Hakko FX-888D Digital Soldering Station: Temperature Presets & Password Lockout Tutorial

Hakko's FX-888D Digital Soldering Station is an inexpensive, versatile tool for a variety of soldering tasks and skill levels. Boasting the quality and reliability of a Hakko soldering station, the FX-888D is the digital replacement for the popular FX-888 analog model.

We've previously told you about the Hakko FX-888D in a preview blog, Flickr photos, and an "On the Bench" video. This time, we wanted to pass on a few tips to help you get the most out of the FX-888D's digital settings.

Whether you're an existing owner, or considering purchasing your own Hakko FX-888D Digital Soldering Station, learning how to access and set certain settings will help you get the most out of this feature-rich tool. We're going to focus on three such settings: Setting preset temperatures, changing preset temperatures, and setting up and using the password lockout feature.

SETTING THE PRESET TEMPERATURES

The Preset Temperatures option on the Hakko FX-888D defaults to off. Just follow these easy steps to turn on this handy feature:

1. Turn the FX-888D on while holding the UP button (this will access the Parameters of the unit).
2. The display will show Parameter 1. Press the UP button until you get to Parameter 11 (which controls the presets).
3. Press the ENTER button and you'll see a 0 (zero means off and one means on). Press the UP button to 1, which turns on the presets option.
4. Press ENTER and you'll see 5P (this indicates you have five presets available to use). Pressing the UP button here allows you to choose how many presets you want to use (or you can just press ENTER to stick with the default five presets).
5. Pressing ENTER brings you back to Parameter 11. To save the setting, press the ENTER button until you see a Y (for yes). Pressing ENTER here saves the selections you just made.

Now you can simply press the UP button to cycle through your preset temperatures (pressing ENTER to lock in your choice).

CHANGING THE PRESET TEMPERATURES

Once you've turned on the Preset Temperatures option, you can easily change the presets to the temperatures of your choosing by following these steps:

1. Turn the FX-888D on and you'll see it comes on at 750° and winds up to that temperature.
2. Press the UP button and the default preset 3 appears and reads 750°. Hit the ENTER button to select this preset.
3. Now, we'll change the 750° to 720°. Hold the ENTER button down until the 7 starts flashing.
4. Hit ENTER to keep the 7 as is. The 5 will start flashing and now we press the UP button until the digits go round to 2 and then hit ENTER. Leave the 0 as is and hit ENTER again. Now preset 3 is set to 720°.

Repeat the process for each of the presets you want to customize.

SETTING & USING THE PASSWORD LOCKOUT FEATURE

The Hakko FX-888D has a Password Lockout feature, which encompasses two choices. The Partial Lockout allows you to lockout specific features on the unit. The Complete Lockout lets you lock all of the features. Both options will require the password to unlock. Here's how to set up each option:

Complete Lockout

1. Turn the FX-888D on while holding the UP button to access Parameter Mode.
2. Use the UP button to get to Parameter 14 and press ENTER.
3. The unit will display 0, which is off. Press UP to get to number 2 (Complete Lock). Press ENTER to choose it.
4. The display will show three dashes. These are for the password. Use the UP button to scroll through letters and numbers. Hit the ENTER button at your selected character to choose that for the password. Do this for all three dashes.
5. After the last dash is selected you'll return to Parameter Mode. To store your password you need to hold down the ENTER button. When you see the Y, hit ENTER and your password will be saved. 

From this point on, when the user attempts to change the temperature or any other setting they’ll be presented with three dashes for the password.

Partial Lockout

1. Turn the FX-888D on while holding the UP button to access Parameter Mode.
2. Use the UP button to get to Parameter 14 and press ENTER.
3. The unit will display 0, which is off. Press UP to get to number 1 (partial lock). Press ENTER to choose it.
4. After selecting Partial Lockout, the display will show you option 1 and a flashing 1 (temperature adjustment). If you want this to be password locked press ENTER or press UP to go to 0 for no and press ENTER.
5. Next you'll see option 2 (password protect the changing of presets) and a flashing 0. Zero means off and 1 means on. Use the UP button to make your selection and then press ENTER.
6. The third option is for the digital calibration feature. One means yes and 0 means no. Again make your selection with the UP and ENTER buttons.
7. Finally, the display will show three dashes for the password. Use the UP button to scroll through letters and numbers. Hit the ENTER button at your selected character to choose that for the password. Do this for all three dashes.
8. After the last dash is selected you'll return to Parameter Mode. To store your password you need to hold down the ENTER button. When you see the Y, hit ENTER and your password will be saved. 

And, again, from this point on, when the user attempts to change any of the options you password protected they'll be presented with three dashes for the password.

Pretty easy, right? Now you know how to turn on the Preset Temperatures option, change the Preset Temperatures, and set up the Password Lockout feature. We'll cover additional tips and settings in future blogs.

For additional Q Source product information, reviews, how-to articles, and special offers please subscribe to our email newsletter.

The EEV Blog's Soldering Tutorial Video, Part 3: Wrapping it All Up with Surface Mount Soldering

Dave Jones is back again in the Electronics Engineering Video Blog's EEVblog #186 – Soldering Tutorial Part 3 – Surface Mount video. In this final installment of the three-part soldering tutorial, Jones demonstrates several surface mount soldering techniques in an informative video that flows quickly—despite its almost 40-minute run time.

Jones wants you to know that surface mount soldering is "an absolute piece of cake." To that end, he uses the basic tools and techniques from the first two tutorial videos to easily complete several surface mount component soldering jobs.

The new techniques featured in Part 3 include drag soldering, tack & reflow, and the use of solder paste with a hot air gun. Jones uses these techniques to solder an 0603 resistor, an 8-pin ICU, an 0.65 mm component, an 0.5 mm pitch PIC24 microchip quad flat pack, and a high thermal capacity d-pack.

Throughout the video you learn about using flux pens (Jones likes to say, "FLUX IS EVERYTHING!"), soldering paste, hot air guns, and different kinds of soldering tips. When the video is over, you've been presented with so much helpful information that you truly feel ready to go and solder with confidence.

So, if you haven't watched Part 1 or Part 2 of the EEV Blog's Soldering Tutorial, please go check them out. We're sure they'll have you soldering like a pro in no time.