Author Topic: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review  (Read 37739 times)

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Offline TheAmmoniacal

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #25 on: August 16, 2018, 01:12:05 pm »
U guys mention the QC protocoll. Is it really needed with communication for this iron? What i can see in the video Dave only connects it to a bench power supply and it powers up without any communication?

Have i missed something.

Any way I have ordered one without power supply. Thinking of connecting it to a smaller LIPO pack with apropriate boost controller.

I know there are ones to buy but i already have some LIPO packs laying around.

The TS80 is powered from USB using Qualcomm's Quick Charge (QC) 2.0 (and up) fast-charging standard (9V @ 2A). You need a USB powerbank or a USB charger which is QC capable. Trying to power it from anything else will be difficult! If you want to use a LiPo pack you should look at the TS100 instead - Dave will upload a review of this very soon.
 

Offline thm_w

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #26 on: August 17, 2018, 12:28:39 am »
Can you test if the TS80 is ESD "safe" without the strap? Any mains leakage to earth through the tip?

Pretty sure I've killed some components with the TS100 because of it.

It should be the same as the TS100, if you do not have a grounded output supply or grounding strap, you can get leakage current through the isolated supply. There is really no way around needing to use the grounding point.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/mini-ts100-soldering-iron-and-current-leakage/25/

Using a USB power bank should make it safer, but any sort of AC USB power adapter is probably going to be isolated, having only a 2 prong plug.

That is definitely a trap.. they should include the grounding strap by default.
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Offline newbadboy

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #27 on: August 17, 2018, 01:26:17 pm »
Well anyway it starts up with 5V and tells the voltage is to low. Ill test if  it will  do something more with 9V. There must be some kind of IC that emulates the handshake that can be bought of the shelf....
 

Offline ckambiselis

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #28 on: August 22, 2018, 02:29:21 pm »
@Dave I'm going to make the question here too, since the new video post is all about the fanboy:ing etc and maybe you didn't see my question, could you measure or take a photo of the tip next to a ruler, I have access to a Weller micropencil that uses the RT tips and would like to know if the tip could actually fit by unscrewing the barrel part from the TS80 *(or maybe cutting it shorter), I measured the RT tips to be about 14mm from the root of the 3.5mm jack to the fingerguard/handle and about 6-7mm thick. also from google I can see people have found that the pinout of the RT tip is, tip of the jack is the heater +, the middle is one of the thermistor and the base is the common ground.

Thanks Oscar
 

Offline Myklis

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #29 on: August 23, 2018, 06:10:47 pm »
Tested on Google pixel 18w USB-C PD only charger
 
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Offline ckambiselis

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #30 on: August 24, 2018, 08:24:41 pm »
Tested on Google pixel 18w USB-C PD only charger

Have you done any changes to the firmware or is it stock?
 

Offline sintax69

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #31 on: August 25, 2018, 12:30:49 am »
Got my self one of these little irons in the post yesterday having issue powering it I can only get it to boot into 5V low power mode which after a 30sec it shuts down
I did not get the white wall wart with it but I have tied 4 sepreate usb C supplys

1.Nitendeo swtich USB C charger
2.Lenova Yoga USB charge
3.Chiniese 45W USB C charger
4.Anker IQ battery bank

I have also tried multiple USB C cables with no luck has any one had this same issues with these iron ???
 

Offline joric

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #32 on: August 29, 2018, 11:40:02 pm »
Someone please confirm or deny the Weller RT tips compatibility already. Really wondering if those tips are compatible.

Upd: I totally forgot Marco Reps has measured the TS80 tip in his video (5:50) and it's doesn't seem to match Weller-RT pinout.

Upd: soldering tax, inside of the ts80 power supply (from reddit). That's some quality Ben Heck soldering job right here:

« Last Edit: September 24, 2018, 12:15:15 am by joric »
 

Offline joric

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #33 on: September 21, 2018, 10:16:36 pm »
Got TS80 today. Doesn't even turn on with Xiaomi 65W Type-C/Type-C PD Laptop adapter (CDQ07ZM), so beware. Works well with various cheap QC3.0 adapters though (namely ORICO QTW-1U and its own DNQ18U-U). Looking for 65W PSU that supports both laptops and this iron, tell me if you know one.

https://youtu.be/xc-yIq0m54o
« Last Edit: September 21, 2018, 11:50:52 pm by joric »
 

Offline joric

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #34 on: September 24, 2018, 02:24:04 pm »
Community firmware and stock firmware 1.06 are available now.
Ralim TS80 alpha firmware (TS80.hex): https://goo.gl/tHhDyD
Stock firmware (TS80.V1.06.hex) here: https://goo.gl/MeiBns
See https://github.com/Ralim/ts100/issues/349

Upd: official firmware released http://www.minidso.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=3208

« Last Edit: September 25, 2018, 06:57:16 am by joric »
 

Offline Romain

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #35 on: October 02, 2018, 10:17:41 am »
The TS80 is NOT USB-PD compliant (the CC pins required on the USB-C connector for Power Delivery are not even connected).
Instead it is only QC 2.0 or 3.0 compatible.

