The iron persists settings when you unplug it. You can change the sleep timer and timeout, set target temperatures, calibrate the accelerometer, and more.
The Power Station is nice to have, but you don't lose any functionality without it.
I was a kickstarter backer of the pokit who thought "oh that's cool", and it just sits in my drawer because I don't want to have to use an app to use basic functionality on my tools. I learned my lesson on that one and I know if I bought this soldering iron I would have the same issue. I'd rather use other soldering irons because I don't have to plug them into my computer to change the temperature between tasks.
FWIW this is just my $0.02. I'm sure you'll still sell lots, but if that had an onboard display + buttons then I'd have ordered one right away for the other nice tweaks you've done.
I feel the same way, but did just realize that because they used web serial, you could use the iron to make yourself a little 3D interface, could be a fun project.
Yep, i'm much of the same opinion. It's a much sillier product, but I had a annova sous vide forever ago that died.
Looked around, heard Joule was the "go to" these days, got one. Gave it the fuck away eventually after the 15th time the app lagged or wouldn't work or whatever.
I'm sick and tired of my tools (yes it's a cooking tool) having the audacity to require an app. I get there's a lot of possible functionality that an app provides, but the annova I replaced it with still has a functional interface so I don't have to fuck with it for the basics.
I don't even see what the workflow would be to use their web interface on this iron?
I'm running a TS80 with IronOS as my daily driver for device/cable connection on the field (relatively thin cables) and some misc PCB repairs. And I set the temperature (and other settings, like sleep) once and that's it. I know I'm probably a niche user, but I see this working very nicely (it looks better quality, I like the connector design they used more, ect) for me, if/when the TS80 kicks the dust.
YMMV, but I think you can get a lot of mileage with a setup like that. Thinking about it, even my 'stationary' old Weller is used as an ON/OFF affair 98% of the time.
So how are you supposed to actually use that? I don't think there are any computers out there which can provide 100W out of their USB ports.
Am I supposed to unplug the iron from its power supply, plug it into a computer, change the temperature, unplug it, plug the power supply back in, wait for it to heat up, and finally continue soldering? That's awkward enough that even a crappy proprietary smartphone app would've been better!
Make sure it can support 100W (that one only goes to 85W).
Plug one end into your PC, one into a wall charger, and one into your soldering iron.
If you want to solder such a thing yourself, there's USB-C PD data/power splitters sold in various places (it needs to be smarter than just connecting pins, since it needs to intercept the power negotiation), but I haven't yet found a part that is advertised to handle 100W.
The hub has a bunch of female ports, and one male USB C port.
The male USB port is the only one that provides USB PD charging output, and it is also the only port that can be used with a USB host machine.
This means that it cannot be used to change settings on the iFixit iron with a computer and give give the iron enough power to heat up. It's not an improvement at all over a regular computer that also cannot do both of these things concurrently.
It looks like a lovely hub to keep on a desk for plugging in a laptop, but it is broadly limited to doing exactly that.
Could you make a cheaper Power Station with an AC/DC converter and no battery? I will forget what temperature I set this at if I don't have visual feedback.
Mozilla didn’t make them implement a browser feature that is not widely available. Believe it or not there are plenty of better soldering irons that don’t require a web browser to configure.
You don't have to have Chrome to configure it (the story talks about this). It's configured over a serial interface and among browsers only Chrome on desktop implements WebSerial (and probably other browsers based on Chrome). That said, they did go out of their way and make the Chrome experience nice.
What feature is Firefox lacking? It would be nice if the error message was more specific, rather than referring you straight to Google or Microsoft for their latest spyware.
WebSerial in this instance, and it's also not on Safari on Mac.
It's a convenience but I'm happy using CoolTerm on my Mac or launching Chrome if I need some WebSerial feature like in-browser flashing of my Meshtastic nodes.
If you just buy the iron, you have access to all the settings in our web console: https://www.ifixit.com/fixhub/console
The iron persists settings when you unplug it. You can change the sleep timer and timeout, set target temperatures, calibrate the accelerometer, and more.
The Power Station is nice to have, but you don't lose any functionality without it.