We tested Pinecil V2 with a simple flashing LED project kit. We used the supplied conical short tip and connected the iron to a PinePower desktop power supply with a USB C port capable of delivering 65 Watts. Pinecil V2 made short work of the kit, the lead solder melted perfectly, with peaks that connected the PCB to the component. There were no cold solder joints (where the solder doesn’t bridge between the PCB and component) and our LEDs flashed happily.

TEST CLIPS UK - PINECIL – Smart Mini Portable Soldering Iron V2

It’s obvious that the irons to beat in this category are the Miniware TS100 and TS80 for DC and USB-C power respectively. We’ve also seen that even the cheapest iron we’ve found of this type gives a good account of itself as a soldering iron, so how does this new one differentiate itself when “being a soldering iron” with the same tips as its competitor is something of a done deal? to enter menu or decrease temperature, long press [-] to get the software version info or to turn off heating The detailed display option shows power draw, current temperature, supply voltage, and time until sleep mode starts. I don’t solder every day, but when I do, I use my Pinecil soldering iron, as it’s heating super fast and does the job, and in my case, works quite better than the TS100 soldering iron. So it should come as no surprise that the Pincel is the most popular consumer hardware from the PINE64 community (after SOPine modules), and the new Pinecil V2 is a welcome upgrading building on the same design but with Bluetooth LE connectivity and a lower tip resistance. Recommend operating voltage 12-24V, but a 12V USB-C charger will not perform as well or heat as fast as a USB-C PD65W/20V/3amp charger.

Can The New Kid Take On The Champion?

Older style chargers could become dangerously hot, whereas GaN can stay cooler, even in a smaller size. Sabrent HB-B7C3 USB3 hub, 7 data ports, 3 charge ports, 60W supply -- does not negotiate higher voltages. How repairable will the PineBuds be? Since the PineTime is not very repairable (soldered battery is especially a PITA, not to mention the build design meant to prevent water from leaking in. Will Pinecil work with regular USB-C PD 65w 20V-3.25A chargers also? Yes, as long as it supports PD (power delivery protocol).

Pinecil V2 soldering iron gets BL706 Bluetooth LE RISC-V MCU Pinecil V2 soldering iron gets BL706 Bluetooth LE RISC-V MCU

As a side note, Pine64 is also working on the Star64 RISC-V SBC based on StarFive JH7110 quad-core RISC-V processor with Imagination IMG BXE-4-32 GPU, and I’d expect the first samples and more details to come out next month. These two parts are low cost and not too hard to replace if your Pinecil breaks from a poor quality DC charger (see Datasheets section of the Wiki for links to get replacement chips]]. One guy on the chat had a Diode floating in his case another one found a capacitor that was soldered very crappy. For most soldering tasks, it all depends on what you are soldering and what the nearest power source is. Heating up to a stable 350 degrees Celsius was identical in our tests, with both power sources hitting the magic temperature in 15 seconds. We tested this with a USB-C bench power supply (Pine’s Pine Power) that provided 20V at 2.6A (52W) and a DC PSU which provided 19V at 2.1A (39.9W). Build quality… Well the USB-PD Chip is rated 28V absolute maximum, but only 21V recommended. If you connect 24V on the barrel, the chip will be powered outside of its recommended specs which might impact lifetime.

Brand

In the V2 handle's side label, the 88W figure comes from a 6.5ohm tip calculation. The reason for using 6.5 instead of 6.2 for the new short tips calculation is due to tolerance during manufacturing, and leaving a conservative margin of error (actual tips appear to be 6.2 ohms). V2 set max voltage is listed as 24V because this was the value used during design and component selection. To prevent battery overdrain, add this Pinecil setting which works for all the 18-21V tool batteries typical for Dewalt, etc.. Some tool brands have the overdrain protection already; it doesn't hurt to also set this in Pinecil or in case you don't know if your brand/type has it or not. Power source = 5S, Minimum Voltage = 3.3V I could run the generic iron alongside the new fancy iron, but is it really worth it? The generic temperature controlled iron heats fast enough, is fairly stable, and has adequate thermal mass. What advantages does a TS100 or Pinecil (with its pricey “tip”) bring to my bench? PINE64 is about to launch the second generation Pinecil RISC-V soldering iron with the Pinecil V2 featuring a new Bouffalo Lab BL706 RISC-V microcontroller with Bluetooth LE connectivity, optimizations for higher power levels, as well as tentative support for the new USB PD EPR standard (Extended Power Range) working at up to 28V.