Talking of which, I couldn't find a list of compatible power banks for the TS80. Some have auto-turn off features that make them unusable with the TS80.
You can find some info here about power banks, and custom firmwares:
https://github.com/Ralim/ts100/issues/349

My grain of salt: I just bought myself an Anker PowerCore Speed 20000 link which seems to work pretty well with the TS80. It has an auto-turn off of 2 minutes when the soldering iron is not heating (I think this is acceptable) and it supports QC3.0 in and out.
The only downside is that it doesn't support power pass-through (you cannot charge anything while the power bank is charging).

During my research I found the Xiaomi MI 2 quite interesting as it also does Quick Charge two ways (in and out) and also has a mode for low current devices (like a fitbit or stuff like that) to keep the output enabled for 2 hours. Pretty neat! I haven't bought it, so comments are welcomed  :-+
« Last Edit: October 02, 2018, 10:20:00 am by Romain »
 

Offline joric

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #36 on: October 02, 2018, 12:55:39 pm »
Didn't trace, but CC pins might be connected through vias. I guess PD still requires a few more hardware components even with software bitbanging.

My QC3 powerbank (that works) is 10000mAh Mi Power Bank Pro (PLM03ZM). Can be charged by PD but doesn't have PD output (Type-C is input only):
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Xiaomi-Mi-Powerbank-PRO-10000mAh-Power-Bank-External-Battery-Type-C-Portable-Bateria-Externa-Portable/32802457619.html

There are power adapters that support both standards (and have both connectors), e.g. this one:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SIV-29W-PD-QC-3-0-Type-C-USB-2-4A-Travel-Charger-Power-Adapter-For/32879973269.html

You'd need A-C cable anyway. TS80 doesn't work with C-C cable even in DFU mode. Generally everything C-C is PD, everything A-C is QC.
« Last Edit: October 06, 2018, 06:28:24 am by joric »
 

Offline oh2hyt

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #37 on: October 13, 2018, 04:47:29 pm »
I received mine from Banggood couple days ago. Notes:

It shipped with FW 1.06

Supplied chisel tip is 2.5mm wide. I like to get 1.6mm or 2.0mm variant in future.

About 59mm between tip end and iron body.

Supplied USB-C USB-A cable doesn't have shield connected between connectors. Total resistance (including connectors) seem to be about 220mOhm. And yes, it is very flexible cable.

TS80 can be powered with laboratory powersupply outputing 9-10.4V (depends on resistance of heater element). This voltage range to stay within 24W as I have no idea how high power the heating element can survive. Iron's input voltage determines used power as heating element is just which on/off (pwm or pfm? - I haven't checked which one with scope) without voltage conversions. The Power setting in Iron's setup menu sets voltage it will request from QC 3.0 charger. (QC3.0 allows voltage requests in 200mV steps). So: Iron doesn't mind if input voltage is continuously 9V and doesn't drop to 5V while in stand by. Resistance of my heating element has measured 4.61 - 4.66ohm (power on TS80 and long press left button while in "start menu" and Iron will measure resistance).

I am using Blitzwolf BW-S5 USB-A QC3.0 charger. With 24W setting TS80 takes about 10.26V (powersupply end of cable) and about 2.2A max while heating, varying between 21-23W from my BW-S5. This heats tip 24C -> 300C in 14-16s. [Edit: corrected 320C to 300C] This charger increases voltage to compensate cable loss, so output is 10.14V at below 0.1A.

Even BW-S5 charger is Qualcomm Certificated, there is some timing or communication issues resulting low voltage error on TS80 screen and requiring rebooting TS80. Sometimes high voltage doesn't start fast enough or low voltage starts too soon. These happen when TS80 tries to transition from 5V to 9V or back to 5V. There is no issues while TS80 is in heating/soldering mode. These issues do not happen with Blitzwolf BW-S9 as psu, but its output voltage measures lower and it is not rated for above 18W power, even it outputs more. TS80 takes about 19-20W at 24W setting when using BW-S9.

