Modifying the output range of a solder station

[ag20202]

Hi all.
I have a basic but good quality analogue temperature-controlled solder station. It is the British brand Antex. I wanted to try a Hako style iron on it, so I bought a couple of clone irons and replaced their connectors to work with my solder station. It worked like a charm. However, the thermocouple/sensors in the Hako-style irons are clearly in a totally different range to the stock iron, such that I can only use the very start of the temperature control or the heating circuit remains permanently on.

I can get a good working temperature with it turned down to just above the lowest setting but obviously I have no range of temperature control at all. Is there a simple modification I could make to the base unit or the iron itself to shift its temperature sensing range? The base unit does have a calibration trimmer, which Ive turned down fully, but it doesn't have enough range to fix the issue.


Thanks.

[DavidAlfa]

What tips are you using? T12? 936?
T12 have thermocouple, which means they work outputing voltage.
936 are PTC based, soy they are just variable resistors.

You will need some reverse engineering there. Is the original heater already damaged?
You need to know what is the measuring circuit expecting from the sensor.
Maybe then you could build some kind of translator, or modify the amplifier input.

[RayRay]

Is there a simple modification I could make to the base unit or the iron itself to shift its temperature sensing range?

I'm afraid there's nothing overly simplistic about it!
You'd be best just purchasing a new T12 station (they're affordable enough)