Thanks, I’ve been trying to navigate the Taobao maze … It’s very hard for me to recognize knock-offs and scams from good products.
I’m trying to get someone who is fluent in Cantonese to help me, or alternatively someone who is experienced with shopping on Taobao. The other option is to ask @TomKeddie if he can buy it during his trip to China in the summer and ship it to us from there (so that we don’t take up his valuable luggage space).
I currently have on my shopping list:
Hakko FX-888D soldering iron
Solder paste dispenser YDL-983A
misc. components (LED strips, large 7 segment LEDs, Touchscreen panels, assorted SMD components, silicone hook up wires, multimeter)
Hector, Unless I can get my cousin to receive something for me I’m just going to use bhiner again and collect in Shenzhen. Given my language abilities I’m not sure I would do any better than they would for international shipping. I do know an agent who speaks english, not sure that would be a good price though - they like to send 20kg+.
CNY288+10shipping = ~$CAD60. I think I will be ok with the shipping but it is hard to tell. It weights 3.5kg which is a significant chuck of 23kg bag. Hong Kong post would be about $33.
The unit will be 220V, I converted mine to 110V, there is a centre tap on the transformer.
I’m sorry to day this didn’t happen. It is hard to describe the issues one faces with language and cultural barriers. I ended up pay $150 for shipping for a bunch of my stuff that missed the boat. I think aliexpress is probably the best idea (unless those Fraser Valley guys are going ahead with that container).
Are you buying one for yourself or for the space? (I have some of the donated funds for the paste dispenser for VHS, so I can buy it for the space and settle the donations when it arrives, my Aliexpress/Alibaba/Alipay account does not have any restrictions)
That is odd … and no free shipping to Canada? One thing you have to note is that the shipping charges are a technique by vendors to get their product listed. What you need to look at is the sum of the item price + the shipping charges.
As far as a dispenser for VHS, I think I’m going to order this one tonight:
It’s cheaper ( by about $20 USD) and the only difference is that it uses an analog control to adjust the dispensing time instead of a digital control. From the documentation that I have found, both the AD982 and the YDL983 have the same accuracy (±0.05%) and same precision ( as low as 0.01 seconds ).
Also note you’ll want to get an air filter for the compressor line ($5 at Summit Tools from memory) and you may find the air coupling on these a little challenging. I took one from another tool and adapted it to the hose.
Finally note these are all 220V units, I converted mine to 110V easily, YMMV. Am happy to help.