Hey Folks,
Looking for some advice on the best Hakko Soldering Iron Tips for SMD 02012 soldering.
Cheers,
I guess were talking T12 tips here?
I suppose it depends on the skill level too, I’ll happily solder even the smallest components with a D12/D24 chisel tip 
JL02 is always a good choice, others prefer the K type style tips but each to their own 
If your just looking for a god assortment for everything, then, D12, D24, JL02, J02, JS02, KU, BC2 - that should cover you for most things
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Thanks for the reply, I have an FX-888D unit which is T18 tips, but I could most probably look a the T121 to see the equivelant. I’ve been experimenting with different tips.
Seems like the T18 tips use the same naming convention for tip shapes
These T18 tip over element style irons are pretty oldschool and inefficient these days and offer marginal performance vs the old direct AC plug cheapies, so might be worth grabbing a T12 handle for your station and wiring it up or look at getting a dedicated T12 station and handle 
i just picked up the FX-100 what a beast of a machine. Very worth it. I also have the FX 951 which i use t15 tips if i can recall off the top of my head.
I replaced my Weller 1010 station with FX-888D mainly due to a better selection of tips, but not sure if it was a wise choice now, FX-951 may have been better, not sure I need the tweezer tips on the FX-100? what other benefit does that add?
i started with the fx-888, the reason i upgraded was you really get much better heating with a full length heating element, aka there is not hot tip, theres only one solid piece, imo it transfers heat much better and my work reeally has grown since having the right equipment, it is single handedly the biggest obstacle to doing real precision consistent work other than experience. I used to get frustrated becuase the solder wouldnt do what i wanted or how i wanted, i change equipment and basically now can control everything and it happens how it should. The only thing that changed was my equipment.
the hot tweezers was my main selling point on this unit. expensive to just get some really high quality hot tweezers but the unit itself is suprisingly good and i think even better the my 951 with a fine tip and small work. If i could go back i would have just spent the money on the fx 100. but i have used the heck outof my 951 so i dont regret it in the least, i find myself using both on jobs to getthe right tip without having to switch so much.
Not sure I’d recommend anybody buy (and the intention is not to get anyones back up here) a Hakko station or even a JBC station these days… it’s almost like they’re 20 years behind everyone else, and even the cheapest Chinese soldering station at 1/10 the cost or maybe an even bigger differential than that outperforms these “name brand” stations in terms of cost, functionality, ability to assign profiles per tip, decent ability to calibrate tips in general, better more ergonomic handles, better screens, and better UI/interfaces all with the ability to utilise the one good thing they came up with, the integrated element type tips, T12/T15 (the same)
What station would you recommend? I personally do mostly Handheld Video Game Soldering, Game Gear, Gameboy, Nintendo Switch…
The KSGER T12 stations are what I was reccomending to people in combination with the Aluminium handle or Stainless steel handle, but on a specific FW version… trouble is I recommended this to somebody and they ordered and the seller sent them a version on a different FW than advertised, not a huge deal and IMO even on a “bad” FW version they are still superior in every way to any Hakko station on the market. You do have to spend 5 mins opening the station up and properly earthing it (if it isn’t done so already) and remaking the solder joints in the handle and ditching the wanky ball/mercury sleep switch as it doesn’t work all that well but aside from that they are quality budget stations and if your confident enough you can reprogram them with a CFW with an ST-Link if you wind up getting a “bad” FW version and want an improvement.
An alternative would be the following
I saw a review of this station by SDG and it looks quality, though a few key points, I don’t think it allows for independent tip calibration and profiles like the KSGER does (just a global calibration) which is a negative, the UI is pretty simplistic… on the other hand they are utilising the metal ring on the handle and a fly lead from the station to the cradle to initiate sleep like a JBC which is nice. I’d go with the T12 version myself, which is in contrast to SDG opinion that the JBC style are better… I got a JBC handle and tips and in my experience they performed worse than T12 tips (despite being almost twice the power) as the tips didn’t last as long (one lost it’s coating inside of a month after very little use) and the tip price, clone or real is significantly more expensive.
There are many, many more stations which might be better choices or might even be cheaper but these are the two that spring to mind atm