this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2024
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It's very likely existing smart soldering pens were the inspiration.
iFixit even mentions they didn't include a screen like the Pinecil because most people don't actually mess with the settings that much when they are on the go.
What they probably meant is they didn’t include a screen because this way they can sell their overpriced battery pack.
It's definitely priced significantly higher than a similar setup from Pine64.
...but it also has some significant advantages and features the Pinecil does indeed lack.
I definitely think the Pinecil is aimed more at hobbyists and this iFixit iron is aimed at people who solder all the time, in other words, not hobbyists.
Since the Pinecil is running IronOS, it’s just a matter of time for it to also get the fall detection. And apart from the LED ring gimmick, I don’t see any huge advantages over IronOS.
I personally see the PD for USB-C being 100W is a significant advantage as the Pinecil tops at 60W from USB-C and you have to search for a traditional barrel-plug power cord to get it to max out at 88W.
100W through USB-C and not even having a different power option seems pretty useful to me. *shrugs
I regularly power both my ts100 and Pinecil with a Milwaukee M18 battery and the barrel connector this is super convenient. The display is also convenient. The fact that you need the battery to set the temp seems numb and completely negates the USBC convenience because it means you can't use any old USBC power source and still change the temperature. The 100w is also pointless because the other two options already heat incredibly fast and have a higher max temperature.
I have a ts100, and the barrel plug is loose enough that it sometimes disconnects in the middle of working and loses its temperature setting. Got a Pinecil to replace it, but haven't used it much yet.
Apparently you can connect the thing to a PC and change the temperature that way
What's wrong with buttons on the device?
You can do that with a Pinecil too, there is a web-bluetooth frontend available for the V2 (the V1 doesn't have Bluetooth).
What a sentence. I really don't like the idea of having to do a firmware update on my soldering iron.
Does it have Bluetooth and a companion app as well?
You do realize that the ifixit solderimg iron also has firmware and that you need to connect it to a computer or their very expensive battery pack to adjust its settings, right?
Yep. I don't think I'll be buying one of those, either.
I'm pretty sure you meant this as a joke, and I laughed at the thought of someone making something as stupid as an app for a soldering iron. But then I thought I'd check. Ugh.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dev.eduardom.ironos_companion
Oh, I was dead serious. You can get battery drills that come with a fucking app now, I'm not surprised at all it's the same with solder irons.
Power and temp up and down is just too simple, I guess.
Owner of 2 pinecils here, there are buttons and a display that shows the current temperature and other stuff. I only just learned that there's an app, it works more than fine on its own, out of the box.
I got that specific iron because I needed to power it from 12v, and it works very well on the USB PD power supply I already have for my laptop.
That's good to know. I'd quite like to have a soldering iron that I can run from an 18v power tool battery actually.
https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Pinecil_Power_Supplies#Tool_Batteries_18V-21V
Firmware was always there in a soldering iron more sophisticated than an old, dumb Radio Shack wall plug iron. That's how you get good temperature control. Pinecil is just letting you modify it officially.
You don't. It works perfectly fine OOTB. Can't speak for the Pinecil v2 with Bluetooth and the companion app but I have v1 and the software been stable and bug-free enough I've never even given a thought to updating the firmware on it
My guess is that the motivation was user feedback and keeping things simple so they’re easier to repair.