Aoyue 9378 Pro Series 60 Watt Programmable Digital Soldering Station - ESD Safe, includes 10 tips, C/F switchable, Configurable Iron Holder, Plug-in Spare Heating Element

After much shopping around, reading reviews, and checking up on manufacturers, I honestly took a well informed leap and purchased this unit. This is was one of the best decisions I could have made. I love this thing; after purchasing one for myself, I realized this is the best unit to also put in my shop.The unit heats and cools rapidly and is accurate in it's temperature readings.The construction of the unit is something that has been complained about around the net, I had absolutely no issue with the quality of the construction. The station itself is a bit smaller and lighter than I did expect, but it's not absurdly small and weighs more than enough to remain in place and not accidentally bump or slide around. The iron itself has a great feel in the shape and is of sound construction. It was also lighter than I expected, but this is not an issue and it does help with longer sessions, which are more practical with a solder station than a direct plug unit. Changing the tip is easy and with the rapid cool down, far more practical.The controls work well. I have not tested some of the more in depth functionality, but at least as far as turning on setting temperature if needed, the unit does remember your last temperature, it works great. I wanted something where I can set temperature and get working not fiddle with menus, and this does exactly that.I have no real issues with the iron holder. The design is simple and functional. The unit I purchased holds the pencil without touching the hot tip of the iron. I attached the spool reel and sponge tray, which screw together with just a couple of screws. A few reviewers I found complained that this seemed cheap and of poor quality. I can attest that nothing here felt cheap. The iron holder is a simple, functional device - it's not "wow amazing", but it does serve it's purpose. The spool reel and sponge tray do not need to be attached to the iron holder if you don't want. The sponge IS very thin and practically unusable however. I wasn't bothered by this as I prefer to not use a sponge, a brass wire tip cleaner is recommended for any iron. Eventually the sponge will wear out at some point another anyway and considering this I see the inclusion of a sponge as somewhat complementary in most cases - others will disagree, but that shouldn't be a buying point.The unit also came with several tips. I have yet to test them all, but I'm pretty satisfied with what I have tested. Included is also a replacement tip for the what's on the iron now, some might view that as a pro or a con. Aoyue sells other tips in addition to what's included if something more specific is required. Some users appear to have tested Hakko tips, I have yet to try this and it's doubtful I will.I would recommend this product to anyone, especially hobbyists or anyone looking to upgrade from a direct plug in iron. I was blown away by this station, expecting for this to be a decent enough mid point but it really holds up well to some serious electronics works.

Used it for the first time today. The lcd is loose, as in one side is not really attached. Why 4 stars? It works freaking great! I've used pencil type irons before and this is way better. Its up to temp quick, drops temp quick, its a good form factor, the extra tips are awesome. Some others complained about the extras being cheap, yes they are, but they work and they aren't flimsy. For the price I dont mind. Others said that the temp readout doesn't change after it reaches temp, mine does. I dont know if it is a hardware or software upgrade but it drops down a few degrees when it wipe the tip on the sponge or try to heat up a large area and then it goes right back up. With the extra tips this thing is worth every penny so far. With problems like the loose lcd I dont think the four stars would hold up for any higher price, but I was almost expecting exactly what I got and I'm fine with it. For a first foray into better irons this is a great product. Just don't expect perfect fit and finish. I'll update if anything changes in the next year or so.

