Author Topic: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station  (Read 56447 times)

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Offline bozza

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #50 on: January 17, 2021, 10:54:17 am »
What is the point of having desoldering options if a pump doesn't fit into the case?

Has anyone successfully been able to use jbc handles and tips?

It would be nice if you could use both hakko and jbc handles, perhaps through an adapter.
That way you wouldn't need to buy 5 million different soldering stations.
 

Offline mastershake

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #51 on: February 24, 2021, 12:14:41 am »
here is the v3.1x hex file this has a different branding "wlida" and corrected the error with the calibration of VSM2 see attached for those that need it. this can also allow you to flash back to stock from the custom ones. other then the above changes this is identical to the ksger. this works on 101, 102 and 103 v3.0 (both styles of battery on board or attached via a lead) and the v3.1 oled boards.
 
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Offline mastershake

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #52 on: March 29, 2021, 11:48:45 pm »
new psu in the newest shipped ones. v2.05 now. they moved the one trace under the heatsink and a few other components but not to many other differences  the one larger heatsink on the one i just got in was mangled sadly warped and twisted pretty bad ill unmount it straighten it out and re mount it, there is also no paste or material on either sink on this one. ill get some pics as soon as i can.
 

Offline nanolab

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #53 on: May 06, 2021, 05:20:12 pm »
There is a problem, before this was not. The station works well, but there is a ticking sound and a green LED is blinking on the control board.
 

Offline Lemaru

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #54 on: June 04, 2021, 08:48:37 pm »
new psu in the newest shipped ones. v2.05 now. they moved the one trace under the heatsink and a few other components but not to many other differences  the one larger heatsink on the one i just got in was mangled sadly warped and twisted pretty bad ill unmount it straighten it out and re mount it, there is also no paste or material on either sink on this one. ill get some pics as soon as i can.

I haven't seen many other posts about the v2.05 PSU other than this one. I assume this means no more having to mod the heatsink to make it safe? Is there any other fixes required for this version?

Thanks
 

Offline Polter

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #55 on: June 06, 2021, 07:13:14 am »
I've received my T12 about a week or two ago. It has the new v2.05 PSU so I'll post some photos. As you can see there's no battery attached any more. Let me know if you want any new photos or clarification.
 

Offline Lemaru

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #56 on: June 07, 2021, 08:49:34 am »
I also got mine a few days ago. V2.05 PSU, but mine does have a battery fitted and stuck on top of the transformer
 

Offline AlexP.

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #57 on: December 13, 2021, 08:52:30 pm »
Same. Got the new black PCB and also a coin cell fixed on top of the transformer.

Pics two posts above show an unpopulated connector on the controller board, where the battery is supposed to plug. Maybe they forgot to fit it?  :-//
 

Offline floobydust

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #58 on: December 14, 2021, 01:42:02 am »
The top optional header is for the Serial Wire Debug (SWD) port to program MCU firmware.
A battery can be direct soldered to the pc board (if it has solder tabs) but this sticks out too much and hits the power supply, so they use the header and sticky tape the battery anywhere.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2021, 01:44:08 am by floobydust »
 

Offline MimCom

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #59 on: December 15, 2021, 06:33:29 pm »
I've been reading (and reading) for some weeks here.  First post.

Looking at trying one of these and am somewhat confused by all the hardware revs.  No mention of v2.0.5 on theKSGER store that I can see.

Quicko store makes me somewhat dizzy.  Are the 'OLED Soldering Station' units not STM32/CKS-based?

Dozens of 24V 3A power supplies here, so I'd prefer to skip the line voltage challenges and go with a mini.  This at least ships with a metal handle -- apparently no bundles with the carbon fiber handle yet.

Also confusing is that the Quicko store sell some items labeled as Quecoo, which are also in the Laecho store.  Argh.

Update: Seller pointed me at this very useful table.  942 and 946 appear identical, with the exception of the Language field.  Turns out they have different sized OLED displays (not in table).  More argh.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2021, 03:48:47 pm by MimCom »
 

Offline sofakng

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #60 on: January 21, 2022, 03:58:22 pm »
I'm also a little confused ...

What's the best KSGER T12 version to order?

I was looking at the official KSGER store on Aliexpress which has the 3.1S for $60 shipped (included PSU), but I'm reading the newer PCBs might be worse?
« Last Edit: January 21, 2022, 04:00:21 pm by sofakng »
 

Offline rytenuff

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #61 on: January 21, 2022, 07:21:54 pm »
After reading people's thoughts on the KSGER T12 I bought the 3.1s version. (or at least the display says it is.)
I have the 2.04 main board PSU but the control board is unmarked re. naming. There is an insulated wire joining these boards at the points shown in the attached photos. Anybody got any notion of why this is? I have not read of anyone else reporting or commenting on this.
1387454-0 1387460-1
 

Offline floobydust

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #62 on: January 21, 2022, 07:42:18 pm »
That controller board you show is a FAIL. It's like an old V2.0 (hardware) controller. Because the SE8533 linear voltage regulator U5 overheats, there is no pcb copper heatsink, they did not last at all and were cutting out.
To make it run cooler, you must give it much less than 24V input which might be what the jumper tries to do but is also a fail - there is no 5V or 12V something coming out of the power supply that I know of. Prove what I'm saying, that IC should be getting around 24V in on the wire and run very hot... finger burner!

