4 IN 1 - "X-TRONIC" MODEL #8080-XTS - HOT AIR REWORK & SOLDERING IRON STATION (CELSIUS/FAHRENHEIT), 30V-5A DC POWER SUPPLY & 50V-5A DC TEST METER - 10 SOLDERING TIPS - 4 HOT AIR NOZZLES - 1 ANTI-MAGNETIC TWEEZERS - 1 5X MAGNIFYING LAMP!!!

I have had this unit for a couple of days now, and did my best to put it through its paces. Let me begin by addressing any one who has ever taken a soldering iron to a surface mount component... listening? Go hot air! Now for those reading that are also technicians, electronics engineers, students, or hobbyists with limited work space... Seriously consider the 8080-XTS. It does quite a few things, and does them well. I review this as a long time hobbyist, but would describe myself as more of an engineer. I own a small IT bushiness and as as general practice I don't repair broken electronics, its just not profitable. That said I do occasionally end up fixing things for those certain key customers and in important situations. Now I can fix SMT usb/data ports with ease! And just to be clear, the unit I received is the updated revision. Current reviews out there for the 8080 mostly seem to reference the first revision with the red led read outs, and black colored front panel. The unit I am reviewing has the blue led displays and the brushed aluminum face. Now that may be all cosmetic, but there is a good chance things under the hood could have also undergone changes/enhancements(hardware or software). Alright now that we are clear as to which unit I am reviewing. Let's begin. First and foremost, the hot air rework. Its has a ton of heat available. Better still, it can transfer it. I was able to desolder D2PAK Mostfets fairly quickly. A little general area board heating first(10 seconds, 7mm nozzle, 4-5cm above board, circling component). Then heat the "tab" section, best have your tweezers ready. As for the smaller components resistors, diodes, etc, doesn't take more then 1-2 seconds for close heat(1-2cm above component). I ran the unit at about 360° C (680° F) air setting at 5.5 on dial. Was able to desolder leadless ICs no problem. Wicked the pads clean, and replaced. I used 63/37 solder paste(from CML supply ASIN B006UTCYM2) and the IC quickly sunk into place when heat was applied. The 8080 has plenty of oomph, more then it needs. The rework station gets up to temp fast (100° C to 350° C in 7 seconds). From my research the things that are pertinent to this unit specifically, are the brushless fan in the handle itself, thus it does not have an airflow gauge like some of the diaphragm types. This seems not to matter much, since the 8080's air speed potentiometer yields fairly linear blower speeds. Another thing is the air handle does have to be in its holder on side in order to start up, and when its placed back in its holder the rework station goes into "cool down" mode. Essentially the heating element is shut off and it starts to cool down with the blower till its below 100° C. This was only annoying when I needed to set it down for just a second while working, for most people its probably a good feature relative to safety/heating element life. And since it heats up so quickly(100° to 350° in 7 seconds) not really a problem. But worth noting. It comes with 4 nozzles, but from my understanding this unit follows some kind of standard and other nozzles are available 3rd party. As far as its accuracy, I have not yet measured it. But due to the many variables (air flow vs heater temp vs nozzle diameter vs distance from output) the only information i would hope to gleam is the accuracy of adjustments. Unfortunately there is no calibration option. I can't really complain since it seems to respond fairly accurately to temperature and air speed adjustments. I'll have to use the temperature probe on my multimeter to find the proper settings for heat sensitive components. Now on to the soldering iron. I used it for soldering some through hole TO-220 regulators, 12 gauge wire to 4mm banana jacks, and through hole pin headers. Got the job done. Just as well as most other decent Hakko cloned irons would. Gets hot much faster than my radio shack digital soldering station. It also responds well to temperature adjustments. Sadly no calibration option here either. Uses the standard Hakko tips, and elements. In fact the radio shack soldering station pencil iron has the exact same 5 pin plug leading me to believe if ever you needed a new pencil or a second, it also is somewhat standard. One of my favorite things about the 8080 is the bench top power supply. I have limited space on the desk where most of the magic happens. But with the 8080 I actually added a tool, but gained space! No more modified ATX PSU with DMM for amperage display, DMM for voltage, and a lm317 circuit for current limiting! The voltage out is fully adjustable from around 1 to 32 volts. There is a "course" adjustment and a fine. According to my fluke the output voltage is accurate to around 0.15V @ 30V. Using the fine adjustment knob and a DMM(the 8080's display only has one decimal place) I can adjust voltage in steps of .03 - .04V while the "course" adjustment knob allows for around .4 - .5 volt adjustments. The current limiting feature is clutch. In many situations it is key for bench testing complex circuitry and components that will release their magic smoke at just a couple hundred milliamps. Over all it is surprisingly accurate with amp readings. I found it accurate to within 2 - 3 ma of my flukes milliamp readings. I was able to adjust current with the fine knobs in steps of 2-3ma. When current limit is reached, an led indicates lights. There is also a volt meter, but that's not something I see my self needing since I have 4 or 5 DMMs. Lastly it did include quite a few accessories. The lamp is OK, nothing special doesn't have enough weight in the base to be all that good. But it was free, and if you don't have a good light source and magnification, you'll find its better than nothing. The included soldering iron stand, is quite solid, and the solder spoil holder is nice but I did have to bend it slightly to make it hold the center piece of plastic. Has a good selection of the Hakko style tips, the tweezers are quite capable of picking up even the smallest SMD components. Haven't used the IC poper but I'm sure it'll be just fine. The included banana jack to alligator clip power cable is poor, the alligator clips are very hard to open and not worth using. But I use 4mm banana jacks on just about everything so I have plenty of such cables around. Came with Goot Wick solder braid as well, haven't used it yet. And much to my satisfaction, I did receive extra heating elements for both the iron and hot air rework! Over all the build quality seems high. The blue displays are vibrant and actually look pretty cool compared to red on most other units. The case is really solid and feels very sturdy. The blower isn't all that loud, and even the fan that runs in power supply mode isn't too bad. I did notice that a couple of the knobs can feel kind of rough at spots when adjusting. From what I inspected, seems like the shafts on the pots should be a hair longer(less than a mm) the Knob itself touches the brushed aluminum face which has a rough texture to it. This really is a miniscule issue and does not effect the functionality of the device. Despite my best efforts that's really the only issue I could find and I have put about 10 hours on the 8080. In conclusion, for 200 bucks the 8080-XTS impressed the heck out of me. Now I can't speak as to the longevity of the unit, but a few days of hard and continuous use didn't seem to phase it. All of these features in one package is great for those that don't have unlimited shop space. Its a major plus that X-tronic is a USA based company, and one that according to other reviews will stand behind their products. Why would anyone want to take a gamble with one of the cheap Chinese competitors?

