Aoyue 9378 Pro Series 60 Watt Programmable Digital Soldering Station

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 bought this unit over a year ago, and for the short time that I had it, I have to say it was the most amazing soldering iron I have ever owned in the 30+ years that I've been soldering. A year ago my house was robbed, and so I no longer have it. When I decided to replace it, I purchased one of those inexpensive 862D re-working stations because I wanted the heat gun feature. Well, it was a HUGE mistake and I'm kicking myself now for not replacing my iron with the Aoyue 9378. My new unit has already gone kaput as the transformer burned out and the writing on it is Chinese so I dont know what the specs are so that I can replace it. This unit has very nice temperature control that is sustained in rock solid fashion. I purchased low temp solder and used the digital adjustment to bring the temp down to what the solder was rated at, and it worked flawlessly. The thing I really loved the most about this unit is that you can program a cool down timer. I had mine set to two minutes because when you pick up the iron, it senses that and it immediately brings the iron back up to temp. So you just pick up the iron, hold it for about 5 seconds, and you're good to go. I forget to turn my iron off constantly and have even left it on for days, but with the cool down timer, if I leave the iron on, it cools down to 100 degrees F until I pick it up. This saves the soldering tip and my electric bill! If this is the price range you're in for a quality and solid soldering station, this is absolutely the unit you want.

The control unit is kind of big, and the cord from it to the soldering iron is about 2 feet shorter than I would like. But wow, it does do the job for the small components that I work with. Temp is adjustable if you want to do that, and it has a shut-down timer which is nice. The many included extra tips are great. A good investment if you find yourself soldering up a bunch of little stuff like I do. You could get something $20 cheaper but this one is quality.

Just got this and here's my first impressions. The soldering station itself appears to be well built, weighing a hefty 2.5 pounds. It comes with a metal soldering iron stand model 2660, but the 2660B would have been better since that one includes a tip storage attachment which would have been handy to hold the extra tips that come with the unit. The tips include a T-B tip already mounted, another T-B, T-LB, T-0.5C, T-0.8C, T-1C, T-0.8D, T-1.2D, T-1.6D, and T-2.4D. The widest tip, the T-2.4D, is only 2.4 mm wide so you may need something bigger for jobs other than electronics. The iron heats up and cools down fast and the instructions are pretty straight forward, but they don't say how to change the tip. It seems you just unscrew the knurled nut at the base of the iron and lift the sleeve off. The tip then slides off the ceramic heating rod. An extra heating rod is included if you need to replace it. Happy soldering. Updated to 5 stars. This is such a pleasure to solder with: fast heat up, pinpoint control, wide selection of tips, no performance issues. If you need to solder headphone wires, the wide T-2.4D tip makes it easy. Clamp the iron to your bench with the tip level and melt a blob of solder on it at 400 degrees C. Dip the wire in flux and then hold it in the hot blob for a few seconds to burn the enamel insulation off the itty-bitty strands and tin them with solder. With the strands thus tinned, soldering the connection is a snap.

My shipment arrived with everything intact and in flawless condition. Everything was packaged professionally, and nothing was missing or damaged. A+ to the shipper! Regarding the soldering station, I appreciate the attention to detail that the manufacture has incorporated into this product. For example, I like how you can mount the soldering stand/solder holder on either the left or right hand side of the unit. Being left handed, I know all too well that most things seem to be geared for right handed users but not here! The soldering iron is very comfortable to hold and from my experience, it's probably comfortable to hold for +8 hours, if you had to use it for work. For what it's worth, my local Fry's Electronics store carries this device (much more expensive than Amazon) so with that said it's safe to say this product is being sold at retail outlets throughout the United States. (You aren't gambling with an unheard of device from China) The construction of the unit is A+ quality. I've had no problems whatsoever with any of the components or the unit. It just works! The tips that are included are very well made and appear to come pre-tinned but I'd still suggest you tin your tips just to be sure. A minor complaint I have is the manual seems to be missing a section that details how to install a new heating element (which is included) but I'm sure with enough googling I can figure it out. I don't anticipate the heating unit going out, however, I'd like to know how to replace it should it fail on me one day. I haven't searched the manufacturer's website yet but they may have instructions there as well. Keep in mind the tip of this unit gets hot, which is the point of a soldering iron, right? With that said, put it away if you have kids around and use common sense. I don't think the last sentence needs to be said but there are "special" users out there that need this cautionary statement. Lastly, I have not had to deal with the manufacturer's support team so I can't say how well they do/don't respond to issues. In my situation thus far, I have had no reason to contact their support team nor do I envision doing so. The quality of materials that were used in the making of this unit seem like they will withstand many years of abuse. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll respond if possible.