So you didn't buy that from the KSGER store, it looks like another unloading of the old fails from the sleazy marketplace. Many copies of KSGER out there.

I mentioned the V2.0 controller here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/t12-stm32-v2-1s-soldering-station-controller-schematic-etc
It was a flop and after a few revisions they fixed that vreg overheating issue, going to a buck-converter.

It can be confusing because there is a version # for the whole soldering station, the controller board hardware, the controller board firmware, and the power supply board.
 
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Offline sofakng

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #63 on: January 21, 2022, 08:29:22 pm »
floobydust, I've just placed an order for the V2.1S from the KSGER store on Aliexpress.

Should that be OK?  ...or should I have ordered the V3.1S board?

The V2.1S board was about $15 cheaper and seems to be more "well known" than the newer board...
 

Offline floobydust

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #64 on: January 22, 2022, 05:23:37 am »
The KSGER store gives version numbers for the entire soldering station.
What you get for version # of the controller board hardware, the controller board firmware, and the power supply board can vary. You have to go by the pictures in the ad.
 

Offline sofakng

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #65 on: January 22, 2022, 10:55:44 pm »
The KSGER store gives version numbers for the entire soldering station.
What you get for version # of the controller board hardware, the controller board firmware, and the power supply board can vary. You have to go by the pictures in the ad.
Thanks ... It sounds like a crap-shoot for what you get then?

I've already ordered "v2.1s" but do you think I should have went with the "v3.1s" or does it not really matter since you don't know what components you are getting?
 

Offline totalnoob

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #66 on: January 22, 2022, 11:31:08 pm »
You're first sentence in reply to Floobydust was correct, you don't know what you're going to get.  As determined well into the T12 CFW firmware thread (and as large as it is, I don't blame you for not wading through it) Flooby and I discussed this and came to the conclusion that version numbers don't mean much.  There are so many changes that KSGER makes to the HW that its useless to use their version numbers to determine anything useful (when I bought mine, it seemed to me that "3.1s" meant it came with the black PCB, but I think it was Floobydust who showed me that there were some "3.1s"'s that used green PCB).  Not to say that the HW is the same between them, but the only useful measure that determines one version from the other is that V2.1s does not have a Russian language option while V3.1s does, at least that was the difference that KSGER touted on their Aliexpress store when I bought mine (which was about 2 years ago, so it may have changed and now both versions have Russian menus). I opted for the 3.1s, I just could not resist getting the "latest". 

If you plan to use DavidAlfa's custom firmware on yours, it may have been better to get the Quicko.  If I recall, I think it was more straightforward to mod it for use with a JBC 245 soldering iron and his firmware was pretty much made for it, since that was the model he bought.  But it has been successfully used by folks with KSGER's of either versions.  In the interest of full disclosure, I don't use David's firmware, I use the stock OEM firmware that came with it.  I find it works well and since the general consensus is that clone JBC tips are not as good as the clone T12 tips, I do not feel a need to attempt to install it because I don't do enough soldering to need to upgrade to genuine JBC tips, the T12's work well enough for what I do.  I do like the idea of having a choice, though, should JBC tip clones get better. 
 

Offline sofakng

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #67 on: January 23, 2022, 02:32:42 am »
Gotcha.  Thanks so much for the information!

When mine arrives (in a couple of weeks) I'll open it up and try to compare the PCB to the ones in the other thread and see if any modifications need to be made.

The idea of custom firmware is neat but I'm probably fine with the basic one as long as it works as it should.
 

Offline ygi

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #68 on: January 23, 2022, 10:58:55 am »
If you plan to use DavidAlfa's custom firmware on yours, it may have been better to get the Quicko.  If I recall, I think it was more straightforward to mod it for use with a JBC 245 soldering iron and his firmware was pretty much made for it, since that was the model he bought.  But it has been successfully used by folks with KSGER's of either versions.  In the interest of full disclosure, I don't use David's firmware, I use the stock OEM firmware that came with it.  I find it works well and since the general consensus is that clone JBC tips are not as good as the clone T12 tips, I do not feel a need to attempt to install it because I don't do enough soldering to need to upgrade to genuine JBC tips, the T12's work well enough for what I do.  I do like the idea of having a choice, though, should JBC tip clones get better.

Just to clarify that part, David's firmware works equally fine with unmodified stations running T12 tips. If anything, you get more features, a better UI and a software that's actually optimized, polished and documented.
 

