| Electronics > Repair |
| Metcal PS-900 Soldering station heats up to over 400 °C |
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| nemail2:
--- Quote from: bd139 on November 22, 2018, 08:27:18 am ---The business end of it is a bit large, I'll give you that. --- End quote --- nah, the whole thing. it feels like it is twice as thick and twice as long (obviously it isn't) and the cable weighs like a ton in comparison. didn't believe it first, cause I didn't have any issue at all with the metcal when I was using it (before having the JBC). |
| bd139:
I was using a Weller TCP before so it's a world better than that. I have a couple of T12 irons as well. Those are much smaller. |
| nemail2:
--- Quote from: bd139 on November 22, 2018, 08:36:05 am ---I was using a Weller TCP before so it's a world better than that. I have a couple of T12 irons as well. Those are much smaller. --- End quote --- The Metcal PS-900 is definitely a superior iron, didn't ever want to deny that. It is just that the handling of the JBC is just so much better (at least for me, that's often very subjective) and I really got used to it and therefore it really surprised me how chunky the Metcal handpiece really is in comparison (while still having great handling). But one thing on the JBC is really superior to the PS-900, the cable is MUCH thinner and lighter, it's really a bummer that the Metcal's is so fat in comparison. |
| I2R:
Hi, I've a Metcal PS-900 with the same symptom. I think it may be due to a missing turn on L3. We've a few of the PS-900's at work, an older OKI branded one from about nine years ago and a more recent batch of about 15 including the problem one. The older one has been rock solid and never caused any problems. The newer ones seem prone to burning out elements with a noticeable number of failures - that may be related but I've not had a poke at any of them yet. The PS-900 schematic (attached) is very similar to the older SP-200, the higher power output appears to be enabled by a reduction in the number of turns on L3. On the older (reliable) PS-900 L3 has 41T while the problem unit only had 40T. (The SP-200 has 46T for the equivalent part). I'm not sure if this is a production error or a factory modification that doesn't quite work as expected (unless they're trying to sell more spare parts!), I'd need to open up some more of them to check. Running the iron from a bench power supply, rather than the internal 48V switch mode power supply to make it easier to measure power/current (and to save me electrocuting myself), shows an input power in excess of 72W at power up when the tip is cold. That's the current limit for my supply, it's obvious the circuit is trying to draw more. Adding an additional turn to L3 (41 turns) reduces the peak power demand to slightly over 60W; the circuit is regulating power rather than the bench supply. It's nominally a 60W iron, although Metcal's not very clear about this. The change does seem to work although I should mention that I've only got a tip cartridge from my SP-200 to test with - it's effectively the same thing in a different package. I've used a big heatsink and a blob of solder to check the maximum power output when the tip is up to temperature. L3 is the one that's mounted flat on the PCB with a blob of silicone underneath. Hope that's of interest :-) |
| Marcel G:
http://www.pa4tim.nl/?p=6082 Regards, Marcel |
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