I purchased this unit to replace the capacitors on the circuit board of my double oven. Like others, my soldering experience began with a simple pencil several years ago and included the massive dual-temperature Weller gun. None of these gave very satisfactory results, but they did get the job done.For this project, I decided to get better equipment. Equipment starting with a decent soldering system. I reviewed all the options and it became very clear that I could never justify the cost of a Hakko or Weller professional system. I just do not solder that many things. For reference, I still have much of a 1lb. roll of 0.031 Kester solder that I originally purchased in 2001! This unit by Aoyue seemed to be the best combination of features, price, and reliability.I ordered this system from Amazon/SRA and all I can say is that if you have not ordered from them before, you should do so soon just so that you can see what great service looks like. Well packed. Immediate shipment. Constant communications. Unbelievable. I have ordered several additional items since from SRA and the experience has been similarly exceptional.The unit itself is impressive. Tremendous control of the the temperature, F and C. Special features like snooze, and a vibrating handle. Extra tips and heating element. Heavy duty spool and tool holder. Sustantial power cord. The only negative is the user manual, which while not bad, it not at the same quality level as the rest of the unit. To be fair however, it is a soldering system. How many instructions do you really need?When I began to use it, it heated up quickly, but didn't quite melt the old solder sufficiently to wick it away quickly. I adjusted the temperature slightly and 5 seconds later the tip was hot enough to work perfectly. Total project took me less than 10 minutes. With a more traditional system, I would have been constantly waiting for the iron to recover temperature and the joints would not have been nearly as consistent.Everyone has their own needs and budget, but my days of buying cheap tools are over. If you need to do any amount of soldering, you should buy this unit and you should buy it from SRA. You will not be dissapointed. At the price, it is an absolute steal.Highly recommended.

I received Aoyue 9378 and upon delivery I could tell that it is a extremely well built Solder Station. Upon closer inspection it was a well designed station, the first time i sat down to solder a project it work as advertise. It heat up to set temperature in about 15 seconds, Menu system easy to setup and overall works as it should. I love the ability to use different irons. The standard style , a Aoyue WQ iron, a pair of teaser and a T12 iron if so wish. The system will automatic select which iron that you want to use. Its weight is about 4 to 5 pounds so its has a heffley transformer, so you know it wasn't going to be a overloaded at all. It's all about a good value for the money and I would recommend it to anyone that wanted a well built solder station.

Existen mejores en el mercado, sin embargo esta cumple con lo necesario para realizar casi cualquier tipo de trabajo profesional.

Very happy with this soldering iron so far. It's built very solid, and feels like a quality piece of equipment.The iron is comfortable to hold, and doesn't get hot in your hand.It comes with a spare element, and tons of tips in different shapes.I'm an Electro-Mechanical Technologist and have been soldering for 10+ years.Most proper labs/workshops I've been to have Weller stations as a standard, and they easily double the price of this one. I would just as happily use this unit.The digital display with current temp indication is a nice feature allowing you to be sure you're actually at your desired setting.I also like that it has a reel to hold solder spools on the stand.Overall very happy with it, and would definitely recommend it to someone looking for an iron with a base station.

Miles better than a dinky hand held soldering iron, for a very decent price. I have used it for multiple hobby projects with no issues. The temperature readout and docking station is very handy. Heats up VERY fast.

The device is very good for the price, small, very maniable and come with multiple TIPS and and extra heater. If it wasn't about the accuracy (that is maybe just my device), I would surely recommend it. Love the auto-shutdown.I have only 2 complaint:1. Factory default the temperature is totally not accurate from the digital panel! I have set the unit for the 350C and took the temperature from 3 differents digital thermometer. Without any calibration the temperature was around 280C. Wow, 70C Off from the set temperature!!. By chance there is in the menu a adjustment config and it can go up to +70C. So I setup the adjustment to the maximum and was able to finally get accurate temperature, at least +-2-3%.[Important] Don't used the long fine TIP even for small electronic, the surface at the end is so small and dissipate too fast when you apply to the metal that your are risking of making cold connection. Used a medium TIP with a flat face for good contact.When you do your calibration, take your time and let it heat up a good 5 min for the first time. Second, make sure you have good contact between your tip of the pen and the thermometer probe. In my case, I was using thermocouple Type K and to make good contact I alway clean up the probe and put a lot of solder on the tip and put the thermocouple in the solder. It won't stick to it since it made of different metal. Don't let it touch any other metal or you will dissipate the heat. This was the best method I found to get the high temperature. Also it depend on your thermometer and size of the tips. I try a few methods and the best I found was to not leave the probe more than 3-5 second on the tip, give him 5 second to heat and repeat your test.2. Esthetic issues: I will have prefer the connector to be behind, so when you don't used the wire is not always on the front and it make a cleaner benchwork. In my freetime, I may try to change the connector to the back if it is possible.