This soldering station fits me very well. I bought original Hakko tips and they all fit with no problems. I replaced the sponge with a real brass wire sponge (thrown out the brass colored steel sponge) Holder for cleaning the tips. I made the station much stronger by attaching all the parts with JB Weld. Using a medium-tipped Hakko tip and a Hakko FG 100 soldering iron thermometer, I got these average tip temperatures. When the dial is set to #1, which is "Low,β 250 degrees C or 482 degrees F. When the dial is set to #2, 294 degrees C or 561 degrees F. When the dial is set to #3, 331 Degrees C or 628 degrees Fahrenheit. When the dial is set to #4, 365 degrees Celsius or 689 degrees Fahrenheit. There is now a large gap between #4 and #5 on the dial and the soldering tip temperature reflects this. The dial was set at #5 415 degrees Celsius or 779 degrees Fahrenheit (this was the largest change in temperature between the numbers on the dial). The scale is set at No. 6 430 degrees C or 806 degrees F. The scale is set at No. 7 445 degrees C or 833 degrees F. The scale is set at #8, which is "high" 467 degrees C or 872 degrees F. As I mentioned earlier, these peak temperatures are the result of the average temperature of the 5 peaks on each dial going from low to high and then back to low again. This resulted in 6 minutes warm-up time and 6 minutes cool-down time between each subsequent measurement. I always keep an extra heating element on hand for this station just in case, but I didn't have to install it. I am very happy with this device for this price. Keep the soldering tip clean and check the tip retaining ring from time to time for tightness (use pliers, the retaining ring will get hot!). In this respect, the device should serve you well. Another tip: I use 4 different diameters of solder, and they all have a rosin core (never use acid core solder or acid flux to work with electronics), as the diameters are different, the melting points are different, adjust the temperature of the soldering station gem. with solder. Solders vary in composition: I have 63/37, 60/40 and 58/40 with 2% silver - the melting point of the solder is usually stated on the spool or packaging. Hello from Maui.