Aoyue 937+ Pro Series 45 Watt Programmable Digital Soldering Station-ESD Safe, C/F Switchable, Configurable Iron Holder, Spare Plug-in Heating Element

I normally don't do reviews unless I really like a product.I was looking around at the Wellers and Hakkos soldering stations and there reviews when I found the Aoyue 937+ Digital Soldering Station. I looked at all the reviews and was thinking that the Aoyue 937+ soldering station sounded good. I did some research and found out that all the soldering tips that fit the Hakko 936 fit the Aoyue and that it was easy to get replacement parts such as a replacement pen and heating elements. That made me feel real good because I wanted to get a soldering station that would last me a long time. This setup seemed to be a good match.When I first got the Aoyue 937+ in the mail I opened it up and was pleasantly surprised. Up to this time I have been using Radio Shack irons for all my projects such as small ham radio kits and RC helicopters and airplanes. The build quality of the Aoyue was very nice and didn't seem cheep at all. The cord for the soldering iron seemed to be of very good quality. The rest of the unit seemed to be very tough and didn't feel like it was cheep at all. Everything worked as expected.I have not owned any other soldering stations but I have been shopping for a while and looked at some in some hobby shops and stores and this Aoyue 937+ soldering station looked and felt about the same but the other soldering stations I have looked at were much more expensive than this one. I feel I got a real good deal. I have use it to build one CW Ham radio kit so far and I loved it. Heats up very quick and holds the temp nicely. I don't see how you can go wrong with the Aoyue 937+ soldering station. Get it! I think you are going to like it.There was some stuff that I didn't like about the station but they were nothing big to me.1 - The temp is digitally displayed in celsius and there is no way to switch to fahrenheit.2 - The sponge is to thin. I wouldn't use it anyway. I only use water free tip cleaners like the Hakko brass wire ball. Works awesome for me.3 - The rod that holds the "solder roll" on the soldering iron holder stand is nice but the two caps at the ends of it came out so I used super glue to hold them in. Now that I did that I found that I never use the rod anyway.4 - The power cord is a bit short for my liking. At some point in time I'll order another one that is longer. It looks like the same cord that plugs in to computer power supplies.Other than those 4 small things the Aoyue 937+ soldering station is a keeper and the quality is as good as the other I have looked at and coast much less than the others :-)Update 06-20-10 = I just got done doing another small kit and I like this soldering station a lot.I have been using both the Hakko and Aoyue tips and yes the Hakko tips do work like I stated but I found that there is a flanged metal tube inside the iron that is used as a spacer. It is spaced perfect for the Aoyue tips but it is just a bit short for the Hakko tips. When you put in the Hakko tip there is slightly more than a 1mm space between the tip and spacer. That makes the barrel of the iron kind of move a bit. I also didn't want to tighten the retaining nut to much because I thought it may damage the ceramic element. I also did try to file part of the ceramic elements end to make the tip fit but under the ceramic part of the element is metal so I didn't want to go any farther. I am now going to purchase some more Aoyue tips and keep the Hakko tips for backup. When I used the Aoyue tip the shaft of the iron was nice and tight and did not shift or move at all. I did use the Aoyue tip that came with the unit (I think it is a "S4" tip) and it has worked very good but I prefer the "TI"or the "TB" tips for every day use. Only time will tell but so far so good. The tip is holding up nicely. All in all I am very impressed :-)Update 08-13-10 - I have been soldering up a storm and I think I have done at least five or six different kits sense the last review. This soldering station is awesome and I really didn't know what I was missing till I got it. Why spend more money when you can have this gem of a soldering station.Update 09-09-11 The soldering station is still working like new! Man I got my moneys worth out of it. No problems with it at all.Update 09-09-12 Still going strong! I just got done doing two different projects with no problems. Still heats up fast. I am interested in the new iron stand that they have out. I may get the new station just for the stand. My nephew is in to electronics now and I think I may give him this unit for his projects. I'll keep the new one for myself :-)Update 01-19-14 The soldering station is still going strong and still being used at least once a week. The only problem that I had to date is that the plastic coating over the "PLUS" button is cracked but still usable. I ended up just keeping my old station because there was nothing wrong with it but I decided to purchase the newer iron holder. Such an improvement over the original! I also purchased a new iron and kept the old one as a back up.I'd have to say, I got my moneys worth out of this station and it keeps on going.Update 01-13-17 The unit is still working very good for me. Love it.

Like others, after using this soldering station a few times, I started seeing the "8" error flash on the screen. It happened at random, but seemed to be caused by flexing the cable at the base of the iron in a certain way. The instructions explain pretty clearly how to disassemble the iron and perform a few tests with a multimeter. Sure enough, the resistance test showed that one of the solder points was bad and would disconnect when flexing the cable. I tried reflowing the solder with a cheap RadioShack iron, but that didn't help, so I had to completely remove the old solder and redo it. Works like a charm now! I would have given this product 5 stars if it hadn't been for that defect. Fortunately, it was easy enough to fix and the instructions are very clear, so I won't give Aoyue too much of a hard time. Just be aware that this seems to be a fairly common issue. It may even be fixed in the "937+ Pro" model that Amazon is showing now.

