WES51 temperature control failed on the first day; is this normal?

[jaapweel]

I bought a Weller WES51 Soldering Station at my local Fry's recently. This is their cheapest temperature-controlled model comparable in price and quality (or so I'd been led to believe) to the Hakko FX-888. (Indeed I hesitated for a long time between the two, which are obviously both popular at Fry's since they are some of the very few electronics-related items they actually bother to keep in stock. In the end bought the Weller mostly because I used them as a student and I remember them always working fine. Also, the Hakko is ugly.)



Unfortunately, the temperature control failed after only a few hours of use. You see, this thing comes with an LED which lights up whenever it is heating the iron. If you twist the knob back and forth, you'll find the position where the LED goes from on to off is the current temperature of the iron. I experimented with this some and it seemed to work just fine.

After an hour or two, though, all of a sudden, the temperature control mechanism went out. if you turned the knob all the way down it would usually stop heating, and if you turned the knob all the way up it might start heating (and turn on the LED), but that was about all the determinism left. I continued soldering for a little while, but the only states I could get the iron to stay in for more than a minute were room temperature and hot enough that if I tried to tin a wire with say 10mm exposed copper, the PVC insulation would retract several millimeters simply from the heat conducted through the wire.

I tried measuring the resistances the manual has you measure, but the manual had me measuring a pin that wasn't actually in the connector, so that was no good...

I looked around on the net and determined that everybody who's ever had problems with these (usually after years of use) has had the problem in the actual iron, not the base station. Apparently the temperature sensor can fail in some way; I couldn't find anything too specific, but I read some conjectures about wiring either breaking or shorting out. While I had an easy enough time opening up and understanding the base station, I couldn't find any way to take the iron apart, let alone fix it. Weller sells the iron for about half the price of the base/iron/stand combo (they call it a "soldering pencil"), so I ordered a new one and it works fine. I probably should have gone back to Fry's and tried to claim warranty, but what can I say, I'm lazy.

So now I have two questions:

• Is there any way to fix the broken iron? I have a new one now, but it would be at least interesting to fix, and good to have a spare.
• Is this common? Is it possible that I mistreated the soldering iron in some way as to cause this? Is Weller's quality control not what it used to be?

[M. András]

simply send it back to the shop and replace within warranty period

[amyk]

The handle itself isn't serviceable? Really?

Should've gotten the Hakko

If you don't like how it looks you can get a 936-style clone. They all have easily serviceable handles and parts are cheap.

[nanofrog]

If it were me, I'd take it back to Fry's, and get the Hakko.

Weller's QC has taken a rather serious turn for the worse since Cooper acquired them and shifted the COO from the US (Mexico on that unit, but even the "German" stuff isn't that great either <boards appear to be an obscure asian company, with the iron and final assembly done in Germany>). I've been lucky so far, but I'm concerned about mine in regard to long term use (WD1001 & added a WP80 iron).

amyk, unfortunately, none of Weller's irons are user serviceable now. If it goes, the user has to purchase a new one.

[saturation]

Weller is not what they used to be, I'd avoid them when possible.

WES51 and WESD51 are such old technology, it remains a good buy for this made-in-Mexico item, and IMHO, only if you can't buy a Hakko FX888, sometimes Hakko cost 1.5-2x more than the best prices for USA buyers.

Once replaced and working, Weller units are unlikely to fail again but nevertheless there is a lot of warranty still left.  Having 2 irons of the same wattage isn't necessary unless you solder so much you need to switch heads and can't wait for the iron to cool down.

I checked Amazon, and there are new reports of irate owners, c 2012 purchases; erratic and nonfunctioning units.  OTAH, for the same period for Hakko 888, its 100% 4-5 stars, ne'er a defect or major complaint since its release.

The WES51 iron can be repaired, the wear tear item is the heater unit for the PES51, the PES201.  The heating element alone cost nearly as much as the iron, and not easy to find, ~$40.





