FR-301 Portable Desoldering Tool

Good value for someone who knows what they are getting. Yes, this is the eastern Japanese version. Eastern Japan's electrical grid is 100v at 50hz. Western Japan is 110/120v at 60hz. Two different power grids on one island country.This can be made to safely work here in North America with a simple, cheap mod. It has been listed here in the reviews, a number of electronics websites like eevblog, and even a YouTube video showing a step by step.You can also use an inverter if you have one, but it should be at least 500 watts at a minimum. The nominal wattage value for this version is approximately 100 watts. However during heatup, it can jump more than four times the nominal value. If your inverter can't deliver that, it will keep blowing it's fuses.You get everything in this version that you do with the US version with exception of the manual. Of course you get the Japanese version of that.This unit works very well for its intended purposes. It's a portable/field desoldering tool. It was never intended to be a bench tool. It is heavy compared to bench based desoldering tools. It will fatigue your wrists quickly if you try to desolder several 40 pin dip chips. I use this on arcade machines that getting the boards to the bench is more of a pita. So I can more easily bring this tool to the machine and it's grat for that. I use a couple of pace desoldering machines at the bench. They are night and day better but used in a different environment because it's the bench.You will want to get a couple of different sized tips, cleaning rods, filter packs, and a hakko 633 stand with the money you save getting this version.You can use this as a one and only desoldering tool at the bench, but be ready to learn it's quirks. It requires more frequent cleaning than a bench model, it's heavy at a couple of pounds compared to 6 to 8 oz of a bench model, and it's balanced very poorly because it needs to have the pump in the unit itself. All of this can really irritate the user unless they are aware of these issues up front.The 1.0mm included tip is a wee bit to large for many leads and you will struggle to make it work. Get a 0.8 mm for things like passive components like resistors, and capacitors.This really is a good value, for a good tool. Just mod it or use a good inverter. If you run it off 120v it will slowly overdrive and kill the pump. The single most complex and expensive item to replace. It's great for bringing the tool to the thing your working on when you can't easily work the other way.***EDIT***I just thought I would add in the fact that the heating element is the same one on the American model, and doesn't require modding. It can safely run on 100v or 120v. It's the pump that needs a pair of 300ohm resistors to replace the ones already on the circuit board. Or the power inverter. The pump replacement would have to be the Japanese model if you don't do the mod because of the power differences.

As others have said, this is not the US version. The heater cartridge is fine at 120V 60hz, but the pump runs faster than it should. Whether or not that is an issue in the long term, I don't know. I wasn't going to find out so I changed the resistors on the board. Search the internet and you can find the procedure. It isn't too difficult. If you are buying this desoldering tool, chances are you can handle the modification with no problems.

Is it a necessary tool for desoldering, no.Does it make desoldering much easier, absolutely, but within reason (You would really only use this for thru-hole desoldering)First thing you'll notice when you get it is that it feels like a kids toy or like you're holding an overpriced hot glue gun. Having said that, it does perform much better than you would initially think. You feel no heat transference when holding the tool, the tip gets up to temperature very quickly and it sucks up the solder really quickly.It's easy to empty out the slag catch and change out the tips with the provided tools.The tool is not too big in the hand, very light, and easy to handle.

I've used desoldering braid and those spring-loaded pumps, but this alternative blows them away. It heats up very quickly for such a heavy tip, about 30 seconds. And the vacuum is quite powerful, easily sucking up solder pools instantly, even without perfect contact with the board.My only complaint is that it's not possible to see at a glance what temperature range it's set on without turning it upside down, where the numbers are printed on the dial. I melted off several pads when I first turned it on, since there are just tick marks on the side of the dial, which mean nothing.As others have mentioned, this is a Japanese model, so all the documentation is in that language, however given that there's only one control you normally use aside from the vacuum trigger, this isn't the end of the world.I'm just very impressed, and with several decades of experience in electronics it's obvious this is a winner. It is fairly expensive, but for a name-brand tool of such high quality I think it's worth it.

This is a 100V item, and should NOT be sold in the USA!!!!!!!!!!!!! According to Hakko themselves: "While it is possible to plug a 100V FR-301 in a 120V outlet, a step-down transformer should be used. We do not recommend this however since these 100V units are designed for the Japanese domestic market. Connecting the units to 120V will cause an overvoltage on the PCB and the heating element that could lead to premature failure. The units are also not rated for safety to UL standards in North America. If a problem were to occur with the unit, you will need to return the unit to the place of purchase as we are unable to repair it."

It works ok as I have a way to reduce my 120v to 110 but it just feels weaker. I thought I'd save a few bucks over the USA version but all thing considered the USA version is probably better. Still nice to have for the few times I'll use it though.

My favorite new tool