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Soldering tip buying guide

Updated: 21 October 2026

You have a station on the bench, a burnt tip, and an amazon.co.uk title that claims the replacements fit Hakko, Yihua, Atten, Quick and Ryobi at once. A soldering tip buying guide has to start with the nut on your handpiece, not with the star rating. The wrong series can thread on and still run cold, or it can refuse to seat. This page walks through series, shape and pack size for the eight listings on the [soldering tips comparison](/hub/soldering-and-welding/soldering-tips). Prices and stars are this amazon.co.uk capture. We did not run a heat test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have a station on the bench, a burnt tip, and an amazon.co.uk title that claims the replacements fit Hakko, Yihua, Atten, Quick and Ryobi at once.

Our top picks

Hakko Hakko T18-D32 chisel 3.2 mm

Best overall

Hakko Hakko T18-D32 chisel 3.2 mm
9.2/10about £6.08
View offer
Hanglife Hanglife 12-piece 900M set

Alternative

Hanglife Hanglife 12-piece 900M set
7.5/10about £11.99
View offer
KTPCN KTPCN 14-piece 900M tip set

Best value

KTPCN KTPCN 14-piece 900M tip set
8.0/10about £7.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Tip series and handpieces
  2. 2.Shapes and joint types
  3. 3.OEM singles and multi-packs
  4. 4.Checklist before you check out

Tip series and handpieces

Hakko’s T18 tips fit FX-8801 class handles. The captured listing also names FX-888 series irons and the FX-600: the T18-D32 chisel at about £6.08, 4.7 from 582 reviews, 3.2 mm by 0.5 mm by 14.5 mm, listed as made in Japan. 900M tips are the older 907 and 936 sleeve over a separate heater. Yihua, Atten, Quick and many Katsu stations still use that footprint. None of these eight ASINs is a T12 or T15 cartridge. Saipor states 6.5 mm outside. HANZMQIYJJ states 6.0 mm outside. Those are different sleeves.

Shapes and joint types

On Hakko’s T18 pages, D is a chisel, C is a bevel, and I or B is a cone. The T18-D32 at 3.2 mm is a general chisel on an FX-888 and clumsy on a fine-pitch header. Hanglife lists chisels from 0.8D to 2.4D. KTPCN goes up to 3.2D. One Saipor row is filed as a chisel, but the bullets say 900M-T-I, a needle. The other is the conical 900M-T-B. SOOZR and Gosknor are joystick heads, not a resistor lead.
Hakko Hakko T18-D32 chisel 3.2 mm

Testsieger

Hakko Hakko T18-D32 chisel 3.2 mm
9.2/10about £6.08
View offer

OEM singles and multi-packs

The Hakko T18-D32 is one face at about £6.08. A January 2025 note says a tip corroded in dry storage. KTPCN at about £7.99, 4.4 from 159 reviews, is the best value on a 900M station, but a Spanish bullet says 10 types while the English bullet says 14. Hanglife at about £11.99 has the clearest fit misses: some Yihua stations and a Hakko FX-601, plus a box of 8 against a 12-piece title. HANZMQIYJJ at about £4.78 has two reviews and no review text. Job-by-job picks are on best soldering iron tips.

Checklist before you check out

Read the model on the handpiece, and stop if it is a cartridge iron or a fixed-bit USB iron. Match T18 to the FX-8801 class and 900M to a 936-style nut. Treat 6.0 mm and 6.5 mm as different sleeves. Pick the face you will use this month, and ignore a 14-piece title if you only need one 1.6 mm chisel. Read the latest fit complaints for your exact station, because a brand list that includes Yihua or Ryobi has already failed for some buyers here. If the handpiece model is missing, do not guess from a title that lists five brands. Changing the tip is a separate job: see how to change a soldering iron tip.

Common questions

How do I know if I need T18 or 900M?
Look at the handpiece, not the station badge. FX-8801 class handles on FX-888D stations take T18, which here is the D32 chisel at about £6.08. A barrel with a nut over a separate heater, typical of 936-style Yihua, Atten, Quick and many Katsu irons, takes 900M. A cartridge with pins is neither. Hakko still specifies T18 for that handle.
What does D16 mean on a tip?
D is the chisel family, and the number is the face width in tenths of a millimetre on Hakko’s scheme, so D16 is about 1.6 mm and D32 is about 3.2 mm. The captured Hakko row is T18-D32. A 1.6 mm chisel is the usual electronics width. A 3.2 mm chisel bridges fine pins if you lay it across a header.
Will a 14-piece set fit my Yihua station?
Only if that Yihua uses a 900M sleeve of the diameter in the listing. KTPCN at about £7.99 names Yihua and has a Katsu 825 fit note, plus a Yihua complaint that does not explain the fault. Hanglife at about £11.99 also names Yihua, and captured reviews say the tips did not fit a Yihua station and a Yihua 9390+ III. Compare the old tip’s diameter with the bullet before you trust the brand list.
Do I need a lead-free specific tip?
You need a plated tip you can tin, run no hotter than the joint requires, and replace when it will not wet. Lead-free lines and long joint counts on these listings are not a measured life. Lead-free solder usually wants a higher set point than tin-lead, and idle heat is what blackens a cheap point. The Saipor needle pack already has a review that describes blackening almost immediately. HSE’s solderers page is about flux fume, not a tip logo.
Are generic tips safe for Hakko irons?
The useful question is whether the series matches. A T18 such as the D32 is the designed tip for the FX-888 series and the FX-600 on that listing. A 900M pack that prints Hakko is usually aimed at old 936 and 907 handles, and one Hanglife buyer reported no fit on an FX-601. Generic tips can oxidise sooner. The file includes blackening on the Saipor needle pack and coating loss at 400°C on Hanglife.
What is the minimum tip kit for electronics?
Two faces cover most hobby boards: one chisel around 1.6 mm to 2.4 mm, and one fine cone or needle. On a Hakko T18 iron the captured single is the wider D32 at 3.2 mm, so you add a finer T18 later. On a 936-class iron, KTPCN’s about £7.99 mix includes both, if you confirm the count and the bore. A twelve-profile tin is a drawer of shapes you may never heat.

Related pages

900M vs T18 soldering tips

Soldering tips for electronics

Soldering tips

Best soldering iron tips: Hakko T18-D32 or 900M set

How to change a soldering iron tip on a UK station

Sources

Sources taken from the research digest. Listings were checked on 20 October 2026.

  1. Hakko UK — T18 series tip shapes (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  2. Hakko UK — T18 soldering iron tips (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  3. Hakko UK — 900 series soldering iron tips (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  4. HSE — Solderers and asthma (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  5. HSE — SR20 Rosin-cored solder (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  6. Electronics Stack Exchange — Hakko tip compatibility (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  7. amazon.co.uk listings in this comparison (retrieved 20.10.2026)