3 ms·

I agree that nobody needs a multi-hundred or thousand dollar iron just to learn on, but I think your rec of the pinecil for beginners is a bit flawed. To start

I agree that nobody needs a multi-hundred or thousand dollar iron just to learn on, but I think your rec of the pinecil for beginners is a bit flawed. To start with, the fact that the manufacturer includes the instruction set and address space size before the heat-up time makes me pretty skeptical. I get that its hackable, and that's cool and all, but as with all "smart things", I care about the "thing" part way more than the "smart" part. I can implement a PID controller in about 20 minutes (maybe an hour if I need to bit bang the pwm output) on any number of microcontrollers; that's the easy part. Also, the USB-C power supply is going to be nothing but a headache. I already have drawers and drawers of usb cables that can't handle the current I want to use, now I need to keep careful track of my soldering cable, which only performs at 60W over USB (and at best 90W using a barrel jack supply)? And the iron doesn't even come with a power supply, so you have to go source that too. It may be $40 for the iron, but then its another $10-40 for the power supply, plus (as you say) an appropriate stand, brass sponge, etc, etc. Suddenly, the dedicated station like the (very affordable Hakko FX888D-23BY) starts to look pretty good. The pinecil seems like a good thing to keep in your crash bag, but it feels a bit like refusing to buy a power drill because your swiss army knife has a screw driver.

dharmab 3y ago
If you buy direct from Pine64, you can get a stand for an extra two bucks. A brass sponge is what, another two dollars? And many hackers likely already have a GaN charger or Apple charger.
- petsfed 3y ago
  Great, perfect for the would-be hacker who bought an arduino and some random breakout board! All that stands between you and a dodgy temperature sensor is a [checks notes] spare laptop power supply! Who doesn't have one of those just laying around prior to embarking on a career of hardware hacking? My criticism is that, as a first soldering iron, you shouldn't have to have a bunch of background knowledge just to know what parts are missing. They should at least sell a kit with all that stuff.
  - dharmab 3y ago
    My first soldering iron was the one from Harbor Freight. No kit there either, I had to look up a list of stuff to buy.
  - arp242 3y ago
    > My criticism is that, as a first soldering iron, you shouldn't have to have a bunch of background knowledge just to know what parts are missing. They should at least sell a kit with all that stuff. I guess that's fair for someone who is completely new to the world of electronics such as teenagers or older people who just never really did a lot of tech stuff. But for many tech-y people without a soldering iron the Pinecil is fine; I don't currently own a soldering iron and I've never really been into electronics, but the Pinecil would be brilliant for me because 1) I know about tech-y stuff in general, and 2) I do know the basics of electronics and how to solder. I think this probably applies to most of the sad losers on HN who don't own a soldering iron. In general Pine64 is explicitly aimed at hobbyists and people who "know what they're doing" rather than the mass market.
  - eternityforest 3y ago
    You need some way to power the stuff you're going to build, so why not just get a multi-output charger that can run the Pinecil and also power your project and charge your phone? Now that USB-PD triggers, and ESP32 Arduinos with USB-C exist, I think it makes a lot of sense just to use them for almost everything.
johnwalkr 3y ago
I don't care at all about the hackability of the pinecil but I think it's excellent. I have a Hakko FX880 and a "T12 clone" and I have not used them in years now because the pinecil is just as good for anything I do and it's so much more convenient to unplug my laptop and plug in the pinecil when I need to solder for an hour. Plus the tips are good and cheap. I've not had any trouble using a random usb-c cable or laptop usb-c charger. But I recommend the pinecil silicone cable for $4 that won't get burnt.
- alexvoda 3y ago
  I never bought the Pinecil because I already had its predecessor the TS100 which uses the same tips and it does its job perfectly. It lacks USB-C though.
jeffalyanak 3y ago
My pinecil hits 350-400°C in a matter of seconds with a 65W PSU. It can use type-c _or_ a barrel-jack DC adaptor.
l8rlump 3y ago
If you're skeptical about the power supply, you may be enlightened by this: https://hackaday.com/2023/01/31/all-about-usb-c-pinecil-soldering-iron/ https://hackaday.com/2023/01/31/all-about-usb-c-pinecil-sold... I think it's thoughtfully designed.

dharmab 3y ago

If you buy direct from Pine64, you can get a stand for an extra two bucks. A brass sponge is what, another two dollars? And many hackers likely already have a GaN charger or Apple charger.

petsfed 3y ago
Great, perfect for the would-be hacker who bought an arduino and some random breakout board! All that stands between you and a dodgy temperature sensor is a [checks notes] spare laptop power supply! Who doesn't have one of those just laying around prior to embarking on a career of hardware hacking? My criticism is that, as a first soldering iron, you shouldn't have to have a bunch of background knowledge just to know what parts are missing. They should at least sell a kit with all that stuff.
- dharmab 3y ago
  My first soldering iron was the one from Harbor Freight. No kit there either, I had to look up a list of stuff to buy.
- arp242 3y ago
  > My criticism is that, as a first soldering iron, you shouldn't have to have a bunch of background knowledge just to know what parts are missing. They should at least sell a kit with all that stuff. I guess that's fair for someone who is completely new to the world of electronics such as teenagers or older people who just never really did a lot of tech stuff. But for many tech-y people without a soldering iron the Pinecil is fine; I don't currently own a soldering iron and I've never really been into electronics, but the Pinecil would be brilliant for me because 1) I know about tech-y stuff in general, and 2) I do know the basics of electronics and how to solder. I think this probably applies to most of the sad losers on HN who don't own a soldering iron. In general Pine64 is explicitly aimed at hobbyists and people who "know what they're doing" rather than the mass market.
- eternityforest 3y ago
  You need some way to power the stuff you're going to build, so why not just get a multi-output charger that can run the Pinecil and also power your project and charge your phone? Now that USB-PD triggers, and ESP32 Arduinos with USB-C exist, I think it makes a lot of sense just to use them for almost everything.

johnwalkr 3y ago

I don't care at all about the hackability of the pinecil but I think it's excellent. I have a Hakko FX880 and a "T12 clone" and I have not used them in years now because the pinecil is just as good for anything I do and it's so much more convenient to unplug my laptop and plug in the pinecil when I need to solder for an hour. Plus the tips are good and cheap. I've not had any trouble using a random usb-c cable or laptop usb-c charger. But I recommend the pinecil silicone cable for $4 that won't get burnt.

alexvoda 3y ago
I never bought the Pinecil because I already had its predecessor the TS100 which uses the same tips and it does its job perfectly. It lacks USB-C though.

jeffalyanak 3y ago

My pinecil hits 350-400°C in a matter of seconds with a 65W PSU. It can use type-c _or_ a barrel-jack DC adaptor.

l8rlump 3y ago

If you're skeptical about the power supply, you may be enlightened by this: https://hackaday.com/2023/01/31/all-about-usb-c-pinecil-soldering-iron/ https://hackaday.com/2023/01/31/all-about-usb-c-pinecil-sold... I think it's thoughtfully designed.