Author Topic: ERSA i-CON 1 - Teardown and Repair (Success)  (Read 44639 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline HighVoltageTopic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 5562
  • Country: de
Re: ERSA i-CON 1 - Teardown and Repair (Success)
« Reply #75 on: May 08, 2021, 11:45:46 am »
ERSA will only give out firmware info on systems that can officially be upgraded by the enduser via sd card. They are really nice on the phone, when you order parts but very tight about anything that is not officially available.

Does yours still support all the extra tools?
I am only using the iTool
Which other tools were compatible to the iCon 1?



There are 3 kinds of people in this world, those who can count and those who can not.
 

Offline frozenfrogz

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 936
  • Country: de
  • Having fun with Arduino and Raspberry Pi
Re: ERSA i-CON 1 - Teardown and Repair (Success)
« Reply #76 on: May 08, 2021, 01:28:26 pm »
The early iCon 1 accepts the i-Tool, Tech tool (X Tool), Power tool, Chip tool and Micro tool (non-vario tools).
The later iCon 1 only accepts the i-Tool and you would have to buy a 1V if you want to use other tools AFAIK.
He’s like a trained ape. Without the training.
 

Offline HighVoltageTopic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 5562
  • Country: de
Re: ERSA i-CON 1 - Teardown and Repair (Success)
« Reply #77 on: May 08, 2021, 02:53:18 pm »
Interesting...
I guess I came too late to the party then, because my early iCon 1 from 2011 would not accept any other tools, except the iTool.

Do you have a iCon 1 that accepts these other tools?
If so, what firmware do you have installed?

There are 3 kinds of people in this world, those who can count and those who can not.
 

Offline frozenfrogz

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 936
  • Country: de
  • Having fun with Arduino and Raspberry Pi
Re: ERSA i-CON 1 - Teardown and Repair (Success)
« Reply #78 on: May 09, 2021, 01:28:57 pm »
As stated in reply #74, I am on FW 2.02.

There are (at least) two versions of the iCon 1:
Early version simply reads "iCon" on the front. This one supports all the tools listed above.
Later versions read "iCon 1". Those only support the iTool. Ersa split the iCon series into the iCon 1, 1C (remote control interface), 1V (Variotools etc.), 2 and so on for profit reasons I guess.
He’s like a trained ape. Without the training.
 

Online wraper

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 18065
  • Country: lv
Re: ERSA i-CON 1 - Teardown and Repair (Success)
« Reply #79 on: May 10, 2021, 07:52:23 pm »
As stated in reply #74, I am on FW 2.02.

There are (at least) two versions of the iCon 1:
Early version simply reads "iCon" on the front. This one supports all the tools listed above.
Later versions read "iCon 1". Those only support the iTool. Ersa split the iCon series into the iCon 1, 1C (remote control interface), 1V (Variotools etc.), 2 and so on for profit reasons I guess.
1V/2V certainly has newer electronics as it has microSD card slot. Tools other than i-tool require additional components. So even if I-CON 1 has the same PCB as older version, it should have some components not populated.
 

Offline valendorn

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 2
  • Country: ua
Re: ERSA i-CON 1 - Teardown and Repair (Success)
« Reply #80 on: January 22, 2023, 11:10:12 pm »
hello guys  :D
I'm having the same problem right now, I'm getting error code 71
Will it really be enough to replace the soldering iron pen tool, or is it worth digging deeper and looking for a problem on the motherboard of the soldering station?
first the screen displays the extreme temperature of 999 degrees, and then this code 71
the heating element and the thermocouple sensor seem to be in good condition, the resistance corresponds within to the manual \$\Omega\$
 

Offline HighVoltageTopic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 5562
  • Country: de
Re: ERSA i-CON 1 - Teardown and Repair (Success)
« Reply #81 on: January 23, 2023, 10:51:23 am »
Most i-Con 1 problems are solved by using a new pen tool.

If you have the opportunity to borrow and working handle, it is a good way to start.
I have seen many broken hand tools.

 
There are 3 kinds of people in this world, those who can count and those who can not.
 

Offline valendorn

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 2
  • Country: ua
Re: ERSA i-CON 1 - Teardown and Repair (Success)
« Reply #82 on: January 23, 2023, 09:09:26 pm »
thanks, i will try to find serviceable pen tool
I checked the resistor 222, it is normal, and the triac t25cq6f is also whole
 

Offline frozenfrogz

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 936
  • Country: de
  • Having fun with Arduino and Raspberry Pi
Re: ERSA i-CON 1 - Teardown and Repair (Success)
« Reply #83 on: January 23, 2023, 10:48:09 pm »
I checked the resistor 222, it is normal

Careful!
If I remember correctly, the resistor on my board measured OK when cold, but was totally out of spec when hot.

a) check with a known good tool
b) test the resistor while heating with a hot air station or simply replace it to see if the station shows different behavior afterwards
He’s like a trained ape. Without the training.
 

Online LaserSteve

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1378
  • Country: us
Re: ERSA i-CON 1 - Teardown and Repair (Success)
« Reply #84 on: January 21, 2025, 06:53:57 pm »
For the sake of completeness I'm adding one detail, as I now maintain and calibrate 20 I-Con 1.  If the pen will not calibrate around 380'C, but has a working sensor, clean the heater body cylinder  to bare metal and ensure the flat at the top of the heater element is  A. Sanded / Polished Clean, and B. Perpendicular to the element tip.

I've had luck using a belt sander with 1000 grit, and stainless-steel wool. However, keep metal removal as near zero as possible.

Cleaning flux/oxide off the heater barrel has prolonged the life of three elements.

One of our production ladies overdoses the work with flux. Her work is perfect, but all three of her stations had irons that would not calibrate to standard  without a cleaning.

Calibration in our case is done with an Omega STS-2X probe, which is a K Thermocouple based device. This is a bit different then most probes as it uses a small cup of molten solder to transfer the heat to the TC.  The TC is mounted in a ceramic insulator that takes a long time to cool.

https://www.omega.com/en-us/temperature-measurement/temperature-surface-sensors/sts-2x-series/p/STS-2X?REF=STS-2X

When in doubt, give a thorough cleaning to the element pins. You cannot remove the socket from the handle, but cleaning the female pins with alcohol and drying with compressed air  or nitrogen works wonders.

Steve


Mods, I know this is an old thread, but having the info in one place has helped me tremendously. 

Steve



« Last Edit: January 21, 2025, 07:03:12 pm by LaserSteve »
"When in doubt, check the Byte order of the Communications Protocol, By Hand, On an Oscilloscope"

Quote from a co-inventor of the PLC, whom i had the honor of working with recently.
 
The following users thanked this post: HighVoltage, tooki, 2N3055


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf