Hakko FR-301 - Portable Desoldering Tool

Incredible, helped speed up soldering a keyboard, controller, and fixing other electronics around the house. The price is incredibly steep but hopefully it continues to work for a very long time. I've got the Hakko fx888D soldering iron since 2023, and it's also been super useful so far.

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.

If you do any amount of soldering, YOU NEED THIS TOOL! This tool is one of those ones that can easily fall into the luxury category given its price, but it also happens to be one of those tools that will pay for itself in no time. I'm so mad that I spent a lot of years de-soldering things without this tool. I've broken traces, overheated boards, pulled too hard on connections that weren't fully de-soldered yet, etc. and this tool would have saved me each and every time. I pretty much have no more use for my old solder sucker tool!The build quality is superb which is expected from Hakko and I love that it comes with its own storage case. This tool is so easy to use and even though I haven't had to yet, it looks super easy to clean as well. It makes quick work of practically any solder joints you may have and they even sell various heads that you can buy if you have specialty areas that the regular head can't get to. The heat is also adjustable, so you can get just the right temperature when needed.

After desoldering a couple boards with a wick and pump, this tool is just life changing. I'm a casual user but after desoldering a couple of keyboards I decided to get this thing and man it is 100% worth the cost with the ease of use and time saved.

One of the best tools you can have at your workstation. saves a lot of labor and hassle with components on ground planes. The variety of tips is also worth the investment if you do a lot of desoldering. Don't waste money on cheap suction pens.

One of the best purchases ever if you do a lot of soldering.

I've been an electronic hobbyist for over two decades. My workbench has dozens of tools, soldering stations, oscilloscopes, power supplies, logic analyzers, hand tools, and on and on. I can't remember the last time I purchased something that just simply did the job --- exactly what it was supposed to do, nothing more or nothing less.I had a circuit board with literally hundreds of through hole connections. This PCB is 30 years old, and while not rare, it would be certainly hard and expensive to replace. So when I needed to remove all of the components, I was dreading the task. This tool actually made the job fun! I'd estimate I had the majority of the job done within an hour, and maybe another hour for the stubborn bits.I set the dial on 2, which was more than sufficient for most joints, simply pressing down on the circuit board, giving it a second or two, pressing the vacuum button, and then lifting up. Once you get dialed in, you can go quickly. I did an 86-point connector in about 5 minutes.Highly recommended -- definitely worth the investment. Super effective for removing TH components.For what it's worth, I see some negative reviews, but I'm not sure how well founded they are. If the suction isn't sucking, then you jam the clearing pin down the center hole, while it's still hot. This pushes the bits of solder into the chamber. And when you're finished, re-apply solder to the tip. Clean out the solder chamber after you're done. All normal soldering principles apply here. They don't suggest going all the way down to the PCB, but I've found that if I'm careful with temperature and time, that minimal PCB damage happens. It's easier than floating this tool fractions of an inch off the PCB.