Pace ADS200 soldering station

[Shock]

Here is an image of the socket, it has a slight indentation to align the oring. When installing the cable back in, I found lowering the barrel vertically down onto the socket (note that it's keyed also) worked well. That way the oring won't fall sideways as you're tightening the end cap.

[thm_w]

In my estimation, claiming a power output of more than 85W for this system as measured would be questionable.  There's the possibility of almost 100W during the on time, but unless it has a mode where it can be on a greater percentage of the time than shown here,  that's not a reasonable way of rating it IMO.  And then there's likely to be some additional losses in the system, but since I can't accurately quantify them I'll give Pace the benefit of the doubt and assume that 100% of the difference between standby and full-on ends up in the tip.

Yes, agree, this confirms again what Dave and SDG saw, as we discussed years ago. Measuring the actual power consumption at the wall is a quick and easy way to see if a manufacturer is cheating the spec (some do, some don't).
Hakko does as well on their resistive heater irons:
- FM2027 70W claimed, peaks at 62W in reality
- FM2023 140W claimed, peak around 60W (its a tiny tweezer tip, 140W would be ridiculous)

As for the reasons behind this, mbless had a DIY design where he had to take 4 cycles off out of 60Hz to get a stable temp reading (~93%?). My speculation was that Pace couldn't get the hardware working to that degree so settled on a dead-time of 70-80% to allow the thermocouple voltage to stabilize. We know it was just the one greybeard working on the firmware, so...

Anyway, for future iron designers, you are better off over-speccing the heater power initially. Use a lower resistance element than needed or higher PSU voltage, and then dial back consumed power to meet the actual spec based on current measurement.

[Shock]

There should be a law for regulating soldering station manufacturers. Everytime a cycle is missed someone at Eevblog is forced to attend thermodynamics class.

[nicbul]

I purchased the ADS200 in the fall of 2018 with 8 tips for daily use in a repair shop.  I've soldered a loooooot of things with this iron and I love it, no regrets.  But, lately my tips seem to be blowing one by one and I've lost three in the past few weeks.  Perhaps it's just their time as they've seen a lot of use.

Has anyone else seen this type of failure recently?  I assume this is normal for a heavily used soldering tip.

[ataradov]

I've got mine about the same time and I only had one tip die - the one I use 99% of the time. There are a couple other I use for high thermal mass soldering, but those don't get a lot of use and seem to be doing fine.

I've got 5 replacement tips and that should last me a while.

[pope]

How do you tell if the tip went bad? Stop heating?

[ataradov]

In my case it stopped heating entirely and the LED displayed the same message as if tip was not inserted.

[Bob_McBob]

I've had my ADS200 since October 2021. So far I'm still using the tips I ordered with it, other than one I had to replace after I caused some kind of internal damage by accidentally yanking on it. The instant setback stand really extends the life of the tips.

[Shock]

It normally reports an error on the station. If the tip is out of the handpiece and cool you could measure across the gold plated contacts to see if you can measure the heater resistance. It has a k type thermocouple in each tip so if your multimeter has a temp function (many support k type) you could try to see if you get an ambient room measurement which would indicate the thermocouple in that specific tip is also functional.

The handpiece connection plug is serviceable if you have pulled on the cord too hard and damaged it (and you have ok soldering skills). If you have opened the handpiece then you may have inadvertently dislodged the oring that seals the tip connection. Which could prevent you from fully inserting the cartridge/tip (till you reseat the oring at least).

[audiotubes]

Thanks to Shock's original thread I got one of these last week. Have not had time to use it, but hopefully this weekend I will.

I looked at JBC, but my email to them from my Czech email provider was blocked by their email provider, so unable to get in touch with them even after several tries.

Ersa Vario 2 looked good but ersa-shop.com ignored my message which was sent through their website. Trying to find a retail dealer with the unit I wanted was an effort in futility. There are millions of configurations.

I got the Pace through Welectron, paid huge money for the ADS200 ISB compared to American prices. It was around 520 euros as opposed to the 390 USD on sale now. Welectron has a good selection of tips so I got a few, only one which I wanted was out of stock. Welectron did not list the bundle which is currently showing on the Pace site. In the end, about 600 euros for the unit with ISB and 3 tips.

[tooki]

FYI, Ersa-shop.com is a reseller, not Ersa itself. Conrad is probably the biggest European reseller that carries the full Ersa line. As far as configurations, that’s what the catalog is for.

Of course, the ADS200 is a good choice too. The only downside in Europe (and the main reason I decided against buying one myself) is that it’s much harder to get Pace products in Europe. Farnell is the only large reseller that carries them, so if they’re sold out, the chances of being able to get, for example, a soldering tip elsewhere quickly is very low.

Weird that welectron didn’t honor the sale price: Pace expressly said that the sale was valid through resellers too, and the Swiss distributor, for example, charged practically the same prices as in USA. Of course, the Swiss and USA prices don’t include sales tax/VAT, while the welectron price includes the 19% German VAT. But nonetheless it looks like they didn’t honor the sale, which was extended until the end of the year IIRC.

[pope]

Welectron had a vey good price on the pace ads200 but it increased the price considerably overnight. At that point it made more sense to buy from Farnell. It was a bit cheaper.

[elektryk]

As for the reasons behind this, mbless had a DIY design where he had to take 4 cycles off out of 60Hz to get a stable temp reading (~93%?). My speculation was that Pace couldn't get the hardware working to that degree so settled on a dead-time of 70-80% to allow the thermocouple voltage to stabilize. We know it was just the one greybeard working on the firmware, so...

Are these tips similiar to T12, so it is just a heater in a series with thermocouple?
Is it even worth to think about DIY if TD200 handle is twice as expensive as genuine T245 handle?