Its a PITA to do, because you have to carefully pull out the heater tube.  The instructions are not included, but are in prior model c1999 or earlier, USA made PES50.  The manual suggests the procedure of screwing the bolt on the old heater once you remove the barrel sleeve, hold the iron in a table vise, and "wiggle" the unit out of the handle. 

http://www.rccoh.com/rc.how-to/change.weller.soldering.tips.html


This is in stark contrast to the build quality, easy DIY serviceability and parts of Hakko.  If I purchased retail from Frys in the USA, the easiest solution would be to exchange the whole kit for the FX888, that would be the best way to repair this Weller; per the Fry website today, the 888 is even cheaper than the WES51.

Not only are all the parts easily available from Hakko, the factory shop has everything to build it from pieces, and is much easier to do DIY.

http://www.hakkousa.com/detail.asp?CID=49&PID=4800&Page=6
 
By comparison, the only wear-tear item is the heater unit which is $20, delivered.  Don't lose the FX888 iron though, because to replace it cost as much as a whole new FX888, i.e., about $75-80.

So now I have two questions:

• Is there any way to fix the broken iron? I have a new one now, but it would be at least interesting to fix, and good to have a spare.
• Is this common? Is it possible that I mistreated the soldering iron in some way as to cause this? Is Weller's quality control not what it used to be?

[IanB]

I bought a Weller WES51 Soldering Station at my local Fry's recently. This is their cheapest temperature-controlled model comparable in price and quality (or so I'd been led to believe) to the Hakko FX-888. (Indeed I hesitated for a long time between the two, which are obviously both popular at Fry's since they are some of the very few electronics-related items they actually bother to keep in stock. In the end bought the Weller mostly because I used them as a student and I remember them always working fine. Also, the Hakko is ugly.)

The Hakko is not exactly ugly, it is Kawaii 

However, the choice between the Weller and the Hakko should be a no-brainer. The Hakko is just leaps and bounds ahead. It is a really excellent piece of industrial design that does everything right.

[T4P]

I bought a Weller WES51 Soldering Station at my local Fry's recently. This is their cheapest temperature-controlled model comparable in price and quality (or so I'd been led to believe) to the Hakko FX-888. (Indeed I hesitated for a long time between the two, which are obviously both popular at Fry's since they are some of the very few electronics-related items they actually bother to keep in stock. In the end bought the Weller mostly because I used them as a student and I remember them always working fine. Also, the Hakko is ugly.)

The Hakko is not exactly ugly, it is Kawaii.

However, the choice between the Weller and the Hakko should be a no-brainer. The Hakko is just leaps and bounds ahead. It is a really excellent piece of industrial design that does everything right.

Oh man how i lust over the FX-888 till today ... if not for financial issues

[saturation]

Thanks for that,  Japanese culture take cuteness to a whole new level.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawaii

The Hakko is not exactly ugly, it is Kawaii 

However, the choice between the Weller and the Hakko should be a no-brainer. The Hakko is just leaps and bounds ahead. It is a really excellent piece of industrial design that does everything right.

[amyk]

It also says a lot that a whole Chinese gray market "cottage industry" sort of thing has grown around the Hakko 936 and its clones, while the WES51 hasn't had anywhere near that sort of "flattery". People also have built really unusual controllers for their irons.

[T4P]

It also says a lot that a whole Chinese gray market "cottage industry" sort of thing has grown around the Hakko 936 and its clones, while the WES51 hasn't had anywhere near that sort of "flattery". People also have built really unusual controllers for their irons.

Zhongdi ... usually rebadged as Duratool by Farnell

That controller is usually what they bundle with the iron as the http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=9936&catId=0&manual=y

As well as seeing weird soldering iron controllers on instructables (As well as using a variac or a triac dimmer ...)
as well as http://www.electronics-lab.com/blog/?tag=soldering

[Waifian]

Are you aware of the lock out feature of this iron? If not, could you have locked out the temperature control accidentally? There is a reed switch under the ESD symbol that locks the current temperature so you may not adjust it.

[jaapweel]

As for the lockout feature: yes, I'm aware, that wasn't it.

As for everyone's advice and interesting information: thanks!