FR-301 - Portable Desoldering Tool

This is probably the best made hand held powered vacuum desoldering device on the market today. At a setting of around 700F (371C) it is more than capable of removing the most stubborn components. Tip change is easy (even hot!) and the unit will extract a lot of components before you need to empty the collector. The unit has a really nice latch system on the solder collector that locks the spring in place so that removal and replacement of the collector is easy. When you replace it you simply push a button to lock the collector in place. I do wish at this price they would include the 0.8, 1.5 and 2mm tips though. I removed over 200 parts of all types off of two quality FR-4 PCB's and it worked without a hitch and without any lifted pads. Now for my gripes: The case is cheap blow molded plastic (the kind of thing you see at Harbor Freight on cheap tool kits) with plastic hinges. This is not the sort of thing that I would expect from a professional tool. Also there is no extra storage room for things that you might need in the field. I better solution would be a case with real latches and a HDPE foam insert that could easilly be modified as needed. In addition the iron stand is a joke. It looks like something that a 5 year old would design. The stand for this device should be stable and fully support the unit sitting on a bench. My Solderwerks BK-3090 (I bought from Circuit Specialists, around 2 years ago and no parts are available WTF? hence the Hakko FR-301 purchase) had a much better case and a far superior iron holder. The sad thing is Hakko does not offer anything better as a bench holder for the FR-301. I have ordered a couple of different 3rd party ones to try but I may just continue to use the Solderwerks holder. I wish I could buy another one of those. Solderwerks tool was junk but at least the stand and case were good. I may have to fabricate or modify my own. As for the case I may just reuse the Solderwerks one. As an engineer Hakko should be ashamed to offer such a great tool with these glaring faults.

I rarely am moved to write a review, but I am so thrilled with this product. I recently got into restoring vintage audio equipment. I started off using the manual copper wick or "solder sucker" tools, which were fine for one or two components, but are just punishing to use when trying to desolder 30 or more components in a single unit. Based on the good reviews, I sprang for the Hakko and I'm so glad I did. It's easy to use, easy to clean, basically foolproof. It's a HUGE time saver and gives a much better result than the manual methods I mentioned. The included tip has been fine for almost all of the normal capacitors, transistors, etc. that I need to remove, but sometimes thicker pins (like jumper pins) won't fit in the tip. The accessory tips are stupidly expensive, so I haven't bought those, instead using the tip I have to sort of melt and vacuum around the solder joint rather than on top of it. It still works to get about 90% of the solder cleaned up, and the wick or manual pump in conjunction with a soldering iron can take care of the rest. My only gripe is that the metal stand is a bit chintzy and the natural coil tension of its thick power cord can sort of push it around quite easily. Not a product complaint, but a safety tip: it's easy to forget that this thing is on. A couple times I have carelessly allowed a cord to drape across the tip only to watch the smoke rise as the insulation on it melts.

I hesitated to buy one of these for years, until starting to do some substantial hifi recap projects. Once you use one of these, you will curse yourself for ever wasting time and energy with hand held spring loaded suction pumps, absorbent braid, etc. I worried about the suction power of the handheld all in one device, but it's just amazing. It heats up FAST, it does not clog if you let it pull for a second after each extraction to clear the tube, and the filter just works without a lot of attention. Biggest and only "issues" is lack of a stand, and need to buy additional tips for some tasks, especially larger items, but just forget all that and buy this thing, you will be glad you did. It's like going from a hand saw miter box to a 10" compound chop saw, it's that big a difference. Also, it saves you from damaging components, pcb's, and makes removing complex components easy and fun. I also splurged and purchased the Hakko soldering rig, which is also amazing, primarily because it heats up super fast, and control the temperature. I was tempted to try some of the cheaper Chinese options since I'm not a pro, but I'm really glad I splurged a bit for these items. I really look forward to using them instead of just tolerating them. To be a bit more rounded in this review, I agree with several other youtube and online reviews that mention the case is not great, it's a pain to get the cord in there, and the stiff cord combined with no stand is a danger for the thing sliding off the table. Make a coffee can stand or something, and keep some cord wrap thingies handy and it's all good. Hakko, including a second tip with a larger opening would be nice! Final note, some folks seemed confused by the tips not having a hole. They come pre-tinned with solder, the hole is there, it's just soldered over. Heat it up, pull the trigger you have a hole. No need to drill anything out at all.

So far I am very impressed with this tool. It is working great. It has good suction and is easy to clean and maintain. I have used much more expensive machine that didn't measure up to this hand held device.

I’ve been buying large rolls of solder wick at about $50 a roll. They last me a decent while but they’re disposable and consumable and expensive. Cost benefit analysis told me that this gun will pay for itself faster the more I use it (I restore vintage electronics for a living). I had my doubts about this unit, as it seems like a solution in search of a problem. Solder wick works fine, but it requires a lot of time and heat to get solder completely removed. Would this fairly bulky gun with its chunky power cable running across my bench really be worth it? Yes, it’s worth it. Solder joints on 40 year old stereo equipment instantaneously disappear and the original component just falls out. In 3 seconds, I’m doing what used to take 30 seconds to a minute with solder wick and my iron, and I’m not damaging traces or cooking the PCB with 750 degrees of heat for long periods just to remove basic components. This is not a solution in search of a problem. It’s more like an essential tool that negates the original problem entirely and immediately slots itself into your workflow with no growing pains or learning curve. It’s the electronic repair person’s equivalent of handyworker’s hammer or wrench. Hammers and wrenches are of course very cheap, but this is a tool for very specialized work and we just have to pay more for our tools in this field as a result. Even at almost $250, it will pay for itself in bench time saved and solder wick cost savings. If you have the money to spend and work on electronic equipment often enough to make it worth it, buy this tool. It’s worth it.