I tend to only need to solder when dealing with Electric Guitar electronics and circuits. That said I really needed an effective and controllable soldering solution for dealing with these precious and valuable musical instruments. This station delivers excellently. The variable temperature is stable and heats up very quickly. Previously I was using a Weller pencil type iron, and I needed to prep by first firing up the iron since it took a solid amount of time to get hot. Variable temp also entails versatility. If I need to liquify the goop holding a bunch of ground wires, I easily can by upping the temp. This means I don't have to lay the iron there for a while and heal the entire pot (+ the guitar finish around it) that the grounds are connected to. For simple connections a lower 320C temp does just fine. The kit as a whole is nice. The iron holder is very well designed, and the iron itself is of high quality. The spool for solder is unnecessary bu nice to have. My only complaint is the collection of tips. I was hoping for a variety but it seemed as if I got 5 different versions of the same sort of tip. I mainly prefer chisel tips and there were only two of these, the rest were pinpoint. Still I found the one I liked and its all I use. I definitely recommend this even for a light hobbyist type. There's nothing like doing a job when you have the right tool for it. The experience is without the frustration, possibility of error and general difficulty you encounter when you have a crappy tool for the job at hand. This station strikes me as good enough even for a pro. I might actually go a bit pro with hot-rodding the guitars of my more musically inclined acquaintances, and I got this station to do so with.

I've had this for almost four years now using it at least three days a week for sometimes hours at a time. Works great and has a very fast heat up time. Still using the same tip and heating element as when I unboxed it. Since it hits programmed temp in a matter of seconds I always turn it off when I'm not actually soldering with it. That and keeping the tip clean and tinned probably accounts for my long tip life. If you happen to get the brass wool tip cleaner cup too it will snap right into the pencil base for use instead of the damp sponge. I've never used the solder spool or sponge since I prefer working with smaller spools or tubes of solder and use the brass wool tip cleaner. Having this unit has really made soldering more enjoyable and is the best upgrade to my electronics hobby that I've made for the money. Update: Here it's now 2022 and this thing is still going strong with no issues. (I did finally have to change the tip.)

The transformer and display and the menu interaction is great and it cones with an extra heating element and plenty of tips. The solder reel is a nice touch and I like the tilt switch/sleep function but, the iron is super cheap. The cap on the end of the handle was cross threaded and the components inside didn't fit together well. The tip keeps coming loose but I'm afraid to tighten it for fear of breaking it. I plan on seeing if I can convert the iron portion to another brand to use with the aoyue base/transformer. I think if I could do it again I would find a similar product for less. 85$ for this seems a bit too high when I saw comparable models from other manufacturers for less. I was hoping I would be getting a bit more quality for a bit more money but I don't think that's the case with this item. It's OK for occasional hobby use but if you plan on soldering more regularly I would recommend trying something else. Again, if the iron/handle portion was a little better I would've been completely satisfied with my purchase and it worse been 5 stars.

First soldering station I have used so I can't compare it to the weller or hakko models. Huge stop up from the variable setting Princess Auto soldering iron I had been using. Pros Gets up to temp in less than 30 seconds. Solid construction. Unit is heavy and built with metal. Even the iron holder which I expected to be cheap and flimsy feels solid. Digital readout is nice and it's easy to dial in the desired temp (works in 2 degree increments). Display shows it holds temp within 2 degree when soldering. (have not verified accuracy myself). Soldering iron is nice and light and feels comfortable in the hand. Power switch is conveniently located right on front of unit. Looks impressive sitting on my desk. I have used this to tin wires and solder components onto perform and it has handled those tasks without issue. I researched and deliberated hard before buying this over a weller or hakko model. In the end because money was tight I bought this unit and am very happy with it so far.

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

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.

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.

A bit fiddly and needs to be kept up on the higher settings to be effective, at least in my case when I'm doing cables for my equipment, but otherwise solid (so far) and decently built. It smelled a little funny when I opened it the first time but this obviously has nothing to do with its performance in use. It is comfortable to hold, easy to maneuver, it's got plenty of power and it comes with an array of tips that are easy to change. Mine also came with a spare heater cartridge. I have limited experience with soldering and this unit has made my life easier once I dialed it just right. As a corollary of my admitted experience please take this review for what it's worth... I cannot gauge this for professional use but it's just about perfect for an amateur like me.