Another curious thing is that both Pace and JBC states that tip calibration is not needed, one option is that genuine tips are each equal quality or they do some tricks in FW.

[Cliff Matthews]

As for the reasons behind this, mbless had a DIY design where he had to take 4 cycles off out of 60Hz to get a stable temp reading (~93%?). My speculation was that Pace couldn't get the hardware working to that degree so settled on a dead-time of 70-80% to allow the thermocouple voltage to stabilize. We know it was just the one greybeard working on the firmware, so...

Are these tips similiar to T12, so it is just a heater in a series with thermocouple?
Is it even worth to think about DIY if TD200 handle is twice as expensive as genuine T245 handle?

Another curious thing is that both Pace and JBC states that tip calibration is not needed, one option is that genuine tips are each equal quality or they do some tricks in FW.

Not the same. Pay more get more. Pace tips are higher power with extra thick iron plaiting that outlasts any T12 or JBC tips. WMMV

[thm_w]

As for the reasons behind this, mbless had a DIY design where he had to take 4 cycles off out of 60Hz to get a stable temp reading (~93%?). My speculation was that Pace couldn't get the hardware working to that degree so settled on a dead-time of 70-80% to allow the thermocouple voltage to stabilize. We know it was just the one greybeard working on the firmware, so...

Are these tips similiar to T12, so it is just a heater in a series with thermocouple?
Is it even worth to think about DIY if TD200 handle is twice as expensive as genuine T245 handle?

Another curious thing is that both Pace and JBC states that tip calibration is not needed, one option is that genuine tips are each equal quality or they do some tricks in FW.

Yes heater in series with thermocouple same as T12: https://hackaday.io/project/94905-hakko-revenge/log/144548-hakko-t12-thermocouple-is-not-type-k
The price of handle and stand is $200, so for low budget DIY its not worth it. If you really want premium aluminum handle over JBC plastic handle, then it might be worth playing around with.

Tip calibration is not needed in the sense that if the tip is idle the temperature will be stable and within a suitable range, yes. Its probably not super difficult to produce thermocouples that have a consistent <5C temperature spec. However, this doesn't mean that under load the end of the tip will have the same temperature, obviously longer and thinner tips will suffer from higher drop.

Not the same. Pay more get more. Pace tips are higher power with extra thick iron plaiting that outlasts any T12 or JBC tips. WMMV

That was not the question being asked. Hakko T15 are $17, Pace tips are $17, JBC C245 are $30.

[elektryk]

Locally this is $200 for TD200 handle and another $200 for stand, where whole ADS200 station is about $500, so DIY project is not a big deal. For $200 there's also TD100 handle with stand, but it has lower power than TD200 if I see correctly.

I've got some T15 tips already, so I'm not really sure if it is worth to change them.

How about handle (over)heating? Is it comparable eg. with FM2028?

[2N3055]

Locally this is $200 for TD200 handle and another $200 for stand, where whole ADS200 station is about $500, so DIY project is not a big deal. For $200 there's also TD100 handle with stand, but it has lower power than TD200 if I see correctly.

I've got some T15 tips already, so I'm not really sure if it is worth to change them.

How about handle (over)heating? Is it comparable eg. with FM2028?

Handle stays dead cold even after hours of work..

[Hydrawerk]

That was not the question being asked. Hakko T15 are $17, Pace tips are $17, JBC C245 are $30.

It depends on the distributor. Proices may vary according to country and distributor. Basic PACE TD-200 series tips are rather cheap, but special shapes are expensive. Prices might be $18.90, $46.60 or even $90.90. I mean US Dollars.

[Hydrawerk]

For $200 there's also TD100 handle with stand, but it has lower power than TD200 if I see correctly.

TD100 handle is dated and there is quite no reason to buy it, unless you have an old PACE ST50 station or so.

[Bob_McBob]

Has anyone noticed their ADS200 humming? I'm not sure if mine used to do it, but I can now hear a low humming the entire time it's turned on, during setback and even after it times out and powers down. I can also hear it pulsing while it's actually heating off setback.

[helius]

Humming is most likely caused by loose laminations of the transformer, caused by its mounting screws getting loose.

[Shock]

Has anyone noticed their ADS200 humming? I'm not sure if mine used to do it, but I can now hear a low humming the entire time it's turned on, during setback and even after it times out and powers down. I can also hear it pulsing while it's actually heating off setback.

Best to contact Pace directly and get advice, may be something simple. There is a couple of mounting points, transformer mounts to the mounting plate and mounting plate mounts to the chassis aside from the transformer itself.

[Shock]

How about handle (over)heating? Is it comparable eg. with FM2028?

I don't use the Hakko FM2028 much but have heard people complain it gets a bit warm and sweaty (despite it having a foam cushion).

The Pace handle is one piece of machined aluminum (according to marketing it's aircraft grade). It's not directly coupled to any metal on the cartridge tip but via the cartridges plastic (nylon?) key. So the handle acts like a large heatsink rather than an insulator (like most plastic handles). There is an ESD safe grip on the outside but it doesn't add any bulk to the handle, unlike the Hakko FM2028 and others. By comparison the Hakko handle feels plastic and flimsy and the snap on sleeve seems totally unnecessary.

I've not noticed any heat or discomfort, you can feel more heat from the front of the tip than through the handle (which is normal on fairly short tip to grip handpieces). Pace says the handle stays around body temp.

[Hydrawerk]

I wonder how long the rubber od the PACE handle will survive. But it should be a good quality rubber.

[Hydrawerk]

Has anyone noticed their ADS200 humming?

I can hear a quiet humming when I put my ear on the ADS2000. It is a normal 50Hz humming.
You can try to tighten screws on the transformer.