In our ongoing search for the best affordable soldering iron for car aficionados, we came across a cool, futuristic looking soldering iron from Kaiweets, the KETS02. It immediately drew our attention because it’s small and lightweight, has a nice aluminum body, an OLED display and a 65W Gallium Nitride (GaN) power supply for a very competitive price (and that’s an understatement).
But looks can be deceiving, does it perform as well as it looks?
Let’s find out!
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Tested by CCM
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What We Like
What We Don’t Like
Bottom Line The Kaiweets KETS02 soldering iron is a solid choice – it looks great, handles all your soldering needs effortlessly and is great value for money. |
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Use Code “CCM15” for 15% off on the Kaiweets website
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What We Like
- Neat ergonomic design
- Heats up very quickly
- Superb backlit OLED display with user-friendly menu
- Outstanding performance in wide heat range
- Can also handle thicker gauge soldering
What We Don’t Like
- Plastic soldering stand with flimsy sponge looks and feels like it doesn’t belong
- Longevity concerns about usb-c connector on soldering iron
Bottom Line
The Kaiweets KETS02 soldering iron is a solid choice – it looks great, handles all your soldering needs effortlessly and is great value for money.
Unboxing
First impression: this soldering iron set comes in a nicely designed box. On the back you can find clear instructions on how to install the soldering iron tip. According to the specifications on the box, this soldering iron’s temperature range is from 180 to 780 degrees Fahrenheit (80°C to 420°C), which covers most applications. It says it works on different operating voltages too.
You can get the basic set with just 1 soldering iron tip or a set with 6 different ones to choose from, like ours. This soldering device is available with a US, UK or EU power supply. The sets are identical, apart from having a different power supply, of course.
In the box, there is a user manual in 6 different languages, a top-of-the-range 65W Gallium Nitride (GaN) power supply with a usb-c port and usb port, the soldering pen and its protective cap. If you order the set with one soldering tip, it’ll be in the center foam spacing. If you order our set with 6 different soldering pens, the spacing will be empty. The six different tips will be in the box underneath the foam.
The six-pack includes 2 sizes of hoof-shaped tips, 2 sizes of cone-shaped tips and two sizes of knife-shaped tips. You’ll only get the small hoof-shaped tip if you buy the set with one soldering tip.
In the box underneath the foam card, there’s a plastic blister with six different soldering tips, a usb-c cable, a small soldering stand and its tiny sponge insert.
First Use and Settings
The first thing you notice when you hold the soldering iron for the first time, is that the lightweight aluminum casing has a real quality feel to it. The same goes for the aluminum protective cap.
The front end of the soldering iron is rubber so you have good grip and it doesn’t slip. It’s well-designed and the two buttons next to the clear OLED screen feel solid and responsive.
The screw tip twists off easily and feels solid too. When removed, you can slide the soldering iron tip in there, and tighten it back on.
The flexible silicone usb-c power cable connects to the back of the soldering iron on one side, to the power supply on the other.
At first startup, there’s the standard 300°C setting on the little OLED screen. That’s about 572°F. The soldering tip will heat up very fast, within 20 seconds or so.
You can easily switch to Fahrenheit: Long-push the two little buttons until the menu appears, then push the right hand button twice and you’re in the “Temp Unit” mode. Long-press the right hand button to go to the “°C / °F” screen. By pressing either button, you can select your preferred temperature scale and confirm by long-pressing the right hand button. To exit the menu, press the left hand button.
All the settings can be adjusted in the same way:
- Brightness: to adjust the brightness of the display
- Calibrate: to calibrate the soldering temperature using a soldering iron temperature tester
- Temp Unit: to select °C or °F
- Sleep Time: to adjust when sleep mode is activated
- Sleep Temp: to select sleep mode temperature
- Child Lock: to activate the child lock: beware that the “Open/Close” options act like “On/Off” (“Open” means activated, which is counterintuitive // push L button three times to unlock in Child Lock mode)
- Hand Held: to select left- or right-hand use (switches display orientation)
- Vol Select: to select input voltage (not volume)
Testing
With the small hoof soldering tip installed and the power supply connected, we went ahead and started testing.
When plugged into the powerful 20V / 3.25A / 65W Gallium Nitride power supply which is included in the set, the KETS02 reached working temperature within only 5-10 seconds, which is pretty impressive for such a small piece of kit.
It has to be taken into account however, that depending on the temperature setting, soldering tip size, power supply voltage and ambient temperature, heating time may vary.
First thing we did was tin the soldering tip to keep it from oxidizing, of course. This is the type of soldering tip that comes with the single-tip KETS02 set from Kaiweets, and is also included in our set with 6 soldering tips.
Thin Gauge Wire Soldering
As a first test, we tried soldering two small-gauge wires together with this small hoof tip, which went flawless. Heat transfer was smooth as can be and the soldering iron, or should we say pen, held its temperature perfectly.
Thick Gauge Wire Soldering
When we tried a thicker gauge wire, the heat transfer was far below par, and it took much too long to heat the wire. Of course, this was to be expected using a tip with so little mass to heat a heavy-gauge wire. We only tried this as a test and just for the heck of it…
This issue is due to the small hoof soldering tip which is the perfect accessory for soldering thinner gauge wire, but it is not designed for thicker gauge wire soldering.
This completely changed when we switched to the large hoof soldering tip which is included in our set, and is meant for heavy-gauge wire. And it worked like a charm! This larger soldering tip did an awesome job! It heated the wire in a heartbeat, it was night-and-day compared to the small hoof tip.
Just goes to show that it is crucial to use the right soldering tip for the job.
That’s why we recommend buying the set with the 6 different soldering tips instead of the set with one single tip. Using the right soldering tip completely transforms the experience and leads to faster, better results.
Soldering Electronics / Components
We also tested this well-designed soldering iron on battery connections and electronic components. We found this soldering pen to be very handy and precise to use and very versatile for the smallest of soldering connections.
Because this pen shape is very slim, it can be handled very accurately. This is of great importance for precision soldering, of course.
The Verdict
For a weekend mechanic’s occasional soldering, or even for professional use on-the-go, this soldering iron has what it takes. And then some…
With intensive use in mind, we would have liked a screw-on power cord connector instead of the usb-c, which like all usb-c connectors, will get looser and gradually lose its grip with use. But that’s nitpicking, I guess…
We love the way this soldering iron looks, the quality materials it’s made from and the very neat, yet functional design. The soldering tips have a quality feel and the unit performs very well. Even the usb-c power cord and high-end power supply look and feel like a million bucks.
What lets this set down is the soldering iron stand with its tiny sponge. It isn’t that it doesn’t do the job, but it’s like it doesn’t belong to this set… Such a pity… But hey, you probably have a quality stand and sponge from your previous set. If you haven’t, for a few bucks you can buy a decent stand online. It’s not a big issue after all.
Bottom line: you get a lot more quality than what the price suggests. We loved using this product and we’re excited to see how it will compare to its competitors.
Well done, Kaiweets!
What we like:
- Great value
- Very portable, lightweight
- Neat ergonomic design
- Heats up very quickly
- Superb backlit OLED display with user-friendly menu
- Luxury silicone / aluminum power cord and high-end power supply
- High quality interchangeable soldering tips
- Outstanding performance in wide heat range
- High quality aluminum body and cap
- Can also handle thicker gauge soldering
- Child lock
What we don’t like:
- Plastic soldering stand with flimsy sponge looks and feels like it doesn’t belong
- Longevity concerns about usb-c connector on soldering iron
- No storage case included
Specifications
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