Too bad the rating scale tops out at 5 stars, this system rates higher! This is the system the Big Boys use. Check out workbenches at NASA or any major military or aerospace contractor and this is what you'll find. There are two switches-Power and handpiece select. Nothing else is required as the unit self-regulates the tip temperature to the perfect level to flow solder evenly for a perfect joint every time! Recovery time between joints is instantaneous, and there's never a worry of damage to sensitive printed circuitboards. This soldering iron defines idiot-proof (as long as you keep the tip out of your eye!) Simply the best.

Just this week our manager has decided to remove our soldering stations from many if not all of our work areas. What seems to have happened is that we do not have a procedure in place to test the metcals for ESD safety. Thought you may want to call the business and talk to Pete Tuchel, Shop manager of the Seattle Rockwell avionics service center in Kent WA.

In response to the ESD post above, please refer to the attached link that verify's that all OK International soldering & desoldering products meet all of the relevant EOS/ESD specifications. The doccument also includes results from the ESDA third party testing we participated in this past year as well as guidelines for verifying the data with your own tests.

http://www.metcal.com/images/EOS%20ESD%20Technical%20Note%202009.pdf

I hope this helps

I bought the 5041 for hobby purposes expecting it to be a bit of a folly. To my surprise the machine has pretty much earned itself back in a couple of weeks due to the number of repairs I could effortlessly do with it. Ordering this machine without having seen it in real life was a leap of faith - now I can report I have no regrets at all :-)

I didn't give full rating because I find the tweezers to have too much play in the joint to be practical for the smaller SMD components. I'm a hobbyist so I have few qualms with modding the tweezers myself, professional users may want to evaluate the tweezers before buying though.

No contact info on web page
No product user manual
I had to contact my distributor to get a telephone number.
Who ever design this web page should not be paid

In response to the above comment, thank you for your feedback.
We are in the process of adding the MX-5000 User Manual to the site. In addition, a contact page for Metcal locations worldwide will also be available very soon.

Want to buy MX 5051, please send contact details.

Regards

There is no technical support information on this website. It is a very poorly designed website. I think the product is very well designed. I wish I didn't have to navigate through another website just to get customer service help. Please make a link or fix the website to make it more user-friendly, useful, and productive.

Does the unit have internal vacuum pump?
what are the specs of the pump vacuum
(the site is really incomplete-- no contact - very basic details-- MUST improve. A simple picture of the back of the unit could maybe answer my question)