ERSA i-CON 1 - Teardown and Repair (Success)

[HighVoltage]

Yes, I did not care too much about the price, I wanted a new handle to make it look like new.
And this way I have a "like new" soldering station

The complete handle in Germany is Euro 136.95
The Heating element is Euro 69.95
The complete i-CON 1 is Euro 488,95

Here are some nice pictures from the ERSA website:

[wraper]

First pic is i-tool nano.

[HighVoltage]

First pic is i-tool nano.

That is what I would have thought
But it is listed under the i-CON 1 parts list on their website
http://www.ersa-shop.com/ersa-l%C3%B6tkolben-itool-150w-p-224.html

May be they used a wrong picture or they updated the handle.

The one I bought looks still like the original one.

[continuo]

Yes, the original wand looked pretty bad and worn down, I would have tossed it too... But 488€ for a complete unit looks pretty expensive, ersa-shop.com sells them for ~300€ 

http://www.ersa-shop.com/ersa-icon1-profil%C3%B6tstation-itool-150w-autostandby-p-2224.html

[TopLoser]

Will be interesting to know, what the latest FW is and what was changed.
May be the one I am getting from TopLoser will have a different FW.

2.26 in the one I'm sending you. Dated 28.02.14

[tooki]

First pic is i-tool nano.

That is what I would have thought
But it is listed under the i-CON 1 parts list on their website
http://www.ersa-shop.com/ersa-l%C3%B6tkolben-itool-150w-p-224.html

May be they used a wrong picture or they updated the handle.

The one I bought looks still like the original one.

Somewhere here on the forums, someone heard from ersa that they're discontinuing the rubberized handle. So now the "full" i-Tool looks like the i-Tool nano.

[HighVoltage]

2.26 in the one I'm sending you. Dated 28.02.14

I am looking forward to see, if there is a difference in the FW.

@continuo
Yes, the retail price is 488
But the street price is more like 300 to 400 Euros for the complete i-CON 1, depending on where you buy it.

Somewhere here on the forums, someone heard from ersa that they're discontinuing the rubberized handle. So now the "full" i-Tool looks like the i-Tool nano.

That would be too bad, because the rubberized handle is just perfect the way it is.
They probably do it to save some cost and then sell it as an improvement.
 

[wraper]

2.26 in the one I'm sending you. Dated 28.02.14

I am looking forward to see, if there is a difference in the FW.

Didn't notice any except the different logo.

[Alfons]

I think, I was the "someone": I could buy the station brand new from private for low and was a bit confused because of this soldering iron. I emailed to Ersa therefore, who responded immediately. This is so correct, they would no longer produce the soldering iron with the gray rubber ring at the end iron-grip. These would be worn out too quickly. They apologized, that they had not yet adjusted the product images.

Now there is the soldering iron of the Picco and the Nano, sharing the PCB. The soldering iron of the Nano divides shares the heating element and the housing with the Iron of the I-Con1 now. The PCB inside is different.

[HighVoltage]

I just bought two handles in Nov. 2015 and both still had the gray rubber at the front, as we know them from the original i-CON 1
But may be the distributor that I got them from had some old stock.

[HighVoltage]

Can't be arsed opening it up, I've got enough broken stuff in my life needs mending.

http://uk.farnell.com/ersa/i-con1/soldering-station-80w-230v/dp/1625358

Everything in the picture. Boxed, all looks new, displays error codes -7, -71 and -8 at random.

£70 plus shipping anybody?

SOLD to Mr High Voltage

The broken unit from TopLoser arrived today.
Since I just had this repair experience, the error was found fast and yes, it was the TRIAC again.
Installed a new TRIAC and wallah it worked.
I had no new heating element but another new handle with new heating element and new tip.

Thanks TopLoser !

Here are some pictures:

[HighVoltage]

The receptor for the iron handle has changed.On my older i-CON 1 it was just the same rubber / silicone material.
The new one has some sort of ceramic receptor.

[Alfons]

What is the cause of the defective triac? Will it be caused by a defect in the soldering iron? A defective heating-element? And yes, the newer one all comes with that caramic-element in the iron-holder.

[TiN]

HighVoltage => ERSA-freak.
Great job on reps!

[HighVoltage]

What is the cause of the defective triac? Will it be caused by a defect in the soldering iron? A defective heating-element? And yes, the newer one all comes with that caramic-element in the iron-holder.

The heating element is suppose to have 3 Ohm resistance when at room temperature.
The one in my first repair had 0.13 Ohm, so I expect it to the the root cause for the triac failure.
The one from TopLoser showed 2.9 Ohm but when I hit it mechanically with a screwdriver, the value went down, as if something was loose inside and caused a shortage.
I think these iron's are missing an inside fuse on the PCB for this purpose.
 

[HighVoltage]

HighVoltage => ERSA-freak.
Great job on reps!

Hello TiN
Compared to your 3458A repair, this is nothing!
I am still at awe at what you did there.

These ERSA soldering stations are very simple old school technology, and they just added a fancy display and a easy and straight forward user interface.

[dom0]

The old rule of thumb "if it needs a heatsink it needs protection" (or another way)... which is what I was getting at above. But "KISS and it should be rock solid and reliable"... otoh there seems to be an issue with these heating elements, maybe a peculiar winding technique - assuming that these are wire-wound ceramic heaters - that specifically enables fail-short?

[HighVoltage]

May be this was part of the redesigning of the handle.
With the all black colored handle they also introduced a new heating element, who knows....

Yes, the heat sink is pretty large compared to the TO220 triac.
Based on the heat sink, the losses are much higher than 10W and when the heating element shortens out that heat sink does not help at all for the fast current increase on the triac.

Built in obsolescence?

[Augustus]

I bought mine this summer at Bräunlichs and it came still with the, now apparentely old, handle with the grey rubber grip. The firmware is the same as on the station you got from TopLoser. May I ask what triac did you use for the substitution, or was it the original part? It may be a good idea to stock up one or two, just in case my iron decides to crap out on me, certainly on a busy Saturday afternoon   

[Alfons]

May be this was part of the redesigning of the handle.
With the all black colored handle they also introduced a new heating element, who knows....

That's what I was thinking.

But what is more interesting to me, what purpose does the PCB in the soldering iron? There is indeed more than one chip on it, once the motion sensor and then yet another IC. And then: how is shared with the soldering station that he is in idle state, on which line. There're a total of five lines, that go out of the iron: once GND, 2x for AC and 2 for temperature control. I do not understand that.

[HighVoltage]

@ Augustus
I used the original triac (T25QC6F), 600V, 25A, TO220

@ Alfons
Good question. I am on a business trip, when I am back I will take a look at the signal
I would expect the following

1 Ground
2 Heater supply
3,4 Temp Sensor feedback
5 Signal of movement (ON, OFF)

May be time to closer inspection of this PCB?

[Alfons]

I'll open the unit sometimes and also measuring signals. The heating is supplied with AC voltage, thus requires two separate lines. Phase control over the triac.

[wraper]

1 Ground
2 Heater supply
3,4 Temp Sensor feedback
5 Signal of movement (ON, OFF)

Nope, it's completely different. Communication with the station is over 1 wire IIRC. Therefore most likely 2x AC for the heater, power, GND, DATA.

[Alfons]

Thank you, I wanted to know. Now I can explain that to me. Did not understand how this is regulated. So that means that the temperature readings would be sent that way.

Now I would only know, how the IC is called on the PCB.

[Augustus]

@ Augustus
I used the original triac (T25QC6F), 600V, 25A, TO220

Thank you very much