The North American TCP series is DIFFERENT since 1965 from British and German mfg. TCP “Magnistat” series. The parts and cinstruction are different as well as Voltage Difference (120 vs. 240 V) and the are UL and EU certifications/approvals.
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I have a Weller TC201T that the heater went bad and purchased a new "EC-234" plug-in heater.
The issue with this that the new heaters are bigger around and the barrel nut will not fit.
Is there a work around for this ? Jim
BUY a NEW Weller BA60 Barrell Nut, dated AFTER 2003 and with RoHS designation. Prices vary widely !!
Newark has a good price.
https://www.newark.com/weller/ba60/barrel-nut-assembly/dp/33F1289AVOID the BA60 barrell nuts in Manila envelope —- these are Old Stock before 1999.
The new BA60 (RoHS) are WIDER Diameter to handle new SWAGGED Heaters (RoHS compliant, 2003-present).
Weller EC-234 plug-in (after 1981) and TC-208 wired-in (1976-1981) used with the
Weller TC-1/TC-201x iron and EC-1201A iron handles. Same BA-60 fits PES51 iron for WES-51 and WESD-51 station.
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Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive 2002/95/EC, short for Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances (seven, including Lead/Pb) in electrical and electronic equipment, was adopted in February 2003 by European Union. Japan and the state of California adopted similar directives after millenium (2001-2003).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Substances_DirectiveSince Soldering Equipment is Required by Manufacturers, in numerous industries, before the 2006 deadline — Weller changed their entire North American production in 2002/2003 time frame.
All the legacy tooling since Weller’s founding that was contaminated with Lead — had to be replaced.==
Weller NA manufacturing moved to Mexico in 2003 (from Carolinas) with RoHS production lines (new equipment). Some older Weller and Ungar models were discontinued, and new replacement model introduced.
Since the Weller TCP series was almost 40 years old (and popular), it was migrated to RoHS and during the re-engineering process and production automation design, a decision was made to SWAG the heater barrel.
Reason? I have heard TWO.
1.) Longer life for the resistive heating elements, based on service data.
The new PES51 iron required a wider barrel nut ... so the new BA60 size was used for future parts.
2.) Maintain backward compatibility with 20th century handles and magnetic switch (SW-60).
Greg