Pace MBT-100E, MBT-200E : Substitute soldering irons

[dazz1]

Hi
I have a Pace MBT-100E soldering iron and  Pace MBT-200E solder/de-solder station.  I don't have the soldering irons.

The 200E can still be used as a solder-sucker but the 100E is a paper weight without a soldering iron.

Has anyone figured out what soldering iron can be made to work with a Pace MBT solder station?

These Pace solder stations are old news now.  Are they still considered acceptable solutions?

[dazz1]

So what I read on the internet indicate a PS-90 soldering iron is the right one to match to a MBT-100 / MBT-200

[asis]

Hi,

Apparently, this is one of the SensaTemp (*TM) stations, the analog version.
Typically, all instruments use platinum temperature sensors of the PT100 family (100 OHm) to measure (control) temperature.
You just need to open the stations and take pictures of the PCB.
The most informative schematics for the PRC2000 are available online, but in your case, an analog control circuit is used.
I think you have a good chance of continuing to use the wide variety of wonderful PACE instruments.
Connect to the corresponding contacts on the soldering iron with a suction port (..SX70?;SX80;SX90;SX100) and measure its resistance.
Using an external temperature effect (lighter, any other heater), check the sensor's resistance drift; it should be obvious.
To test the operation of the PT100 sensor (base unit), simply connect a 100~120 OHm potentiometer to the instrument's connector.
Change its value and observe the LED response on each channel.
-
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/pace-intelliheat-pinout-for-6-to-8-pin-adaptor/msg5337977/#msg5337977

[GLouie]

I'm not familiar with those units (I have a MBT250 system), but why not use the MBT200 for both soldering and desoldering (keep the 100 for parts?).

If Sensatemp and not some predecessor, it does look like the PS-90 Sensatemp is the only currently sold iron, but there are several other out of production Pace Sensatemp irons you could find used.

I'd email Paceworldwide support and ask, they have helped me with such questions.

[Paceguy]

There is a company, A.P.E. which apparently sells handpieces that are suitable replacements. You can also find Pace handpieces on ebay, but they are not cheap. I have been lucky enough to sometimes find parts at hamfests.

[djsb]

Email Pace directly. They should be able to help.

[dazz1]

Hi
Thanks for the information.
These two soldering stations have been in storage for 10 years, and it appears they are well used.  Maybe 20+ years old.
I will contact Pace directly and see if they can help.

I already have a Hako soldering iron, but I don't have a solder sucker.  If I get the Pace solder/sucker station going, I would probably sell the other two.  I only need one good soldering station.

[GLouie]

I'm no Pace history expert, but my 1996 catalog shows that they already had moved to the MBT201A and MBT101A, so your must be even older.

Probably no reason to not use them; my 1996 MBT250 still works perfectly. I did have to repair the vacuum pump a couple of years ago, it only lasted some 28 years. You might ask Pace about parts availability. All of the needed filters are still sold, paper discs for the vacuum line and likely felt plugs for the desolder tool.

They do appear to be Sensatemp, so any Pace Sensatemp iron should work fine. I got the SP-2A Sodr-pen back in 1996. All tips are still available. You won't have digital temperature readout.

[factory]

I've got one of the MBT100E, which was the first one I bought secondhand, I've been using it with a SX80 desolder iron for some years,
It has an RS part number label on the front panel (note: RS no longer sell Pace stuff), I've looked in the 1993 RS catalog, they were only offering the newer Sensatemp by then, there is however a note in the catalog that the Sensatemp irons are compatible with the MBT100E but there is no temperature feedback, this probably has something to do with only having one IC in these older base stations and explains the terrible temperature regulation with mine.

Interesting they bothered to add the LEDs for each channel to the MBT200E.

If you decide to get an iron for yours, I would suggest you find out how easy the spares are to obtain in your country, in the UK they are only found at Farnell (usually in multipacks only) prices are high, the only alternate is to hope new old stock spares can be found at more reasonable prices on feeBay or other marketplaces.

David

[dazz1]

...

If you decide to get an iron for yours, I would suggest you find out how easy the spares are to obtain in your country, in the UK they are only found at Farnell (usually in multipacks only) prices are high, the only alternate is to hope new old stock spares can be found at more reasonable prices on feeBay or other marketplaces.

David

I contacted Pace directly and they told me the MBT models went out of production 30 or so years ago.  They also told me there was no suitable handsets available.
As a result, I put both controllers on the local auction site for $1 reserve expecting to maybe get a few $s for them.  There was some enthusiastic bidding and I ended up getting quite a few $$$ for them.  Better they are sold than to end up in e-waste.  If I had been able to get handsets, I would have kept both controllers.