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metcal 13MHz power supplies

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shaling:
Hi,
I have a Metcal MFR-1100. It is a completely silent station. No humming or buzzing from the power supply, and switch on front looks to toggle the mains supply. So no sleep power draw when off.

I would like to upgrade to the MX-500  or MX-5020 for the nicer hand piece and more options in temperature and tip design.

Can any Metcal owners of these 13MHz units comment on sleep power draw and if all the units in their experience make an audible noise from the transformer?

Anyone tried to silence the transformer by replacing it with something better?

Thanks.

loki42:
Haven't noticed the transformer buzz on mine much.  Mine is a very old unit and I think recent units would be better. The compatible thermaltronic is pretty cheap too. 

amc184:
I have an MX500, an unfortunately it does have quite a loud transformer.  It varies significantly with load, and I use it as some feedback on how much heat I'm having to put into something, but its still noticeable when idle.

There's no true power switch on an MX500, the switch on the top only shuts down the RF stage or something.  I have my soldering and hot air stations on a switched outlet that is only switched on when they're in use.  The transformer noise reminds me to turn off the outlet!

Of course this is just my MX500, I've also used an MX5000 in the workplace, and I don't remember it being noisy.

shaling:
Many thanks for the responses. I'll buy a new unit from one of the big UK suppliers and return if noisy. I'll share any noise and sleep power consumption results here. Thanks.

jonpaul:
The other Metcal SmartHeat  are 500 kHz and use a DIN connector and multiconductr cable, instead of coax, our SP-200 design of 1992 is still made, by other names like OK industry.

Our lab  units from 1990s are still in reliable service with original tips, very slight hum.
The standing OFF power is ~4w vs 15..40W running.


Jon

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