Metcal tip luke-warm instead of hot

[benj38]

Hi guys,

I have a Metcal wide (22mm) flat blade tip that is not heating up correctly. it only gets up to a relatively low temperature, just below the solder melting point. The MX-5200 workstation power bar-graph always reads about 1-2 bars of power with this tip (instead of the regular ramp-up of substantial power draw on startup, settling after about 5-10 seconds to 1-2 bars).

Other tips I have work fine, so it is not the station or the handle.

Is this a normal failure mode?
Is there anything one can do to revive the tip (it is quite expensive   )

Thanks in advance,

[mikeselectricstuff]

Something I've seen a few times is blobs of solder stuck in the coax plug at the end of tip causing shorts.

If not, it's probably shorted turns in the heater - sometimes temporarily recoverable with a sharp tap on the side.

It used to be the case that Metcal would replace any tip whose heater failed while the tip plating was still good - looks like this may still be the case - warranty is stated as "heater: lifetime of plating"
https://www.metcal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Metcal-Warranty-Chart-062021.pdf

[benj38]

@mikeselectricstuff, thanks for the tips!

Unfortunately, a sharp tap did not work, but it is good to know. The plug is also nice and clean, so I think it is a hopeless.
I will look into the warranty option.