Manual lube intervals are just a starting point for us.

Just walked away from a similar deal once, no regrets later.

Three weeks ago I watched a video from that repair guy in Portland who tests cheap irons against a $200 station and the difference in heat recovery was crazy. The cheap one dropped like 40 degrees the second it touched a ground plane, which explains why I was chasing my tail on every pad. @oliver_torres4, that melted half a board story sounds way too familiar, I lost a whole ribbon cable connector that way. Once I got a proper station with adjustable temp and a decent tip, my success rate went from maybe 50% to 90% overnight. It's not just the heat either, the tip quality matters just as much. Take this with a grain of salt, but I'd say the iron is the single biggest upgrade you can make before anything else.