$25 Pinecil Soldering Iron vs TS100

The pinecil soldering iron is super cheap and feature packed - according to the pine64 website. Thought I'd check.

Items used in this video:
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Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:44 Comparing the Pinecil to the TS100
4:58 Single Board Computer?
6:17 Heating Speed Test
7:48 Temperature calibration
8:39 Settings and menus
9:57 Soldering test
11:12 Conclusion

Thanks for watching - It'd be great to hear your comments.

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[mjp]

My first Pentium pc was running at 75Mhz... Less than today's soldering irons.... Oh dear, I am old.

[JN._o]

I just made up a wire with a £3 USB PD trigger module for my TS100. Now I can run it from my laptop PSUs and power banks, most of which can supply 20v 60w. Really handy.

[james]

It is crazy they are cranking this out at $25 even with $12 shipping but even at like $60-$70 for the ts100 was a good deal

[PatricksDIY]

Thanks Adam, I just ordered one of these from your link, I'm pretty excited about this! Shipping to the US via "Standard" is $11.99 USD, and "Preferred Currier Shipping" is $22 USD In case anyone was wanting to know.

[andrew_koala]

EDITED CORRECTED TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction
00:44 Comparing the Pinecil to the TS100
04:58 Single Board Computer?
06:17 Heating Speed Test
07:48 Temperature calibration
08:39 Settings and menus
09:57 Soldering test

[kslam]

Thanks for this concise and useful video. It helps me to choose the right soldering iron among many in the market. I like the beautiful accent of your language. I have no problems in listening to your description.

[wizdude]

I have one of these on order now - just waiting for it to arrive. I grabbed the extra tip pack as well - a few people commented about the conical tips the extra pack contains the more traditional wedge. Grabbed the cable and a red case as well. I wanted the power supply they had as well but it was out of stock. Might keep an eye out for it though. Looking forward to receiving it - I have a few projects ready to go (my other irons are standard 25w with 40w boost hobbyist style) and I think this is the perfect iron for me. Thanks for the video. Cheers!

[AndyMcBlane]

Great video Adam, thanks. Been looking at the TS80-P for some months now, but this is perfect. Bought, cheers!

[georgef]

Thanks for the review, I’m gonna grab one. I currently use the weller wps18mp… will be a nice little upgrade.

[johnsmith-trdh]

I use the Pine64 PinePower Desktop USB-C port to power my Pinecil v2 iron. Negotiates 20v every time and powers up in 10 sec to 355c. Macbook Pro USB-C power adaptor works great as well.

[Uejji]

The resistance of the TS100 style tip is around 8.5 ohms, so at 20 volts you're only getting around 45 watts and around 50 watts at 21 volts.

[JerryEricsson]

Thanks! I lost my T100 somehow, still have the accessories but that was going to cost me over 70 bucks to replace. I still have the box and tips, well one tip one was in the unit when it disappeared. So anyhow I put in my order, with accessories came to 44 bucks that was, of course with the 11 buck shipping as well. As far as the Pine64 brand name, I have 2 Pine64 computers, one set up as a desktop, the other as a tablet, both have served me now for several years, while they are sort of obsolete, I still use them from time to time, one in Linux the other in Android, so I do trust the name.

[youcancallmewhip]

Thanks for this video, just ordered one!

[jeffdewe]

I've owned the Pinecil for over a year now, Its pretty good for the price, The Red silicone cable, is nice and thick and very flexible, pretty much a perfect cable for soldering or use on your phone :), I do like this setup but I do prefer the LED T12-951 Digital Controller Soldering Station I bought off of aliexpress better, I didn't want an OLD display, just a basic LED Screen, turn it on and a couple seconds later its ready, I don't need a computer, I don't need date and time, etc, I just wanted something basic, easy to use, no fuss, no real menus, etc, something simple. Sure I had to open it up and make a common ground on the metal, but for $50 Canadian, hey you can't go wrong. The Pinecil is great if you like fiddling around and want to get over a learning curve, but if you just want to get it done, the T12-951 is the way to go.

[LazyBunnyKiera]

I have a TS100, i wanted the pinecil, but they didn't have the tips i wanted in stock. I mostly wanted it for the usb-C for my big beefy power bank.
Then i learned about the usb-C PD trigger modules. So i'll likely use one of my 20v triggers and just make a usb-C to Barrel plug for my TS100.

They have two different 4 packs of tips for a great price, but i really wish i could mix and match, since there's a couple from each pack that i want.

Oh and i use an old 19v laptop charger from some old dell or cheapo laptop from a long time ago for my TS100. Old 18-20v Laptop chargers are great for TS100s.

[kosta]

My TS80 has served me well, I don't really need more power for what I do, but my friend has been lusting over the TS100 for some time now and to be honest, I'm leaning towards the pinecil. If for no other reason than you can get spare parts for it.

The TS100 was a great value option on release, as were the DS213 and LA104, but now they're expensive enough to not be justifiable for a hobbyist (save your money and buy a basic Rigol!). Same thing has happened to the TS100. The pinecil brings that excellent value back, takes the same tips, and has dual power - couldn't ask for more. I still prefer the form factor of my TS80 (don't like the widened bit on the TS80P, looks pretty silly to me), but if I were to need a new iron, the pinecil would be more than worth a punt.

[UpLateGeek]

I've been seeing this pop up in my youtube feed quite a bit, and every time I feel like I'm nudging closer to buying one.

Tip selection is fairly straightforward, the ones closest to the tips I'm currently using with my old hakko appear to be BC2 and D24. Although I'm tempted by KU and C1 for SMD chips and smaller SMD parts, respectively.

Power is a tougher nut to crack. I'm pretty sure I've got a 19v power brick from an old laptop in my power supply bin, so that's probably the cheapest option to start with. I'd just need to solder on a nice silicone cable like you've got to the power brick. Unfortunately most of the pre-terminated silicone leads I've managed to find are <1m long, which isn't long enough to reach the shelf above my desk. And the ones that are longer use the figure 8 silicone wire, which isn't uniformly flexible like round wire. Which is annoying since I'd basically have to make my own.

Anyway, maybe I'll go searching for a better power cable solution over the weekend, and if I can't find anything I'll just bite the bullet and buy some silicone wire and a connector.

[nosaltiesandrooshere]

👍 Danke fürs Hochladen!
👍 Thanks for uploading!
👍 Very good and beautiful, thank you!
👍 Sehr gut und schön, danke!

[MMuraseofSandvich]

The TS80(P) uses tips that are kinda like the ones used for professional Weller irons-- they have a 3.5mm stereo connector, so it just clicks in and you're ready to rock. The TS80's buttons are moved back so you're not clicking on them just like the Pinecil. TS80 irons are pretty good in the field because there are QC3 and USB-PD batteries that can supply the power necessary to run the irons, so all you need to solder anywhere is a TS80P and a USB-PD battery like from Anker or Omni. The tip selection is a lot better these days, I think Miniware has like 6 or 8 of them for the TS80 series whereas it was just 2 when it was first released. It's actually not that bad, the massive chisel tip from the initial release really impressed Dave over at EEVBlog.

The Pinecil can also run off USB-PD batteries, _and_ it's cheaper, _and_ it's using a RISC-V chip. I kinda wish it used the TS80 tips, but eh, I understand the design decision since the TS100 is more popular, especially among drone pilots (drone battery = easy power source)

[JohnnyCantTube]

waiting to buy V2 which is available "soon".
Thanks for this concise video.