After calibration (or should I say alignment?) the 18W power and 320C temperature setting measured 320 +- 1C with Fluke 87V with its supplied K-type probe while only probe touched tip. I didn't do long test, so I don't know how electronics heating up will affect. Test was done just after receiving TS80, so I don't know if power setting or all playing around has changed calibration.

Supplied ground wire is a bit annoying. It is stiff, specially spiral in cable. They should have made supplied usb cable have also shield and connect it to Iron end connector shield and separate it at power supply end to another connector for grouding. I might do my own cable.

I have not tried supplied psu. I didn't bother to search an adapter to plug it in EU socket.
« Last Edit: October 13, 2018, 05:43:54 pm by oh2hyt »
 
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Offline Cheshira

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #38 on: October 16, 2018, 10:55:06 am »
Hi, mates!
Good topic!
I do FPV flights and normally carry lost of 12V and 16V lipo batteries.
I was looking towards buying a TS80 to carry with me to the field, but found out that for field use I'd need a QC 3.0 battery. Which I do not have!
I was wondering if I could prepare an adaptor from Lipo XT60 plug to a USB-A plug and use 12v 3cell battery!

But, from what I see, there is no certain answer! For exabple oh2hyt says, he is not sure how much power the heating element can withstand.
This surprizes me, I thought the electronics of the TS80 could regulate the power to feed to the heating element. No?

Ok, probably the electronics itself can't handle more than 24W of power. Then if I use this regulator from Aliexpress I would be able to limit voltage to 9v and current to 2-2.5A
What do you think?
Sorry if you see dumb question! I am a bit noob  ;D
 

Offline oh2hyt

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #39 on: October 16, 2018, 02:04:35 pm »
What I read from elsewhere, TS80 electronics (I'm not talking about heating element now) will die at about 16V. I have not tested, so don't blame me if it dies at lower voltages.

Normally TS80 will use QC3.0 (or QC2.0) protocol to regulated input voltage ie. maximum power/current to heating element. Also it has software over voltage protection which voltage you can set in menu (maximum setting is 13.0V, I would set it to below 11V). TS80 will shutdown at that voltage, but it won't protect electronics!

this regulator from Aliexpress
That is a constant current driver/regulator. It does not work with TS80. Constant current = output voltage can be (almost) anything to keep set output current.
You would need constant voltage, a voltage regulator, to output 9V converted from your battery voltage.
Also when playing with batteries some battery protection is good to have: a fuse to limit current in case of shortcircuit and a low voltage protection/alarm to not over discharge battery. Usually Lipo-packs do not have these protections build in.

Have you considered TS100? People use it directly from Lipo batteries. I don't have personal experience of it and I'm not sure what input voltage it accepts. Forum search should find topics about that.
 
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Offline alex-sh

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #40 on: December 20, 2018, 05:47:28 am »
I’m using TS80 with a power bank (graphene Apollo USB-C battery I ordered on a kickstarter. Yes it is USB-C PD and it works with the iron) OR LiPo 2S 7.4V XT60 through this BattGo adapter https://www.quadcopters.co.uk/isdt-battgo-bs-8s-smart-lipo-checker
Very universal iron

I would recommend to get an alternative firmware or update the firmware to officia 1.07 (valid as at 20/12/2018)
« Last Edit: December 20, 2018, 05:49:06 am by alex-sh »
 

Offline valery

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #41 on: December 27, 2018, 02:31:18 am »
Maybe someone can help me? There is no circuit yet, but I really need to know the parameters of this capacitor. My TC80 is dead. Help me please.
 

Offline joric

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #42 on: January 27, 2019, 11:58:39 am »
A little bit more info regarding Weller RT tips, from Rossman's TS80 video comments.

I would love to say Louis is wrong on the tips, but he isn't. Weller does have quite similar 3.5mm tips for some of their irons. They are good, reasonably priced and somewhat widely available.... but they don't physically fit in the TS80. I tried, i have such a Weller (WHS M), and recently bought a TS80. I've seen someone selling TS80-boards without housing advertise with those tips, and now i get why. The charger/powerbank situation is really that you can use other things with what you buy specifically for this, not the other way around.

they don't physically fit even with the grip unscrewed. The threaded bit overhangs a little bit as you know, which would be just about the right amount and provide well-needed mechanical stability. However, the Weller tips are 9mm on the part that would need to fit there, and the TS80 tips are just under 8.5mm. An insignificant difference one would think, but that's quite enough to make them not fit. The inner diameter of the TS80 isn't even 8.6mm.

That pencil mark on the TS80 tip is how far in it needs to be able to go, and where the thickness differs with about 0.5mm.