Fantastic tool for removing thru the board components. Heats up quickly and the vacuum pump works very well. So much quicker than using the solder wick technique.

I’ve been using this for nearly 2 years and it is an awesome tool. I wasn’t crazy about the FX888 soldering iron, STILL not sure it’s “calibrated” but have it working more consistently than before spending about two hours messing with calibrating, looking up others’ experiences and suggestions. No such hassles with this device. Pros: - fewer “cooked” components - FAST compared to other methods - leaves cleaner pads/leads - temp adjustable so you don’t suck up pads on older boards - temp adjustable so you CAN disassemble those antique 50 year old Heathkits and older radios. - different sized tips for different projects/leg sizes. LONG-nosed 1mm tip is best for most modern electronics like IC legs - learning curve not too steep to get good effects with first time use. CONS: - needs a better stand (worth buying one), included stand conducts heat to table/surface you lay the gun on. - newer ? plastic filters clog faster, or seem to. Older, ceramic ones last longer and are easier to peel off a layer and keep using. - filters aren’t cheap. Cheaper filters are more expensive in the long run as you replace them more often - NEEDS A LITTLE MAINTENANCE - cleaning, tinning tip just like soldering iron - little more practice than it would seem at first - dross/flux dust probably contains lead. I use a fan/filter with this and strongly suggest getting one for general soldering as well. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve used this. It’s a major time and frustration saver. With the right tip and heat adjustment it’s easier to get IC’s off their boards than anything else I’ve used. I’m just now noticing that the pump seems to BLOW first, a little puff of (hopefully not too-toxic) lead dust comes out when I trigger the gadget and suction is going downhill. I suspect I’ll need to disassemble, clean/wash the actual pump soon, and there’re no instructions on how to do that included with the tool. TIP: touch the component LEG, NOT the pad, with the tip. May be (is often) necessary to push tip against pad/hole to get maximal suction on thicker/2-layer boards. All things considered, I’m glad I bought it, and would buy one again.

Why did I wait so long, this gun is fantastic, I was going to buy the less expensive version but decided on Hakko, always had good experiences with them, I found it easier to heat the solder with my regular iron to straighten the pins then hit it with the desoldering gun, pulls all the solder like butter. Very fast to heat up and only need heat setting number one

I have a 474 desoldering station (not Hakko) that is 2 or 3 years old. I mostly remove 5-pin relays and reuse the board with a simple MOSFET switch circuit. I had gotten the process down to a science with the 474 desoldering station - 450 C, 5 to 8 seconds to liquify the solder, pull trigger while circling the tip around the pin for 3 seconds and keep pulling the trigger until after the desoldering gun was off the pad. On pin 3, 4 and 5 I would use my finger to wiggle the relay loose during this process. I would usually have to clean the filters at around 30 to 40 relays as the suction would gradually decrease to a point where the pins wouldn't be cleaned out completely. I was deciding on a replacement when the suction wouldn't remove more than half the solder (still not sure where my leak is or if it is the pump). With the Hakko set between 400 C to 450 C, it is approximately 1 or 2 seconds on the pad and pull the trigger, I move the tip around bit. The Hakko suction is much better - it usually removes most if not all the solder. The Hakko almost seems like it keeps the solder liquified while pulling whereas on the 474 it felt like the solder started cooling as soon as I pulled the trigger. The Hakko is much easier to clean. The 474 was a bit finicky because the heat wasn't very isolated - there was the handling of hot spring filters, etc. The spring filter was also a pain to clean even if replaced with a better compatible spring. The time savings on the Hakko are significant - approximately 2 to 3 times faster with much less hassle and frustration. I also like how it is portable with it's own case, this will save me some space. Simply a high quality and well designed tool. It was worth every penny and I expect it to pay for itself with the time saved.

Buena herramienta muy útil, hasta ahora jala muy bien la soldadura

It's definitely an investment up front, but I can tell you, for me, it was worth it. I use mine for vintage audio restoration and repair and I use it constantly. Most of my work is with single-layer circuit boards and it works very well. I usually add a bit of solder to reflow the joint that I'm desoldering to make it come off a bit nicer and the results are always good. I bought some extra tips, a new filter pipe, and some more filters so that I have spare parts for the future. Tips are relatively expense, but are of good quality and last a long time. Maybe forever. It's really nice to be able to instantly lift a leg of a resistor or a capacitor to open up a circuit when troubleshooting or to make a reading on a part. You can also use this to do quick solder jobs if you don't feel like plugging your regular iron in. I've used the cheap desoldering hand guns before and I can tell you the pump isn't nearly as powerful, nor the heater. It is also alot sturdier. This tool heats up FAST, and it gets HOT. I've always used mine on the lowest heat setting and it gets extremely hot, which is really what you need so that the heat penetrates the solder joint and gets everything good and liquified. The high price tag is unfortunate, because the Japanese models that run on 100VAC seem to cost about $200 CAD less. I often wonder if it would have worked just as well. I didn't want to take the chance though. I advise against buying a used desoldering tool , as there are so many parts that fail and you can't get parts for most of the models that people are trying to hawk these days. In my opinion, this is the best buy.

Funciona tal y como esperaba. Hakko es una muy buena marca. Excelente opción.

This unit is awesome! One of my favorite tools in the shop, an absolute joy to use. Don't bother with cheap units, save yourself years of pain and just buy this one. Heats up quickly and consistently, wide temperature range. Very comfortable to hold and use. Good suction, low noise. Tips are easy to change. Unit is easy to clean, and you can do a *lot* of work between cleanings in a session. The range of different available tips is impressive, including some very small ones which I use to fix glitches when reballing BGA chips, or big tips for big heavy transformer leads, etc. Tips are expensive, but last a very long time if you're gentle with them and keep them clean.