You must install the hot gun holder for hot gun to work. If you don't you'll mistaken for unit being defective (like I did ) a lot of features for the price ... plastic parts feel el cheapo

This is a great soldering station. I did have an issue with the mag lamp it was damaged in shipping but X-Tronic sent out a new one and that one works fine. I use the rework station for rework and also as a heat gun to shrink heat shrink works great for that. I have no way of testing to see if the temp that is displayed in the the display is correct but it works very well. X-Tronic supplies heating elements for the soldering pencil and the hot air rework station plus 10 replacement tips for the soldering pencil. This is something you don't see these days. There is one con though the display is to dim. I called X-Tronic about this thinking that maybe I had gotten a bad unit but they said they made it that way because when the switched from a red LED to a blue LED a bunch of people complained that the blue was to bright. Wish they had a adjustment that you could adjust the display to the brightness you want.

Okay... I was skeptical of this unit. I had never heard of X-Tronic before, and from what I had read, they were a cheap reseller of subpar products. So far, I have found this to not be true at all. The unit arrived very fast, (shipped from Lincoln NE.) and was packaged very well, which for a unit like this is extremely important. It came with a warranty card which I immediately went to their website and registered (as I recommend everyone do). Before operation I inspected the cables for safety and proper grounding -- everything was as it should be. I did have questions about the hot air gun, which was immediately addressed by the company (who actually used proper English -- a rarity thee days) and even sent me a replacement heat gun without any cost or even any arguing -- which is even more rare!. This is a company that actually stands behind their products and takes care of there customers -- impressive! As far as performance, the unit can heat the gun and the soldering iron very quickly, and it holds temperatures quite well, very stable even with the wider tips (which is what I mostly use as I prefer to drag solder whenever possible). I haven't had any issues with unstable temperatures. Speaking of tips, the assortment of hot air nozzles and solder tips is very generous, and seem to be of good quality. As long as you take care of them, and clean and tin them properly, I see them lasting a good long while. Other accessories that came with my unit were: - a roll of gootwick (for removing solder). A nice inclusion there - a spindle to hold rolls of solder. Very useful if you don't have one. - angled tweezers, Again very useful if needed. I use these more than my others now. - Spare heating elements for the hot air AND the iron. This really caught my attention and was an extremely generous inclusion. With all of these things and the extra tips, it shows me that this company isn't just out to make money. I mean ofcourse they want to, as any business does -- but not off the backs of the customer or by sacrificing quality. The fact that they are so quick to address concerns and even ship replacements without question proves this, in my view. I haven't yet used the power supply or volt meter as I have other tools to accomplish those tasks; although they are nice bonus features to have available should the need arise. LASTLY, after all these things I have said. Let me speak briefly about the other included item... the lamp. Take my advice, just throw it directly away. In my opinion, the lamp *IS* cheap garbage, and X-Tronic should not even put their name on it. From what I have come to learn, the lamp is NOT made by them -- and it shows. Mine was wired poorly, and was weighted down by a garden rock; I'm not joking! The lamp is a hazard, and should not even be included. So overall, the unit itself a very nice. The accessories are generous. The company has wonderful support. And the lamp is landfill material.

Love this station, but the fan randomly died. Opened up the heat-gun and found that the 24v fan was being driven at 48V! No wonder the fan died!. And I can't find a replacement fan.