been a hobbyist my entire life and have been known to do a bit of soldering here and there, but as things get smaller and smaller, the tools become less and less useful. I eventually found myself needing to remove a chip from a microcontroller board to replace it and lacking the tools to do so.I could have just gotten a hot air rework station by itself and called it a day, but I realized my poor old soldering iron was getting a bit worn out so I decided I'd get one with a soldering iron too, and then I saw a video of someone using a desoldering sucker and knew I had to have one.Lucky for me, there's an option to get all three in one nice package. I didn't even realize the machine had the small suction grabber for pulling and holding chips when using hot air, definitely a bonus that I wasn't expecting.I've used it a lot by now, and wanted to do so before I put in a review.The soldering iron is excellent, it heats quickly and has absolutely never let me down, grab yourself a set of extra tips of different formfactors and you'll be good to go.The desoldering gun took some learning, and I managed to clog it up pretty bad a few times before I got good at it. The trick seems to be holding the suction down until the solder is pulled all the way to the back of the internal catching spring. Once I got the hang of it, I was using it to pull through-hole components in record time. As a bonus, it's also pretty darn good at cleaning up pads without having to use solder wick.The air gun is why I got it in the first place, and it did the job I got it for without any effort, removed the chip and replaced it within 10 minutes of getting the machine and I've used it dozens of times since. It's reliable, heats quickly, and has all the tips you need to put the heat exactly where it needs to go.The small suction cup wand that I didn't realize it included is pretty awesome, I didn't even realize a tool like this existed, with the right cup on it you can get a lock on a chip so tight it'll lift the entire board off the table if you pull hard enough. This makes it trivial to pull chips without having to use tweezers, and even works for reinstalling them. A small dab of flux can help secure the suction if things are a bit dry. I didn't know I wanted it, but I don't know if I can ever go back to not having one.Overall, 10 out of 10, I couldn't be happier with it. The extra components and usage of standard parts for things like iron tips and heat carts just makes things all the better when the time comes to replace consumables.

This YIHUA 948-II 4 in 1 Hot Air Rework Soldering Iron is a game-changer for DIY enthusiasts and professionals alike. The station's ability to seamlessly transition between hot air rework, soldering iron, desoldering suction tin gun, and suction pick-up pen functions makes it a versatile tool for various projects.One of the standout features is the dual temperature display in both Fahrenheit and Celsius, providing users with flexibility and convenience. The ergonomic design of the station ensures comfortable handling during long hours of use.While the YIHUA 948-II boasts an impressive array of functions and user-friendly features, some users may find the learning curve slightly steep, especially if they are new to soldering stations. Additionally, the station may require periodic maintenance to ensure optimal performance over time.

This is literally an all-in-one soldering/desoldering station. At first I got mad because I set the soldering iron to 360 and it didn't get hot enough to melt the solder wire. That is until I realized that it comes from the factory pre-set to Fahrenheit which is silly because no one I know uses Fahrenheit to set their iron/desoldering gun/hot air gun. We all use Celsius, right? Once I switched the display to Celsius everything moved swimmingly.Some people complained about the desoldering gun being very slow to reach temperature and that it is easy to jam. I didn't find this to be the case. The desoldering gun got up to temperature quickly and as long as you follow the instructions in the manual you will not have a problem with the gun jamming: Make sure it reaches the temperature (380C or so). Melt some solder on the tip, don't try to desolder if the tip is not hot enough to melt the solder. Once hot to melt the solder, touch the tip to the joint and wait a second or two for the solder at the joint to melt completely. Press the trigger and the solder will be completely sucked into the gun and it will leave you with a clean joint.I had to replace a 7 pin header from few devices. Before I had the desoldering gun it took me few minutes to remove the old header but it took forever to clean the holes to allow soldering the new header. Now it took maybe 30 seconds to remove the old header and the holes were clean of solder and I was able to solder a new one immediately.