Kendal 2 In 1 Smart Hot Air Rework Soldering Iron Station 898D+

I bought this mainly for its small size. I like the long AC power cord and there is plenty of extra room in the bottom of the soldering iron holder to serve as storage for all the extra tips.I haven't used the soldering iron yet but I'm sure it will work just fine.I did use the hot air to reflow the ribbon connector for the display of my Yaesu 857d, which had several lines showing, set the temp to 325 and it worked perfectly after adjusting the airflow to around 6.The only drawback that I see is that the magnetic cutoff switch for the hot air is touchy, I had to slide the tool around in the holder for the magnet to activate the switch.I have spent more for less and I am happy with this purchase.=== EDIT December 6, 2013 ===It has been over a year since purchase and original review, this soldering station is still going strong.I have used this product many times for its intended purposes as well as some "off the wall ideas".The soldering iron works great for my uses, which include radio and electronics repair.Working temperature is quickly attained from start-up, stable and easy to adjust.Iron is comfortable to use. Nice size... it's large enough my large hand as well as being long/small for accessing work area inside equipment.Just like Nick states in the review above, during last use I noticed that the iron was "slightly" loose/wobbly.You can expect this from any soldering iron after some use as the plastic housing will eventually stretch/melt a bit.This can easily be fixed just as he mentions.The hot air station has some quirks with the magnetic switch a I and others have stated. It's not that much of a problem, for me at least, while I am working with the product BUT I would not leave the main power plugged up while the product isn't in use... just to be safe.Other than the magnetic switch issue this thing works great at reflowing cold joints to removing parts and even melting wax for making some improvised 12 gauge wax slugs to shoot in my Remington 870.Overall: Good product. Good Value. Money well spent.

I've been using the soldering iron much more than the hot air gun but both work well so long as you've got the heat up high enough. I've found 300-320*C works well with standard solder. Having lots of tips to switch out has been great. It doesn't heat up quite as fast as the temperature adjustable Weller units I use at school but it is much quicker than the non-adjustable, hardware store iron I was using.Cons: I wish the temperature control was a dial instead of the buttons but that is pretty minor since I don't adjust the temperature often. The connection where the iron sleeve screws on is a bit wobbly. I'll likely throw some epoxy around it to make it more solid. The plastic iron stand is too light weight. I went back to my cast iron stand.EDIT: It has been most of a year now since I bought this station. Shortly after writing this review I was switching tips on the iron and noticed the plastic casting was a bit sloppy where the tip sleeve screws down. I chipped off the excess plastic and the sleeve screws down snug now. No wobbly tips anymore and it still works great. I did find another problem though. The hot air pencil doesn't always automatically turn on/off when removed/placed in its bracket. Sometimes I have to switch it on and off again to get it it to work. Still a minor annoyance when the product was such great deal.

I've been a Weller user for some years now and needed a hot-air rework tool for SMD projects. After looking at the reviews I picked one of these up for my home shop. Obviously, this is a mass-produced basic tool, probably designed to be bought by the pallet-load by contract assemblers. It's cheap enough that it can be considered a production line consumable tool; toss it when it breaks and grab another from the stock room. I don't expect to get more than a few years of occasional use out of this because of this.The unit came undamaged and with all the parts. the instruction manual is clear enough and I was stuffing a prototype board with the iron in a few minutes. Temperature control seems to be as good as the old Weller adjustable that I have and the iron is light with a long enough tether to not be a bother. I just wish that the tethers on both the iron and the air gun had hi-temp jackets to prevent the accidental damage that always seems to happen when working in cramped spaces.Overall, if you're a hobbyist or doing prototyping work this is a good way to get a basic set of air and iron heat onto your bench.