« Last Edit: January 27, 2019, 12:32:36 pm by joric »
 
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Offline joric

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #43 on: January 29, 2019, 11:10:00 pm »
Tested on Google pixel 18w USB-C PD only charger
What the hell really? I swear there's no PD protocol support in TS80. Either the charger is not PD-only (which is kind of unusual, I've never heard of QC+PD combo with a single C-C cable) or "tested" means TS80 doesn't work with this charger.

Upd
There ARE QC/PD Type-C (QC4.0) combo chargers as figures, but not for the pixel. It's pretty hefty, 75W:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07BVDDW6J/
https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Delivery-Station-MacBook-Android/dp/B07CG7SY5Q/

« Last Edit: January 30, 2019, 12:02:32 am by joric »
 

Offline creet6

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #44 on: February 04, 2019, 11:28:17 pm »
check these out:
https://hanpenblog.com/8405/
https://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/review-xiaomi-45w-usb-c-power-adapter-review-i-still-cant-believe-thing-only-costs-s20
the xiaomi works with multiple phones that support qc3.0/2.0
In theory it should work with the ts80 too. You used the usb c cable that came with the charger, which is "unmarked"(no E-marker). The charger doesn't output voltage when nothing is connection conforming to usb pd standards. So maybe the charger just think nothing is connected so using a different cable would work? can anyone test this?
 

Offline creet6

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #45 on: February 04, 2019, 11:32:04 pm »
 

Offline creet6

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #46 on: February 12, 2019, 07:16:39 pm »
can confirm now using a usb c to usb a adapter on the power supply, and using a usb a to usb c cable, the iron turns on and works at full power with qc3.0 support
 

Offline joric

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #47 on: February 16, 2019, 10:25:01 am »
can confirm now using a usb c to usb a adapter on the power supply, and using a usb a to usb c cable, the iron turns on and works at full power with qc3.0 support
I don't get what's the point? Basically all A-C cables are QC, all C-C cables are PD. You've used C-A adapter + A-C cable? Which power source? Which adapter? Does it just dumb down Type-C to 4 wires electrically without logic conversion?
« Last Edit: February 16, 2019, 10:38:20 am by joric »
 

Offline joric

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #48 on: February 16, 2019, 10:28:33 am »
the xiaomi works with multiple phones that support qc3.0/2.0 In theory it should work with the ts80 too.
I have exactly that Xiaomi PD power unit and it's stock C-C cable and it DOES NOT WORK with TS80, the latter doesn't even turn on.
Xiaomi laptop and Xiaomi phones work though (they even report the quick charging mode somehow, I though it's just PD mode supported by those phones).

This is weird, article lists USB PD 2.0 and QC3.0/2.0 support simultaneously (isn't it supposed to be called QC4?) for the Xiaomi power source but I swear to god, phones work, TS80 DOES NOT. I don't know maybe it needs C-A "adapter" but hell knows which type of "adapter" your're using, there are a lot of those including full blown PD to QC power converters.
« Last Edit: February 16, 2019, 10:45:30 am by joric »
 

Offline oh2hyt

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Re: EEVblog #1114 - NEW TS80 USB Soldering Iron Review
« Reply #49 on: February 18, 2019, 09:54:06 am »
I don't get what's the point? Basically all A-C cables are QC, all C-C cables are PD. You've used C-A adapter + A-C cable? Which power source? Which adapter? Does it just dumb down Type-C to 4 wires electrically without logic conversion?

You can try hack: Add 5.1kohm pulldown resistor between each CC-pin and signal ground in TS80, this should make C-C cable (which follows spec) and C-psu (whic follows spec, but has also QC 2.0 / 3.0) to work. I have not tested.
Edit 2019-02-19: Clarification: Two 5.1kohm resistors, one from CC1-pin to ground and one from CC2-pin to ground. If it didn't come clear from above. And do not connect CC-pins directly to each other. This is a device so it needs resistor from both CC-pins as C-C cable has only one of CC-pins connected between cable ends.

Simplified:
Charger or anything having female USB type-C connector is not allowed to supply voltage on Vusb pins before connecting pulldown resistor(s) to CC-pin(s). C-A (and C-B) cables and adapters have a resistor (only one CC pin, value 5.1kohm pulldown or 56kohm pullup) telling if their type-C male connector of cable/adapter is power sink or source. type-C charger/psu detects this resistor and if there is power sink connected, then starts to supply voltage to Vusb.
(I skipped PD communication via CC-pins, b/c it is not relevant with TS80 or when there is type A or type B connector in game)

There was/is a lot of adapters/cables with wrong resistor or it connected wrongly. These can damage your devices!
« Last Edit: February 19, 2019, 12:32:52 pm by oh2hyt »
 


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