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I normally don't do reviews unless I really like a product.
I was looking around at the Wellers and Hakkos soldering stations and there reviews when I found the Aoyue 937+ Digital Soldering Station. I looked at all the reviews and was thinking that the Aoyue 937+ soldering station sounded good. I did some research and found out that all the soldering tips that fit the Hakko 936 fit the Aoyue and that it was easy to get replacement parts such as a replacement pen and heating elements. That made me feel real good because I wanted to get a soldering station that would last me a long time. This setup seemed to be a good match.
When I first got the Aoyue 937+ in the mail I opened it up and was pleasantly surprised. Up to this time I have been using Radio Shack irons for all my projects such as small ham radio kits and RC helicopters and airplanes. The build quality of the Aoyue was very nice and didn't seem cheep at all. The cord for the soldering iron seemed to be of very good quality. The rest of the unit seemed to be very tough and didn't feel like it was cheep at all. Everything worked as expected.
I have not owned any other soldering stations but I have been shopping for a while and looked at some in some hobby shops and stores and this Aoyue 937+ soldering station looked and felt about the same but the other soldering stations I have looked at were much more expensive than this one. I feel I got a real good deal. I have use it to build one CW Ham radio kit so far and I loved it. Heats up very quick and holds the temp nicely. I don't see how you can go wrong with the Aoyue 937+ soldering station. Get it! I think you are going to like it.
There was some stuff that I didn't like about the station but they were nothing big to me.
1 The temp is digitally displayed in celsius and there is no way to switch to fahrenheit.
2 The sponge is to thin. I wouldn't use it anyway. I only use water free tip cleaners like the Hakko brass wire ball. Works awesome for me.
3 The rod that holds the "solder roll" on the soldering iron holder stand is nice but the two caps at the ends of it came out so I used super glue to hold them in. Now that I did that I found that I never use the rod anyway.
4 The power cord is a bit short for my liking. At some point in time I'll order another one that is longer. It looks like the same cord that plugs in to computer power supplies.
Other than those 4 small things the Aoyue 937+ soldering station is a keeper and the quality is as good as the other I have looked at and coast much less than the others :-)
Update 06-20-10 = I just got done doing another small kit and I like this soldering station a lot.
I have been using both the Hakko and Aoyue tips and yes the Hakko tips do work like I stated but I found that there is a flanged metal tube inside the iron that is used as a spacer. It is spaced perfect for the Aoyue tips but it is just a bit short for the Hakko tips. When you put in the Hakko tip there is slightly more than a 1mm space between the tip and spacer. That makes the barrel of the iron kind of move a bit. I also didn't want to tighten the retaining nut to much because I thought it may damage the ceramic element. I also did try to file part of the ceramic elements end to make the tip fit but under the ceramic part of the element is metal so I didn't want to go any farther. I am now going to purchase some more Aoyue tips and keep the Hakko tips for backup. When I used the Aoyue tip the shaft of the iron was nice and tight and did not shift or move at all. I did use the Aoyue tip that came with the unit (I think it is a "S4" tip) and it has worked very good but I prefer the "TI"or the "TB" tips for every day use. Only time will tell but so far so good. The tip is holding up nicely. All in all I am very impressed :-)
Update 08-13-10 I have been soldering up a storm and I think I have done at least five or six different kits sense the last review. This soldering station is awesome and I really didn't know what I was missing till I got it. Why spend more money when you can have this gem of a soldering station.
Update 09-09-11 The soldering station is still working like new! Man I got my moneys worth out of it. No problems with it at all.
Update 09-09-12 Still going strong! I just got done doing two different projects with no problems. Still heats up fast. I am interested in the new iron stand that they have out. I may get the new station just for the stand. My nephew is in to electronics now and I think I may give him this unit for his projects. I'll keep the new one for myself :-)
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I just bought this item, so this isn't a long-term review. However, I have to say that I am VERY impressed with this soldering station thus far.The iron heats up quickly, and the led displays the actual temp of the iron. I had no trouble soldering some heavy gauge speaker wire with this, and no trouble soldering very fine gauge battery leads. This is a very powerful and versatile tool that should definitely be on the list for electronics people who are on a budget.
The only drawback I've experienced is that the barrel of the iron gets warm (but not uncomfortably so). I think an extra bit of hi-temp foam should handle that problem.
PS I'm am in NO WAY related to or associated with SRA, we just happen to have the same last name!
Best Deals on Aoyue 937+ Digital Soldering Station - ESD Safe includes Spare
This iron heats up very quickly and works beautifully. Comes with an extra ceramic element just in case the one you have somehow goes bad.Honest reviews on Aoyue 937+ Digital Soldering Station - ESD Safe includes Spare
I purchased this soldering station 6 months ago as an upgrade for a Weller WLC-100, planning to use it once or twice a week for hobby tasks. I like the adjustable digital temperature control, and it worked well a few times, but not long after I got it the unit started to flash "=8=" on the display all the time and would not work anymore. I'm very dissapointed in this tool after spending good money on what I thought was a better product. I also felt the cord running from the station to the iron was really too short, I would have liked it to be at least another 2-3 feet longer.Update Before sending the device back I decided to follow the testing procedure in the manual with my multimeter and found that the sensor on the heating element was faulty. The device comes with a replacement heating element in the box, so I disassembled the handle and replaced the heating element. Note this requires a soldering iron to do ironic. Took about an hour, reassembled the handle and tested it again back in business. I've improved my rating from one star to three, but I really think the heating element should last longer than 10 hours of light use before needing to be replaced, and the other shortcomings are still problems. Buyer beware.
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