Weller WSP-80 soldering iron... from ebay

[geir]

Hi!

I've got my hands on an old Weller WSD-130 soldering station with a Weller hot plate thing, but no irons.

Since I'm a cheap bastard (and relatively low on funds) I bought a new WSP-80 soldering iron for $69 off ebay.
The box it came in look really-really legit, and the manual seems to be a properly printed manual on proper paper and all, and not just some photocopy ripoff.
But, of course, the stupid iron does not seem to work (yeah-yeah, shut up!
I plug it in, but nothing happens as the soldering station completely ignores it's existence.

Measuring the resistance of the iron, between pin 3 and 4 (which should be the temperature sensor thing if I got it right) at room temperature, I get a reading of about 168kiloohm, which seems very high to me if this value is supposed to be fine-tuning the temperature.

Can someone with a clue and/or some knowledge of weller stuff tell me if this resistance is way off or not, or point me at some documentation?
I somehow (want to) doubt it's the WSD-130 soldering station, since it heats the hot plate thing just fine, and outputs a sane temperature...

(And, what is the hot plate thing supposed to be used for anyway? Boiling coffee?)

Thanks!
Geir

[Deathwish]

http://docs-europe.electrocomponents.com/webdocs/002c/0900766b8002c528.pdf

[Deathwish]

reason for two posts is my lappy is messing bout but also that the iron you spoke of for some reason on rs web site is attached to this station !. So with both manuals that have schematics maybe it will help you ?

http://docs-europe.electrocomponents.com/webdocs/09da/0900766b809da9ec.pdf

[geir]

Thank you!

I found a couple of other PDFs like those, but they were not as complete.

At least now I know the assumed sensor pins (3 and 4) of the WSP 80 were correct (and that my hot plate is a "WHP 80 Pre-heating plate").

I also found another web page (www.diyaudio.com/forums/blogs/googlyone/1160-diy-weller-wsp80-wp80-soldering-station.html)
stating: "The room temperature resistance of this is about 22 Ohms."
So 680kohm seems way off!

Hrmph! Guess I have to contact the ebay seller and ask whatsup with that and see how that pans out.

Thanks again!

Geir

[Neverther]

You measured the "sensor 1" in the pdf attached above (ntc/ptc)? There is also "sensor 2" which from the symbol looks like thermocouple.
I can check my wsp80 monday evening if no one other answers first.

And you tried the iron in the same port as the hotplate and it was not turned off? Quick read on the manual tells the channels can be forced off with button combinations.

[nanofrog]

I'm getting 22 ohm at room temp on mine as well.

[geir]

You measured the "sensor 1" in the pdf attached above (ntc/ptc)? There is also "sensor 2" which from the symbol looks like thermocouple.
I can check my wsp80 monday evening if no one other answers first.

And you tried the iron in the same port as the hotplate and it was not turned off? Quick read on the manual tells the channels can be forced off with button combinations.

Thanks! Yes, tried using the same port. (Actually, tried both, and hotplate was fine on both, and station did not acknowledge the iron on either)
I also found the "off" feature described (pressing up and down at the same time, nifty), however the station explicitly says "off" when it is off.

The "sensor 2" thing in the schematics is beyond me, but I finally figured out how to non-desctructively open the iron (prying loose the inner plastic washer), and the pins 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are connected on the iron. (The hot-plate has the same pin configuration, except it has no "ground" connection.)

If I got the schematics right, pins 1 and 2 is for the heater, and it measures fairly steady at around 6.9-7.0ohm.
Pins 3 and 4 is roughly 680kohm. Pin 5 is for ground or somesuch, and measures about 0.5ohm to the tip.

I tried hot-air-gunning the solder iron tip a little. Oddly, after a while the resistance started jumping back and forth in the 30ohm to the 160kohm range.
Plugging it into the station while it was still hot, the station frantically displayed anything between --- to 500 celsius, and anythng in between, so it seems a little broken.

I'm getting 22 ohm at room temp on mine as well.

Thanks! Yes, that's what I was afraid of.\\

I suppose it could have been damaged in transport.
I'll fire off a message to the ebay-seller now. If I have to send it back, I fear the postage to china will be absolute horrors.

So much for being a cheap-ass!

Geir