Review on Ersa RDS 🌡️ 80 Electronic Temperature Control System by Mark Patterson

. I'm not sure I would buy again. I've been using it actively for a couple of weeks and have already made up my mind. It looks well made and has the functions as requested. The pencil is light and comfortable to hold. Heats up relatively quickly. And it seems to be holding the set temperature. There are 3 pre-programmed temperature settings: 150°C, 300°C and 400°C. You can change them. Most of my work is in the PCB area, increasingly in the SMD area. I have two complaints. The first contains clues. It comes with a large heavy tip which is not suitable for my application. Its mass is so great that it does not heat up to 450 ° C. Tips are quite large, ranging from $11.00 to $35.00. I have already bought 2 tips for this. The gull wing tip is used a lot in my application but is not available. I bought a spiked bait, but it's too wide and too heavy. My other complaint is that the pen holder is separate from the controller, taking up two bench seats. Finally, the pencil cord is fairly durable and you'll notice its weight after a day of using the RDS80. You can do the same or better for less money. I have a workstation that I paid $50 for, it heats up just as quickly, comes with a wide variety of attachments, and works with convection too. Then there's Hakko, which sells a soldering station similar to the RDS80 for the same money as the RDS. But you can buy a set of nibs for less than $10, and the pencil stand has room for a brass nib cleaner. Bottom line, my cheap workstation or Hakko is way better.