So I see these soldering stations that look exactly like the hakko 936 except is says ATTEN or MENDEL instead of Hakko. Is there any difference because they are a lot cheaper. Wanted to get a second epinion before I bought a rip off of a good soldering station. One more question. Where is the best place to get soldering stations online for cheap. Maybe even used? THANKS
I’m not sure of this but my guess is that they are all made (inlcuding Hakko) by the same company in the far east. Make a million of them, put the specific company name and sell them to whoever wants to place a big enough order.
I’ve compared the guts of an Atten 850D with my Hakko and they are identical (electrical and mechanical).
Nice! MGP, would you take photos? I’d be willing to crack open our Sunkko units.
Hakko is the premo brand - very expensive. The others (Atten, Sunkko, Ouyai?) look identical. I think there are small differences but identical functionality.
If we ever get a lot of 100 units, you’ll know cause they will all say Spark Fun on them 
-Nathan
I’ve actually got 2 Hakko 850’s – I picked them up on Ebay for a lot less than retail. One was new-in-the-box and the other a used one I keep as a spare.
If I get some time in the next few days I’ll crack the spare open to take pictures and post them for all to see.
BTW, Hakko has manuals for all their soldering tools on their web site. I downloaded them as they list all the spare parts and part number and have some repair and maintenance information. They might also have some clues whether the “off-brand” units are identical as well.
I had hoped this really was a change of label, but I don’t think so now. Hakko seems to be a well respected JAPANESE company. Atten is a CHINESE company. So I suspect it’s true they both come from the Far East, but the Attens are actually a cheap knock off. It looks like blatant reverse engineering and Atten was even so bold as to retain model numbers (for the 850 hot air series I was looking into). The important question is whether Atten products are just inexpensive or if are they poorly made.
Sorry for the confusion. Hakko does use very high quality parts. Atten, Aoyue, Sunkko, Xytronic, etc are all knock-offs of Hakko. In my limited experience, there is very little difference between these low-end models. Perfect price and performance for hobbyists. Not sure about Hakko - I’m imagine they’re great units.
-Nathan
Slightly old topic - but I thought I should throw in my $.02. I am a proud owner of a Hakko 936-12. I love it to death. The knockoff of the 936 is not identical by any means. Heat up time is a little longer (though still pretty good). The handle on the knockoff can get quite hot, while the real Hakko’s handle never gets even warm. Also, the electronics in the knockoff have been known to wearout. I’ve heard many reports of the potentiometer wearing out and needing to be replaced.
I think if you have a very limited budget the knockoffs should be just fine for most people.
But if you’re really serious about soldering - get the real thing.
I have an Atten 850b that i have used for 7 years now. I dont know others experience but mine has been good with this knock off. I paid $115 dollars for it in 2007 and it has more than paid for itself. I would love to try out a hakko for comparison but unfortunately i am disabled now and cant afford a hakko so i will continue using this knock-off.
So you decided to post in a 9 year old thread…
My post had relevance to the topic and showing how long the life span of these products can be, which can be really helpful for other people who stumble across this thread as i did while doing some research.codlink:
So you decided to post in a 9 year old thread…