JBC DI3000 soldering station internals

[wblock]

Not exactly a repair...  My new (used) JBC DI3000 needed some cleaning, and I thought I would replace any capacitors that needed it.  Since there do not appear to be any pictures of the internals online, I took some.  There aren't any stick-through capacitors.  But take a look at the board.  No heatsinks at all!

The processor is a PIC 18F6621.

The connector at the top of the main board is where the transformer connector was disconnected.  The other empty connectors were that way.  The five-pin one on the left might be a serial port for firmware update.  Please share information on that if you have it.  This station does not match the JBC manual.  There is no menu I can find.  Holding down Select when turning it on toggles between F and C units.  The maximum temperature is 400C rather than 450C.  The temperature is not a big deal, since an honest 350C on this station is "hotter" than 450C on a lesser station, and the station does work really well as-is.

[crispy_tofu]

Wow, thanks for sharing! 
Looks like a great unit.

[bitshape]

Thanks, inside pictures of premium gear are always welcome.   

About  the (smt) elco's, those with the full black colored negative indicator are all Matsushita (Panasonic) (example 'EHA.' is series indicator besides the obvious Matsushita T-vent), those with grey colored negative indicator i don't know which brand/series those are.

Further, maybe this station is preprogrammed with limiting usersettings. Maybe JBC tools Spain could tell you more.
It's a nice station for people who want dual tools, 1 usable at a time. (you place 1 tool back in the base, then immediately you can use the second tool (most common, tweezer for example).

[Rasz]

dual tools, 1 usable at a time. (you place 1 tool back in the base, then immediately you can use the second tool (most common, tweezer for example).

yeah about that, JBC tweezers are two separate tools in one handle, they are (or should) be controlled separately (two heaters, two thermocouples)

so two tweezer tools (as they advertise on jbc www) would require 4 separate channels, or relays/mosfet switches meaning standby wouldnt work
does jbc really control tweezer temperature based on only one thermocouple? do they drive both heaters in parallel?

[bitshape]

dual tools, 1 usable at a time. (you place 1 tool back in the base, then immediately you can use the second tool (most common, tweezer for example).

yeah about that, JBC tweezers are two separate tools in one handle, they are (or should) be controlled separately (two heaters, two thermocouples)

so two tweezer tools (as they advertise on jbc www) would require 4 separate channels, or relays/mosfet switches meaning standby wouldnt work
does jbc really control tweezer temperature based on only one thermocouple? do they drive both heaters in parallel?

They (tweezer-cardridges) are separately managed according to JBC:

PA works with two cartridges managed individually by the control unit to ensure the maximum accuracy and a quick temperature recovery. Each cartridge can deliver up to 40W.

According to the manual only DI, DD(E), DM(E), CP control units support the PA120 tweezer, for the bigger HT420 tweezer is a DI, DD, DM or RM control unit needed. I think their must be some additional circuitry needed.


The DI3000 is 'special' because you can attach 2 tools simultaneously, but are restricted by only using one at a time. The more modern DI-unit cannot do that (single tool control unit), you must change plugs or buy the DD-unit instead:

This unit allows you to connect 2 tools, work with one tool and have the other tool in its stand at "sleep" temperature.
To switch just place back one tool in its stand and take out the other.
All soldering handpieces and hot tweezers of our JBC range can be used with the DI 3000 always using the corresponding stand.

[zapta]

Why the board is so complex? Isn't it just a closed loop of temperature sending and heater control + basic user interface and display?

[wblock]

so two tweezer tools (as they advertise on jbc www) would require 4 separate channels, or relays/mosfet switches meaning standby wouldnt work
does jbc really control tweezer temperature based on only one thermocouple? do they drive both heaters in parallel?

The processor is certainly powerful enough to handle reading two thermocouples and powering two heaters at the same time.  As far as I can tell from image searches, the stand for the PA120 tweezers only has one connector to the base unit, so my guess is they have at least two pairs of controls in that cable.  It's possible there is some circuitry in the stand, but that seems unlikely.

It would not work very well to control both sides of the tweezers in parallel.  Think of desoldering a power supply capacitor.  One side is connected to a huge ground plane and will need lots more heat.

I don't have plans to get a PA120 at the moment, but would be happy to test if one were supplied.

[Rasz]

thats what I mean, they claim

work with one tool and have the other tool in its stand at "sleep" temperature

but that would require at least 3 separate channels, two for tweezers + one for standby