Soldering iron plays a big role in your soldering quality. My favourite had been the TS100 for the past few years, but many shops don’t carry it anymore. Recently I found the Sequre SQ-001 and it looks suspiciously similar to the TS100 so I picked one up to check out.
Here’s a list of other tools and gear I use daily.
Table of Contents
Where to Buy?
An updated and better version is available here: Review: HGLRC RC2 68W Portable Soldering Iron
You can get the Sequre SQ001 from the following vendors:
It comes with the these accessories: XT60 power cable, solder iron holder / tip cleaning sponge, spare screws for installing the tip, hex screw key and instruction manual.
SQ-001 = TS100??
I asked Sequre if they are in anyway related to the company that made the TS100, but they denied any relation with the other company. Don’t they just look shockingly similar?
There’s an OLED screen and two buttons for temperature adjustment (100°C-400°C).
Left: TS100, Right SQ-001
Both irons accept 12-24V DC which means you can power the SQ-001 from a LiPo battery, makes it an excellent tool for field repair. When the SQ-001 is powered from 19V, it takes only 15 seconds to reach 300°C.
The tip can be easily swapped out by removing the two small screws.
Next to the input power connector, there’s a micro USB connector for firmware update.
Left: TS100, Right SQ-001
The weights between the two irons are almost identical too:
- TS100 weight: 31.1g
- Q-001 weight: 31.3g
I have used the Sequre SQ-001 for two weeks now, it just feel the same as the TS100, I really can’t tell any major difference between them apart from the shape of the two buttons.
You can even flash the custom firmware made for the TS100, so I guess our question is pretty much answered. Since they are possibly the same iron, just take a look at my original review of the TS100 to learn more about the SQ-001 :)
With that said, after flashing the custom firmware that “unlocks” the maximum temperature of 450°C, I can’t quite get the SQ001 to reach that number. The TS100 can do it, but the SQ-001 only seems to be able to reach 420-425°C even in boost mode, and it just can’t go any higher than that (even if I let it powered on for a while), and I don’t know why that is. But it hasn’t been an issue for me, it still works very well on soldering XT60 to large gauge wires and large copper pads.
Left: SQ-001, Right: TS100
Sequre SQ-001 Better Than TS100?
There are a few reasons why you might prefer getting the SQ-001 over the TS100:
- The SQ-001 is $6 Cheaper
- They let you choose soldering tip
- It comes with an XT60 power cable
I personally prefer the TS-BC2 tip (bevel), I explained why in this post, and what other soldering tools you might wanna get.
Getting a Power Supply
In order to get the most out of the SQ-001 soldering iron, you definitely want a PSU that outputs 24V and ideally 65W or higher. Lower input voltage would work too, but it will heat up slower, and puts out less heat which could in turn affects your soldering quality when working with bigger joints.
- Affordable 19V 65W AC PSU: https://oscarliang.com/product-5tnx
- Versatile option, ToolkitRC P200 Bench PSU: https://oscarliang.com/toolkitrc-p200/
Flash Custom Firmware (Highly Recommended)
I can’t recommend this enough.
It makes your soldering iron a lot easier to use. Menu looks nicer, you can change all the settings in the menu without connecting USB to your computer, and it allows you to use temperature higher than 400°C.
Download firmware here (.hex file): https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS/releases
- Hold down button A and connect USB to computer, screen should say DFU 3.45. If not you should make sure you hold down the button before plugging in USB
- A new USB drive will appear in your computer
- Drag the .hex file into the USB drive
- The soldering iron will disconnect and reconnect
- The file extension of the firmware file should change to either .RDY or .ERR or .NOT
- If it ends with .RDY it means it has successfully updated! Otherwise, something went wrong
Disconnect USB and power up the iron. Enjoy soldering!
8 comments
Hello, I have a SQ 001. I think I had a driver error related to Windows while updating the firmware, and now my device is not working. I can enter the firmware update mode and access the files to update the firmware, but there is nothing on the screen in normal mode. There is no movement when power is applied or in normal USB mode. How can I return this device to factory settings? Or where can I find the old firmware version? I suggest it but it does not seem to be solved that way. If you write your opinion, I would be happy. Thank you.
I have an sq001 . It fried after a couple of solder joint.
If it the same hardware as ts-100, I guess the quality control is not the same.
Hey Oscar, what do you think about the Pinecil v2?
Just saw a review of that today before I read yours.
tomshardware.com/reviews/pinecil-v2
Looks like a rebranded TS100 with a different grip. The specs are also mostly the same, top temperature, wattage, even the tips are compatible.
I’d say get whatever you can find and cheaper. I am still totally happy with the TS100 and still using that on a daily basis.
Last friday I drove over my TS100 with my truck. I dissasembled it and foud that the conector the processor board was still intact. I bought another TS100 and flashed the new firmware (old iron used the same firmware but older version). The new one doen’t reach 450ºC. Swaped the processor and now it reaches 450, so I think the problem is somewhere in the las release of the firmware. I haven’t investigated any further.
Interesting! Indeed my TS100 is using an older firmware (must be 2-3 years old), and my Q-001 is using the latest firmware.
I google for MINIWAER TS100, many vendors selling TS100 and TS80P.
Checkout the Pinecil … $25 and 5 tips for $25. It uses the Ralim custom firmware.
It has the barrel connector but more important USB-C QC2/3 and PD. I find using a QC/PD cell charger much more convenient as I always have one charged up.