Offline de.leon

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #69 on: January 23, 2022, 05:13:14 pm »
Been using mine for about a month.  If it has not been mentioned, the error flashing resolves itself after the tip has "burned in".  Temperatures are all over the map depending on what tip you load. You really do have to go thru the whole calibration process with each tip.  Once done the temps are fairly accurate and stable.  For the price and given my background coming from an old school Weller pencil, this was a huge improvement. Im sure the professional units out there would be significantly more enjoyable to work with, safer and longer lasting but for a casual user this one is fine.  Wish I could say the same for the rework station which is proving to be a piece of ineffective junk. 
 

Offline totalnoob

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #70 on: January 23, 2022, 06:57:18 pm »
Been using mine for about a month.  If it has not been mentioned, the error flashing resolves itself after the tip has "burned in".  Temperatures are all over the map depending on what tip you load. You really do have to go thru the whole calibration process with each tip.  Once done the temps are fairly accurate and stable.  For the price and given my background coming from an old school Weller pencil, this was a huge improvement. Im sure the professional units out there would be significantly more enjoyable to work with, safer and longer lasting but for a casual user this one is fine.  Wish I could say the same for the rework station which is proving to be a piece of ineffective junk.

I can only say that the tips I have for mine (I bought the unit package with 3 tips, I only have those 3 tips that originally came when I order the unit) have been right on the money with the pre-set calibration that the OEM firmware has.  Even if I don't have the correct tip selected as the active tip, the difference is not that large between the temperature I measured (using an FG100 clone) vs. what's displayed on screen.  Of course, like I said, I bought mine about 2 years ago and if they have upgraded their firmware or changed something in the HW (which is very likely), things may have gotten worse in that regard.
 

Offline floobydust

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #71 on: January 23, 2022, 09:35:12 pm »
Low-grade tips have poor connections inside the collars and the "burn in" is just some oxide settling in? I think at the spot welds. There can also be poor connections in the handle/collar connector. I don't think you should need to (grossly) calibrate each tip if things are working properly.
On some controller board builds, there are problems with the thermocouple amplifier. A cheap junk op-amp is used and temperature readings have pretty bad accuracy. Crappy ones are "621K" compared to better "8551".
 

Offline totalnoob

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #72 on: January 24, 2022, 01:37:03 am »
Low-grade tips have poor connections inside the collars and the "burn in" is just some oxide settling in? I think at the spot welds. There can also be poor connections in the handle/collar connector. I don't think you should need to (grossly) calibrate each tip if things are working properly.
On some controller board builds, there are problems with the thermocouple amplifier. A cheap junk op-amp is used and temperature readings have pretty bad accuracy. Crappy ones are "621K" compared to better "8551".

I had read that the "burn in" was that there was moisture still held in the tip during the manufacturing process (I would think such moisture was introduced by producing them in a high humidity environment?  Or possible quenching them after some kind of welding process?  I never figured out where the moisture might come from in the manufacturing process).

If you are referring to my response about calibrating the tips, I was responding to de.leon where he states he had to re-calibrate for every tip he had with the OEM firmware.  Which has not been my experience, but I only have 3 tips to judge by and my unit's (and my tips are) 2 years old.  Perhaps KSGER sourced their tips from a different manufacturer when I bought mine vs today's?  Also, while I do agree with you about calibration for the OEM firmware, my understanding is that David's needs you to do that because it does not come with pre-calibration settings like the OEM.  In defense of David's firmware, I believe it was stated that even if you use a tip for which it has not been calibrated for, as long as you calibrated one tip, it should be close to the temperature for most tips, similar to the OEM firmware.  This is the primary reason I do not feel the need to upgrade to David's.  I am not saying the OEM UI can't be improved, but its easy enough to use, once you get used to it, for me to put up with it to not have to have a blank slate for tips. But in no way am I, or have I ever meant to imply that I am denigrating David's firmware, it is certainly an improvement over the OEM, I just don't feel compelled, myself, to upgrade to it given that I am OK with the OEM.  I am glad to have a choice should I find I do want to move away from the OEM firmware.
 

Offline floobydust

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #73 on: January 24, 2022, 02:14:24 am »
The cement isn't even dry and the tips are shipping out the door lol. The "moisture" excuse is just a bit weird.
Here are pics of the crappy heater connections, if you pop off the endcap you can check them. Some people are able to solder them to fix the "spotweld" & "crimp" - but just look at the black slag and it makes sense what ERROR flashing and beeping is really about. I didn't think solder would stick to the heater wire, I haven't tried that.

Regarding calibration, I was just meaning these should be plug and play by now. Calibration is a hassle and futile over poor hardware such as oddball TC metallurgy and crappy op-amps. Getting F/W to cover for poor H/W in these has limits. David did a lot of work on this and getting things accurate but any issues are just due to crappy quality of tip or controller board.
 

Offline BlackICE

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Re: KSGER T12 STM32 V3.1S soldering station
« Reply #74 on: January 24, 2022, 10:05:12 am »
This is a great example of why I only buy genuine Hakko tips from Hakkousa.com. They have free shipping and most of the  tips are from 10 to $15.
 


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