I purchased this station in June 2016. I needed to do some light soldering, and this was way overkill, but I had another project in mind that I wanted something nice for. So I pulled the trigger and picked up the 937+.It worked great for my first project. I used it for all of 20-30 minutes, then it was packed away and set on a shelf until last night. I pulled it off the shelf (about 5 months later) and plugged it in. It was working great, and then all of a sudden I received the flashing 8 of doom. It looks like a c, and 8, and a backwards c. Some have referenced this as =8=.From reading other reviews, it sounds like I need to replace the heating element, but I'm going to have go to buy a new iron to do that since this is my only one. If I have to buy a new iron, I might as well just buy a new one instead of fixing this.I chose a two star review because, when the device worked, it was fantastic. It heated up quickly and maintained a temperature well. I haven't had to replace the tip (only used it once before it broke!), but the wand is easy to disassemble to replace the tip. The cable that connects the wand to the station is very flexible, and doesn't cause any problems when you try to solder, unlike some stiffer cables that I've used in the past. The controls on the station are easy to use. Overall, it's very well designed... it just didn't last long.At this point, I'm trying to find out who I have to get in touch with to get this thing fixed. I'll adjust my review accordingly, as I can understand that sometimes a bad egg slips out.UPDATE: After contacting US support, I received a brand new iron in the mail. I plugged right into the station and it worked perfect! I've decided to leave a 5 star review, as I think the customer service I received combined with how good the product performs is more than worth it!

This really is a freaking great soldering station. It heats up fast, takes the standard Hakko type tip, has a solid iron holder, and is fairly priced. It also keeps the desired temp within a narrow range. However after several weeks of use it would no longer get hot enough. I tried different tips and entire new handpieces. Setting it to 400C would only give me a tip temp of 160-170C and this is not enough to completely liquify solder. I usually work around 270C and this gave me a tip temp of 80C. I also prefer an analog dial.I don't know if I was just simply unlucky or what. There is feedback that comes from the tip and it was reading my desired setting. I even tested the tip of the ceramic element and it was very close to the tip temperature, so the heat traveling down the handpiece was not the issue. It would just not heat to the set temperature. I made sure it was calibrated properly also. I don't know if you should judge this station based on my experience alone, but I wanted to share. I am very tempted to buy it again, but I'm instead buying a Weller station costing $30 more.

I really wanted to like this model but sadly it didn't deliver what I was looking for. It's built nice enough and was packaged really well. It even included an extra heating element and a handy solder dispenser. Perhaps I received a somewhat defective unit as it did not melt the solder really well. The solder would melt on the tip and quickly turn into "balls". I've been soldering for years and know how to tin the tip and to keep it clean but I was unable to do so on this model. Maybe the tip was defective, I don't know but in the end, I returned it for a trusty Weller station which works as expected. Too bad because the price was great.

Below you will find my original comment: I must admit that after three 30 minutes uses, the soldering station would not heat up anymore. It was not the heating element that was at fault, but a bad contact between the base station and the iron that plugs in. It still turned on, detected the iron, but wouldnt heat. I had to push really hard for the soldering iron to heat up... And after a few minutes, the contact would be lost and it would start decreasing in temperature, until i pushed it again... Terrible quality, not worth more than the other similar stations that sell for 15-30 dollars. Paid 65 cad for this, its going back to amazon. Not blaming made in china, as they can product decent stuff, but this is definitely not worth anything. Avoid.Original comment: What a nice soldering station! Life changer from those cheap 10-20 bucks pen solders that overheat. I sucked at soldering, guess what, for once I can blame the tools! With this one i can solder very decently, and in a breeze to. Temperature control is nice, although not very precise but more than enough to work with for hobby uses. Not sure about the longevity of the heating element but a spare is included (look in the box for those who say they dont have one!) so that's nice! Knocked off a star for the ever increasing prices of soldering stations on amazon.ca, for the temperature which needs calibrating, cant set a preferred temperature and also for the iron which can get moderately hot on high temperatures (but still very decent and does not hurt). Have not tested other replacement tips but i hear they are cheap and widely available. Included tip seems of good quality.

Used it a hand full of times in 2 years. Works good but yesterday I went to use it and didnt work so replaced the tip that came with it but u need a solder the new tip on with the soldering gun that is broken hahah.

I have used the Aoyue 937 a few times so far and I am very pleased with the results. The soldering iron is attached to the station with a very flexible connection and the iron handles easily. Temperature is reached very quickly and maintains while soldering, Tips are easy to change. Spare heating element is appreciated but requires some soldering when replacing. Too bad temperature resets to default every time iron is turned off.

Tried a $20 soldering iron from the local hardware store as my first foray into soldering (mainly for electronics on my rc car). Lets just say i was going to give up soldering forever (couldn't handle soldering larger connections and started blowing fuses in the house) but decided, luckily, to try the Aoyue. So far (i've used it about a dozen times) it has n't let me down - easy to set up, heats up quick and i'm now soldering like a champion (at least in my mind). Highly recommend for the novice out there (i can't comment for professionals as i'm no even close!)