SDG #366 Geeboon C470 380W finally tops Metcal power!

The Geeboon C470 station (badged TC20B) is built around one idea: shove as much power as possible into JBC-style cartridges. Rated at 380W, it accepts both C245 and C470 tips through a standard T245-style handpiece, and the kit arrives with a cradle, sleep-detect lead and a pair of Geeboon-branded C470 cartridges with enormous thermal mass at the working end.

The teardown explains where the power comes from. Rather than one large supply, there are two apparently identical 24V modules, and a relay on the front panel board switches them into series to produce a 48V rail for the big C470 cartridges. Switching is handled by a single high-current MOSFET with only a token thermal pad against the chassis, and because the heater is driven from DC there is no zero-crossing switching to keep dissipation down. Earthing is the weak point: the chassis is poorly bonded and the cartridge earth passes through a 1 ohm resistor, so an extra earth wire was added during the review.

On the firmware side there is more control than usual, including adjustable peak power, PID access, sleep modes based on cradle, power profile or vibration, and a real-time power graph that immediately exposes some loop oscillation worth tuning. Tip temperature measured within a couple of degrees of setpoint without much fiddling.

Performance is the headline. Four-layer PCBs and 25mm squared meter tails were trivial, and on solid copper busbar the Geeboon pulled ahead of a Metcal with a high power delivery tip. For roughly the price of a mid-range station this is exceptional raw thermal grunt, provided you can catch it in stock and accept the safety shortcuts.