ToAuto Hot Air Rework and Soldering 2-in-1 Station DS882 V2 Review

ToAuto Hot Air Rework and Soldering 2-in-1 Station DS882 V2 Review

Buy it at Amazon: ToAuto Hot Air Rework and Soldering 2-in-1 Station DS882 V2 [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Fast/accurate temps, simple setup, w/3 quick adjust settings

Today’s sponsor, FastToBuy, sent me this complimentary unit for my unbiased review. Don’t forget to check out their upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales for big savings on this soldering station and other cool DIY and hobby tools.

You’ll receive a control unit with attached soldering iron and hot air rework tool, magnetic rework holder, two nozzle tips, 5 additional soldering tips, solder sucker, a tube of soldering tin, tweezers, 3 ft power cable, and an instruction manual. The soldering station consists of two main parts: a metal solder stand with brass wool and sponge, and the soldering iron and rework tool attached to the control unit with 3 ft cables. The only assembly required is to attach the rework handle holder to the top front right-hand corner. This holder is magnetic and will securely hold the rework tool when placed in it. You can use the rework tool as-is, or attach one of the nozzles for a more precise and directed air flow, with a 6.5 or 4mm diameter. To install the nozzles, just slide one over the end and tighten the screw at the collar until it is secure. The extra tips you’ll receive are a knife tip, chisel, beveled, wide, and fine conical tip, and you can store four of them on the back of the soldering iron stand. To change the soldering tip just unscrew the metal tube and remove the current tip which exposes the ceramic heating element, which you should be careful not to damage. Then slide the new tip over the heating element, and replace and tighten the tube. There’s about 12 grams of tin in the included dispensing tube, though it’s unclear what its exact composition is.

The control unit has a 2-3/4” diagonal LCD, soldering button on the left, rework button on the right, menu, up/down, and back keys and three shortcut keys. On the back of the machine you’ll find the power rocker switch, fuse, and power port for the power cable. After plugging the unit in and powering it on, the LCD will display 'standby' for both the soldering iron and the rework tool. Pressing the gear button opens the menu selection. Option 1 sets the soldering iron’s temperature from 150°C to 450°C or (302°F to 842°F). Pressing the gear button again lets you modify this setting and you can increase or decrease it by pressing the up or down keys. Holding a button will change the numbers more quickly. When finished, you can press the gear button to save the setting. Menu option 2 is for setting a temperature offset by up to +/- 50°C. Say you’ve set the soldering iron to 300°C but you find that it’s actually heating to 315°C, you’d want to set the offset to -15°C to compensate in order to get the temperature at the iron tip to match the setting on the screen. Option 3 is the setting for the soldering iron sleep timeout which can be set in 10 minute increments up to an hour or turned off, which I don’t recommended, so I leave it at 10 minutes. Similarly Menus 4 through 7 allow you to adjust the temperature of the rework tool from 100°C to 500°C, the amount of airflow from F1 to F17, temperature offset for the rework tool, again up to +/- 50°C, and sleep timeout when the tool is placed in the holder from 0 to 10 minutes. Option 8 is for temperature units selection Celsius and Fahrenheit, and Option 9 is for setting a three-digit password to lock and unlock the heating functions, for safety. To set a password, you must enter the same three-digit code twice. Then in order to access any of the functions, you’ll need to enter this code first. To remove the password, go to menu option 9 and enter your code, and then wait for the setting to time out without setting a new code. To begin operation of the soldering iron, press and hold the soldering button for 1 second. You’ll see the current temperature on the screen start rising rapidly with the target temperature in the bottom left.

If the soldering iron stays in the holder for longer than your sleep timeout, you’ll see a moon and star icon on the LCD and the current temperature will be blank. To wake the iron from this sate, simply pick it up and give it a quick shake and it’ll heat up to your selected temperature again. After turning on the soldering function by long pressing the 'Soldering' button, the iron heats up quickly to your target temperature in a few seconds. It may overshoot for a moment but quickly corrects itself. You’ll want to pre-tin your soldering tip and work in a well ventilated room or with a fan to draw away any fumes. The tip transfers the heat to your components quickly allowing the tin to flow freely, so you won't need to keep the iron in contact with my components for a long time and risk damaging them. After use, remember to clean your tool’s tip by lightly pushing it into the cleaning wool a couple times and wiping the tip on a wet sponge until the tip is free of solder and flux. To turn off the soldering iron, long pressing the soldering button.

When using the rework tool, I like to set the sleep timeout to 0 so that the air shuts off as soon as I place the tool in its cradle. With a nozzle on the tip, I can direct the hot air flow right at the area of my PCB or component that I want to heat up without blasting a whole bunch of other components with heat and potentially damaging them. After the tool has been resting in the cradle for the timeout you've set, the heat will shut off but the fan may continue to run for a bit to cool down the tip, as it may still be hot. When you pick up the tool it will heat up again and be ready to go in a few seconds. To shut off the tool completely, press and hold the rework button for 1 second.

If you have settings that you use a lot, you can save up to three profiles in the three shortcut keys. Just press and hold the Channel 1, 2 or 3 keys and make your selections. The quick select settings can be set for both the soldering iron and rework tool separately when the desired tool is on (but not when both are on at the same time). Then when you want to use your saved settings, press the associated button, and they’ll be loaded for you with one-touch. The solder sucker included is pretty standard and works well to remove solder from existing joints. It takes a bit of practice since you'll need to work quickly as the solder will re-solidify if you’re too slow.

Overall, I really enjoy this soldering station’s ease-of-use and ability to set accurate temperatures at the touch of a button. The tools both heat up quickly and allow me to solder, de-solder, and apply hot air where I need it. The temperature ranges are broad and can be set accurately using the offset compensation feature, and the handles of the tools don’t get hot during operation. There’s hardly any setup involved, and you can get started soldering out of the box with the included tube of tin.

Buy it at Amazon: ToAuto Hot Air Rework and Soldering 2-in-1 Station DS882 V2 [Affiliate Link]