Soldering station blues

[jcoffin1981]

tp4tissue, you had originally gave a thumbs up for the wlc-100.  Besides the actual temp control from this one which I like but may not be necessary, is this worth the extra scratch?

[tp4tissue]

tp4tissue, you had originally gave a thumbs up for the wlc-100.  Besides the actual temp control from this one which I like but may not be necessary, is this worth the extra scratch?

It's the best no-frills station imho..

Make sure u get it from amazon..  they sell counterfeits of this station.



that said,,  the counterfeit probably isn't MUCh worse,  since i mean,,  this isn't exactly high-tech..

[jcoffin1981]

So I bought the Weller WES50 with the analog dial.  I was very tempted to buy a used hakko 936, but it was used of course.  I REALLY like that machine.  Anyways, I hope I made the right choice.  Good ol' Amazon should  have it delivered tomorrow.

The station I was going to repair the short on, it turns out the transformer died- that was the short.

Before I toss out this 937 station with the digital display I wanna see how much power is actually going the front panel to the iron.  Maybe it's being underpowered and this is a transformer issue as well, in which case it's a paperweight. 

I was very tempted to buy this "X-Tronic" machine, but knew nothing about it.  It's a lot smaller and costs 45% less.  Weller is just better known and it seemed like the better product, and made in Germany I think.  I'm pretty sure  the X-tronic is Chinese.  50 dollars isn't bad though, unless it's a piece of junk.  I saw some others I liked too, but they were unknown to me.  Looking at the circuitry in these I can't see why they can't be made half the size that they are.

https://www.amazon.com/X-Tronic-3020-XTS-Digital-Display-Soldering/dp/B01DGZFSNE/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1479344612&sr=8-10&keywords=soldering+station

[dorkvader]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/172389755418 (or similar, wait for a good deal I think I paid $60 for mine)

I used my OKI / metcal PS900 to desolder probably at least 5,000 joints, maybe more. I also used it to solder at least 10 keyboard projects. I have not yet replaced my tip. The "smartheat" attempts to detect the thermal load at the tip and supply power as necessary to try and melt solder at the same amount of time regardless if it's on a ground plane of a KB or some thin trace on a single sided PCB. Theoretically they have different tips with different target temperatures for lead vs lead free, but in practice using one tip for anything is fine. I have also left it on for 24+ hours. Tip is still fine, station is fine, no worries.

I did get a smaller tip and I used it to successfully solder SSOP28 chips (0.65mm pitch) by soldering every pin individually because there was not sufficient room to drag solder it. It's also great for LED holes.

This is an excellent station to learn on and if you do "move on" to a temperature controlled one (I did get a pace MBT250 setup later, though I use the OKI more) a lot of knowledge carries over. Using it is so easy, it's basically cheating.

Oops! Didn't see this:

So I bought the Weller WES50 with the analog dial.  I was very tempted to buy a used hakko 936, but it was used of course.  I REALLY like that machine.  Anyways, I hope I made the right choice.  Good ol' Amazon should  have it delivered tomorrow.

I've used one before, decent kit, especially for the price.

The station I was going to repair the short on, it turns out the transformer died- that was the short.

Before I toss out this 937 station with the digital display I wanna see how much power is actually going the front panel to the iron.  Maybe it's being underpowered and this is a transformer issue as well, in which case it's a paperweight. 

Depends on what happened to it. I'm inclined to believe it's a combination of: decently beefy, but overspecced powersupply that's only moderately well regulated going into wires that are too thin and a heater that's not well designed. That's one reason I never went Hakko:; their heater design isn't very beefy, especially compared with edsyn and especially PACE.

I was very tempted to buy this "X-Tronic" machine, but knew nothing about it.  It's a lot smaller and costs 45% less.  Weller is just better known and it seemed like the better product, and made in Germany I think.  I'm pretty sure  the X-tronic is Chinese.  50 dollars isn't bad though, unless it's a piece of junk.  I saw some others I liked too, but they were unknown to me.  Looking at the circuitry in these I can't see why they can't be made half the size that they are.

https://www.amazon.com/X-Tronic-3020-XTS-Digital-Display-Soldering/dp/B01DGZFSNE/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1479344612&sr=8-10&keywords=soldering+station

I wouldn't risk it.

Oh BTW, Weller is owned by the apex tool group. Looks like some stuff is still made in Germany though:
http://weller.de/en/Weller--Company--Made-in-Germany.html

Not sure about the WES50 though. Even if it's Made in china, at least you know they do proper design and QC which is what matters most in low end stations. (so they don't catch file or blow up on you or whatever)

[jcoffin1981]

So I'm pretty happy with this Weller station.  The infrared thermometer does tend to read less than the actual temperature,  probably because it's a reflective metal. 

