just recived a pace sensatemp st55 and now got a jbc 2200 advance what to keep

[angellonewolf]

hi and thanks for looking and any help

i have bought a pace st 55 second user iron and want any help on using it with how to look after it

the tip on the unit is in very good condition very clean and bright and seams a trounces my pen and plug soldering irons i have used it for a few mins to test solder and then cleaned and put away so i can get some help on keeping it in good condition

any instructions on what and how to do before and during and once finished soldering would be great

thanks angel

ps i do not know if its a ps 70 or ps 90 pen with the unit if anyone can tell me how to find out that would be great as well
and can you get tips for them now or can i use ps80 tips ??

[angellonewolf]

sorry should say that sometimes the unit is not used for a long period of time should i coat the tip in a small amount of grease to stop the tip from the air when not used for a time ?
 

[quint]

I'm pretty sure the ps70, ps80 and ps90 all use the same tips which are available from most online electronics retailers and also on ebay.  There are a lot of different styles.  If you want some instructions on how to use the PS series irons, you might want to watch the Pace videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/paceworldwide?feature=watch
Don't put any grease or any foreign material on your tips.  Just tin them with solder before turning off the iron.

[angellonewolf]

how sure are you that the ps80 fit as well as i can see quite a few of these for sale

[quint]

how sure are you that the ps80 fit as well as i can see quite a few of these for sale

Just checked the Pace website.  The current PS-90 tips are listed as fitting  PS-90, PS-80, SP-2, and IR-70 irons.  I believe that pretty much covers all the irons that they have have made for quite awhile, except for the newer TD-100 series which takes a different. cartridge style, tip. 
The tips for the PS-80, etc irons are 3/16" in diameter and on the order of 2 inches or so long.  They fit into a hole in the end of the iron and are held in with a setscrew.  If your iron is like that then the PS-80 series tips will work fine.  It seems very likely that you have such an iron since they are what Pace made (and still makes in the PS-90 series) for many years.  And by the way, you can change these tips without turning the iron off.  Pace makes a special tool, but a screwdriver and a pair of tweezers works fine as well.  Just loosen the setscrew, pull out the tip with some tweezers, drop the new tip in and retighten.  Much faster than the irons with a ceramic heater where you have to take things apart to change tips.
If you need documentation, you can check the Pace website (Paceworldwide.com).  And, in my experience, their customer service is very good, even for older products.  I've generally gotten an answer via email within hours of asking.
One other thing which is a bit confusing regarding Pace soldering equipment:  They make two different control units:  Sensatemp and Intelliheat.  Most of the older equipment is Sensatemp and has a black plug.  The Intelliheat irons have a blue plug.  Intelliheat control units are a newer design and can drive Sensatemp irons although they need an adapter to change the plug pinout.  You can find irons of both types but almost all of the surplus equipment for sale is the older Sensatemp design (which is also still produced new I believe).
HTH

[angellonewolf]

thanks for your time on this i might go and buy myself a few tips as the on thats on there at the moment is poss a bit big for some of the stuff i will need to do

again thanks angel

[angellonewolf]

i have been a been a bit greedy i have now got a

pace sensatemp st55 and a mate was selling a jbc advance 2200

now i am a quandary what one to keep

the tips for the jbc are more expensive and harder to get but the iron heats up in 2 seconds wow!!!!!but the temp only goes up to 350p

the pace sensatemp takes 30-50 secs to heat up but the tips are cheaper and easier to get

whats your ideas on what one ?

[mamalala]

Work with both for a while. I'm sure you will find the JBC to be better. The control loop is much tighter, since heater and sensor are the same or very close together with the tip. That means it will have a much faster thermal recovery. That is, when you use a fine tip and want to solder something connected to a big copper plane/pour, you will have little to no problem with that.

Greetings,

Chris

[angellonewolf]

is the temp going to be a problem

eg when desoldering with wick will i need the higher temps

thanks for the help angel

[mamalala]

is the temp going to be a problem

eg when desoldering with wick will i need the higher temps

thanks for the help angel

Well, that's the thing. The short answer is: no, you do not need a higher temperature. However, that is only one part of the issue.

Solder melts at a specific temperature. It doesn't care if it is on a tiny solder pad, a huge copper plane, or whatever. The problem is the thermal recovery of the soldering tool. The classic  construction is a heater plus a sensor combination, into (or onto) which you put the actual tip. The first problem with this is that the sensor does not measure the tip temp but the heater temp. The next problem is that you have a rather large thermal mass between heater and tip. Plus, you have a thermal resistance between the tip and the heater, since they are two separate units.

Now imagine you put the tip onto a heavy copper plane or something else that conducts heat quite well. The tip itself will cool down because the heat is transfered away. However, it takes some while (due to the thermal mass) until the "other end" of the tip also cools down. It takes even more time until the actual heater cools down and the sensor notices it. By the time the sensor registers the change, the tip itself has cooled below the melting point of the solder.

In a system like the JBC or the Metcal units, the heater and tip is basically one single, small unit. They keep the tip temperature much more constant under heavy thermal load changes. Sure, you can crank up the temperature, but then you "overheat" the solder joint at the first contact, and also once the stuff you solder has heated up. Not to mention that you have to dial down the temp again if your next solder joints are small. In the end you are constantly fiddling around with the temp setting, or risk overheating the parts.

So, yes, you can use a classic construction as well by simply turning up the heat, but it has its drawbacks. It is much preferred to have the actual tip temperature kept constant even when the thermal load has big changes, which is what the JBC would do much better.

Greetings,

Chris

[nanofrog]

the tips for the jbc are more expensive and harder to get but the iron heats up in 2 seconds wow!!!!!but the temp only goes up to 350p

The JBC Advance 2200 has a temp range of 100 - 371C, +/- 5C (212 - 700F, +/- 9F), and rated for 55W.

Plenty for leaded alloys.  Might not be ideal for lead free, but better to avoid that stuff for home projects IMHO.

is the temp going to be a problem

eg when desoldering with wick will i need the higher temps

Actually, no.

As mamalala has explained, the heating technology in the JBC can keep pouring heat in faster (aka recovery time;  smaller = wonderful thing) and with greater control than the Pace (less chance of overshoot).

If you look, there's a video floating around on youtube that shows a JBC iron dipped in a glass of water, and it boils. Most irons can't do this, even well regarded brands and models.

[angellonewolf]

most of the things i work on are laptops power jacks and newer stuff eg TVs computer motherboards and most of this stuff are going to be using non leaded solder or i assume they all have to now

 

[angellonewolf]

and can i say thanks for the help have noted it seams to work better with jbc when soldering a board i might have to say to my other half i will sell one and keep it at work for a while be for sneaking it back in again lol

i dont think i can make a choice on what to keep and you know that thing where you clear out those pics of wood in a corner because you haven't used them for any thing for years and you are fed up of seeing the mess you throw them out and the next day you need some thing to stir some paint

i know i will regret picking one and letting the other go

[angellonewolf]

is there any disavantage of the way the jbc is heating the tips apart from the cost of the replacment tips as looking around any tips are a high price compaired to just the pace

i have got one pace tip that has a wiggle of metal that goes in to the heater what does this do

[nanofrog]

is there any disavantage of the way the jbc is heating the tips apart from the cost of the replacment tips...

None.

Because it's part of the tip, it does drive up the costs. But the compromise is much better performance (recovery) and tighter temperature control.