I got a Hakko FX-888 yesterday - it's fantastic. I've alwasy had the El-Cheapo irons and this thing is light-years better.
The station has a calibration pot and I was looking at tip thermometers. I saw that Hakko made one - FG100 - and on Ebay they are all all over the place for prices like $14 - $18 new shipping from China and Hong Kong. I thought to myself "wow self - that's cheap might as well buy one". I then looked at the prices from non-Ebay internet vendors and the price for the FG100 is on the order of $170 - $200.
Do you think the Ebay models are "real" Hakko tip thermometers (they sure look like it but I know things can be faked)? Or, is this just the effect of global markets?
I got the Hakko FG-100 today. If it's a fake then I'm really impressed with the ability of the fakers. I don't have a "real" one to compare to but, honestly, it would be hard for me to even guess. I mean there are no flaws at all. The box even has a foil-type label. Maybe it isn't a fake? Maybe the cost in the far East is just very low?
Fort Worth is a great city. We visit whenever we can. At a minimum, we always attend the Fort Worth Kennel Club dog show and the AKC Agility Trials. (I wish we had the time to show our dog.)
OK, here's what happened. The Hakko soldering station FX-888 I bought was NOT a fake, so I'm making a rash assumption that it's calibrated since I just got it. If it had been two years, then no ...
I set up the station and FG-100 to make a measurement. The FG-100 senses room temperature and that was spot-on. I turned on the FX-888 and set it to 300C. I waited a little while and put a small spot of solder on the tip, and touched it to the sensor.
I kid you not, I am not joking, and I was shocked -
The FG-100 read ...
300C
It was not even off by 1 deg at first, then went up to 302C after a bit.