Category: tools

YIHUA 850AD Digital Display Hot Air Desoldering Station: Power inlet + power switch retrofit (WHL #85F1)

Small-ish update on the Yihua hot air station: Standby power draw is now zero!

But as is common, things weren’t quite as straight-forward as I had hoped for. Let’s start with a quick teardown of the unit, as promised. The lid is uneventful in that it has the same color on the inside as it does on the outside – and surprise, surprise, the holes go straight through Other than that, most of the chassis space is taken up by the pump, which is very reminiscent of the unit of the Toolcraft hot air station at work, even the sizing of the cable ties. […]

25th June 2023 16th July 2023 By Bzzz In No Comment

YIHUA 850AD Digital Display Hot Air Desoldering Station Air Pump Can Adjust Temperature Heat Gun SMD Phone Soldering Station (WHL #85)

I got a (reasonably) big box from China!

Since changing jobs, I’m in the process of buying tools that I dearly miss – some of them are no longer easily accessible in the new place, some aren’t available at all, and some are so darn useful, I should have bought a unit for myself at home ages ago. A hot air station checks the last two boxes, since my regular 2000W hot air gun is certainly useful for like removing stickers or preheating boards, but temperature regulation clearly isn’t good enough for soldering. So…I bought a Yihua 850AD. […]

5th March 2023 5th March 2023 By Bzzz In No Comment

Dremel 575 Right Angle Attachment (WHL #78)

I recently got a Dremel 575 90° adapter for tackling a problem that would have been much easier to solve in 4D space – and I returned it the next day for a new unit. It was running pretty rough due to the input shaft actually wobbling around by a millimeter, but even with that fixed in the second unit, it still has a very harsh, grinding, mechanical sound to it. I do not dare to run this at full speed of my 35krpm Dremel 4000, although the one-page manual does not specify any restrictions.

(I know, colors are off, I twiddled with the camera settings on my recent vacation…that made me miss a blog post on top of that!) […]

11th September 2022 12th September 2022 By Bzzz In No Comment

3 Speeds Electric Rotating Display Stand Mirror 360 Degree Turntable Jewelry Holder Battery for Photography Video Shooting Props (WHL #62)

We haven’t had a stock product presentation for a while, so why not start 2021 with something new from China… [bitter 2020 stares from the crowd]

Well, for the PCB Tree I figured a 360° view would be nice. I know it does have some ugly holes, but every naturally grown tree has these. Why not get something that not only offers a spinning platter for stop-motion tricks, but instead rotates something on display on its own?

Bought on AliExpress on 12th of December, 8.73€ including shipping, delivered on January 8th – that was a quick one! […]

24th January 2021 1st February 2021 By Bzzz In 1 Comment

Dental Impression Mixing Dispensing Gun Universal Dispenser Gun 1:1 /1:2 Silicon Rubber Dispenser Gun 10:1 50ml Dentist Tools (WHL #59)

Some filler content (ha, pun intended) for THAT time of the year. I want my beloved winter back, and I want it to last all year round. Fuck that …intergluteal cleft sweat.

So what do we have today? A 2K epoxy dispenser gun. I bought this to test (and use) some 10 epoxy cartridges that randomly appeared at work – nobody uses this type, nobody even has a dispenser for it (we only have 2:1 and 4:1 glues, no 10:1), and it was expired like a year ago. As it is hard to justify buying an original dispenser gun for the extreme rip-off price of like 70€ for glue that is likely not even usable, I kindly disposed of the cartridges, bought the dispenser with my own money, and had a shot. […]

16th August 2020 9th August 2020 By Bzzz In No Comment

33pcs Security Bit Set with Magnetic Extension Bit Holder Tamper Star Screwdriver Bits Set (WHL #52)

Ever had problems removing second-gen security screws, you know, those with the asymmetrically placed security pin? “No”, you say, these don’t exist?

Well…that might be true, but AliExpress already has bits for it. Bought in mid-August for 3.75€, fully refunded after my complaint.

Comes as a really dense item packaged in the usual grey plastic envelope thingy. Mould quality beyond scrap, bottom piece is held in shape by the bits for the most part. Well, will do as a free bit holder for my existing bits, always hard to complain about freebies. […]

22nd September 2019 8th September 2019 By Bzzz In No Comment

150W Welding Repair Tool Titanium Plating Lead-Free Solder Pot Adjustable Temperature Tin Furnace with EU plug (WHL #48)

What’s worse than lead-free solder? Lead doped lead-free solder… :roll:

Today’s item is a “500g” solder pot that I bought during the Christmas/annual leave shopping spree mid-December for 12.06 USD including shipping on AliExpress. Prices have even dropped a bit since then.

I’ve always been collecting residue from desoldering stuff as I want to minimize contaminating ordinary trash with lead. Not on a crazy level like the EU tries forcing us to, but if I can avoid PCBs and electronic components getting mixed with domestic waste, I’ll keep them separate. […]

24th March 2019 24th March 2019 By Bzzz In 1 Comment

USB LiPo battery BBQ arc lighter – CCFL test device (WHL #47)

Fun with high voltages.
[NOT a sponsored post! They’ll probably do not want me to do that in the first place…]

This week (at work…), I repaired an old Siemens PLC unit with a failed display backlight. Good old CCFL crap that literally burns out over time. As this wasn’t time critical (unlike the last unit), I ordered some CCFL to LED conversion kit from China, modified that to fit the tiny display, threw away the crappy “converter” PCB and installed some homebrew.

While fiddling around, my mind wandered off. […]

17th March 2019 17th March 2019 By Bzzz In No Comment

Mini-Type Self-Adjustable Six Mandrel Ratchet HSC8 6-6 Crimper Plier For Wire Terminal Connector 0.25-6mm2 Multi Hand Tools (WHL #40)

Software stuff aside, back to hardware. And by hardware, I actually mean hardware. Tools. Let’s check out some crimping pliers for wire ferrules. Automatik-Aderendhülsenpresszangen, as we Germans like to say. :lol:

The unit in review was bought late February on AliExpress for 14.94€ including shipping (which took only around two weeks). When I showed it at work, I needed to order another one with the same specifications (14.89€ in early April, delivery took 3 weeks) and one with four mandrels, but 10mm² capability (HSC8 family as well, 12.13€ mid-March, two weeks). […]

6th May 2018 6th May 2018 By Bzzz In No Comment

New at Wan Hung Lo: Open Source Hardware! Presenting the USB A-to-Micro bridge (WHL #4) (updated)

Oh well, I already announced it’s gonna be fake. But the other way round ;)

A while back, I saw the USB A-to-Micro bridge from youritronics. I already own one of these medium quality USB power meters that display voltage and current in an alternating fashion every few seconds. But complete control over power, data lines and also shielding is new. So I wanted one. In the short comment section however, someone noted that the signal routing probably isn’t the best. I had some spare time after Christmas this year, and I also wanted to test the Platinensammler (PCB aggregator) service from Jakob Kleinen. […]

1st February 2016 14th February 2016 By Bzzz In , , 2 Comments