I have a multimeter with a ball-point thermocouple.  This is a 20 dollar meter and I did not spend 150 dollars because I'm not an electrician.  I would like to accurately read the tip temp and I was hoping somebody could recommend something.  Do I need a higher quality probe, or do I need a higher quality meter?  Set at 300C I get a reading of 250C to 350C and yes, the mean temp seems to correlate, but I would like to do this more accurately. 

[tp4tissue]

So I'm pretty happy with this Weller station.  The infrared thermometer does tend to read less than the actual temperature,  probably because it's a reflective metal. 

I have a multimeter with a ball-point thermocouple.  This is a 20 dollar meter and I did not spend 150 dollars because I'm not an electrician.  I would like to accurately read the tip temp and I was hoping somebody could recommend something.  Do I need a higher quality probe, or do I need a higher quality meter?  Set at 300C I get a reading of 250C to 350C and yes, the mean temp seems to correlate, but I would like to do this more accurately. 

Precise soldering temp doesn't matter

because you < as a human > have almost no control over total soldering time.


So a little more or a little less would make little difference in the long run, because we are incapable of making that precise delivery of soldering heat and time

[jcoffin1981]

Well, I've had such poor luck with this that I'm almost obscessed with set temp vs. actual tip temp.  I would like to know so I'll do a  little more research in these thermocouple thermometers, but at least I have some confidence in a piece of equipment that works as intended.  I don't have to set it to 425 degrees to melt a little mound of leaded solder. 

Hakko seems to be regarded as the better brand as of late, but I like the way the knob feels, the sturdiness of the station, how fast it  heats up, and the feel of the iron in the hand (the Weller).  Big difference.  These cheapo stations may have less thermal capacity, but I do expect them to perform for  these little jobs which they do not always seem to do.

[Parak]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/172389755418 (or similar, wait for a good deal I think I paid $60 for mine)

I've linked http://www.ebay.com/itm/332031771102 a few times on great finds too, but nobody seems to care to get these stations at a fraction of the retail - just go for the popular option instead even when it's far worse

Also hi.

[jcoffin1981]

I'm sure that if one of these workhorses operated great for the last 10 or 15 years they will continue to do so for another 10 years.  However I don't know much about these older models and don't know if replacement parts are easy to get.  Therefore I bought something new thats generally accepted to be a good buy.

[Parak]

I'm sure that if one of these workhorses operated great for the last 10 or 15 years they will continue to do so for another 10 years.  However I don't know much about these older models and don't know if replacement parts are easy to get.  Therefore I bought something new thats generally accepted to be a good buy.

It's actually a very current model, and is relatively newer than the wes*51 weller. The listing refers to the power supply model number only, plus Oki/Metcal just rebranded it recently, but it's entirely the same. Tips are widely available for about $10 per, and last about forever.

http://www.okinternational.com/hand-soldering-systems/id-MFR-2210/Dual_Output_Soldering__Rework_System_-_Cartridge_Hand-piece
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C6AQE2U

On the other hand, I did recently convince someone in IRC to get a metcal station instead of something else, and now he has a full on obsession with soldering equipment because of it. Quality tools are addicting

[jcoffin1981]

I'm sure that if one of these workhorses operated great for the last 10 or 15 years they will continue to do so for another 10 years.  However I don't know much about these older models and don't know if replacement parts are easy to get.  Therefore I bought something new thats generally accepted to be a good buy.

It's actually a very current model, and is relatively newer than the wes*51 weller. The listing refers to the power supply model number only, plus Oki/Metcal just rebranded it recently, but it's entirely the same. Tips are widely available for about $10 per, and last about forever.

http://www.okinternational.com/hand-soldering-systems/id-MFR-2210/Dual_Output_Soldering__Rework_System_-_Cartridge_Hand-piece
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C6AQE2U

On the other hand, I did recently convince someone in IRC to get a metcal station instead of something else, and now he has a full on obsession with soldering equipment because of it. Quality tools are addicting

I do wish I took more time and got one of these older but higher quality models, however I am very happy with this one.  I was also worried about worn parts or a seller not being completely honest about defect and have the whole hassle of getting replacements or sending it back. 

I buy watchmaking tools and you can usually buy vintage tools for considerably less than new ones and they are of much better quality.  For example I purchased a demagnetizer for about 70 dollars.  I did find the model is still in production today and goes for about 270.  You can buy inexpensive Chinese made ones but they are of poor quality.  I have probably 10 or 12 other examples but I won't bore everybody.