I have a Hakko 900M-ESD pencil. Thought I'd try some other tips for it, so after due research, I ordered a couple of Aoyue tips to try. These are advertised as being 900M compatible, and indeed they look just like the Hakko brand 900M tips. They won't go on.
A bit of background, perhaps. The guy who gave me this soldering station included a couple of spare tips -- Hakko brand, but no 900M stamp included with the part numbers, and these didn't fit, being just barely too small. So, when I went looking for tips, I ignored how similar all these 900M tips looked to those -- I figured it was some minor dimensional thing.
Anyways, the Aoyue tips I bought are just barely too tight to go on. So, I went looking for specs on the actual heating element, so I could measure things, no luck there. Well, time for pictures. The two tips are the existing one, Hakko brand, next to a new Aoyue, and the heating element. I think it's interesting that the Hakko tip looks nothing like any I can find, having an inside diameter much larger than the heating element, and being flared at the base. Here's something else -- the heating element has a metal sleeve at the end which is absent from the replacement heating element I can find (multiple vendors, same picture) for this pencil. Hmmm.
So, maybe somebody has a 900M laying around, who can confirm that the metal sleeve normally shouldn't be on there?
I had an odd thought that maybe this iron got converted from the M (medium mass) to the L (large mass) configuration, but the kit for doing so doesn't include a different heating element, and my enclosure doesn't have airflow vents either.
Any other thoughts? The sleeve is very tight on there. I'm tempted to try to remove somehow, perhaps by heating it up.
ETA: I have discovered, upon closer examination (aided by my Magnavisor) that the Hakko tips have a sleeve inside them. I now believe that it is one of these which is stuck on the element. How to remove it remains elusive.
Resolution: I decided to use a dremel to cut the sleeve along the air relief channel in the element. It's all good, except that one of my Hakko tips gets a bit tight about halfway on, and when I pull it back off, the sleeve stays on the element. Well, I can't complain much about that! It sure works better now too.
