Pace ADS200 soldering station

[tygersmoke]

Has anyone noticed their ADS200 humming? I'm not sure if mine used to do it, but I can now hear a low humming the entire time it's turned on, during setback and even after it times out and powers down. I can also hear it pulsing while it's actually heating off setback.

Yes, mine has hummed from new. If the room is quiet I can hear from across the room.

[Bud]

Your desk may be amplifying that. Try placing the station on a mouse pad or silicone baking sheet.

[tygersmoke]

Your desk may be amplifying that. Try placing the station on a mouse pad or silicone baking sheet.

Yeah, I tried a sorbothane pad that someone had put in a huge isolation transformer I bought, but it made no difference. It's no big deal, but not something I expected from something of this quality. It'd be outside the warranty now, so I might pop the bonnet and nip up the laminations.....

[ataradov]

I just listened to my station. I can hear slight buzz when I place my year on the case. But it goes away entirely as soon as my ear stops touching the case. It looks like there is a lot of variability.

May be also there is a difference between 50 / 60 Hz operation or different voltages.

[pac1085]

The ADS200 I purchased from TEquipment in Jan 2023 crapped out a few weeks ago - a few days before the warranty was up. I turned it on, stepped away from the bench to grab the part I was about to work on, came back and the iron was smoking and glowing bright orange.  I had the tweezers on it at the time.

Luckily support came thru and sent a new board and replacements for the tips that got destroyed, once I gave them the s/n.  They mentioned something about a substitute component used during the shortages that wasn't up to snuff in the thermal regulation circuit.  It seems my worry about the warranty about to expire was unnecessary - they said they would have stood by it if it was past the date...

I noticed the bad board has MOSFETS in Q2, Q36, Q37 labelled T06P10 and the replacement one, which you can see was reworked has DMP6023's in those places.  I have some DMP6023's on order, gonna try to replace them on the old board since they didn't ask for it back, to see if I end up with a spare.

Other than that, I had a great first year with the ADS200 + regular iron & minitweez!

Edit:: the DMP6023's came in and I replaced the T06P10's on the old board.  It is now working again.  Only one of the 3 was actually shorted - Q2. Q36 and Q37 were fine.

[berke]

The ADS200 I purchased from TEquipment in Jan 2023 crapped out a few weeks ago - a few days before the warranty was up. I turned it on, stepped away from the bench to grab the part I was about to work on, came back and the iron was smoking and glowing bright orange.  I had the tweezers on it at the time.

That's worrying I got mine in january 2023 as well.  Is there a way of telling if it might be affected by looking at its PCB(s)?

[pac1085]

The changes I noticed on the new board compared to the old board are noted in my post

[berke]

The changes I noticed on the new board compared to the old board are noted in my post

Yes, sorry for asking a dumb question. 

I'm a bit hesitant to open mine up to check.  Can you post pics of the bad board?

[Bud]

I just listened to my station. I can hear slight buzz when I place my year on the case. But it goes away entirely as soon as my ear stops touching the case. It looks like there is a lot of variability.

May be also there is a difference between 50 / 60 Hz operation or different voltages.

Yeah. Mine is silent too. Very light "oomph" when heating cycle kicks in, and only in a completely quiet room.
ADS200 is my daily workhorse. The JBC sits mostly unused.

[2N3055]

I just listened to my station. I can hear slight buzz when I place my year on the case. But it goes away entirely as soon as my ear stops touching the case. It looks like there is a lot of variability.

May be also there is a difference between 50 / 60 Hz operation or different voltages.

Yeah. Mine is silent too. Very light "oomph" when heating cycle kicks in, and only in a completely quiet room.
ADS200 is my daily workhorse. The JBC sits mostly unused.

Mine is also completely silent. I'm on 50Hz 240V

[pope]

Mine is not completely silent and it's rather new. Got it 3-4 months ago.
You can hear a small hum once you turn it on.
Not very impressed but I can live with that since the fume extractor is way louder.

[audiotubes]

I'm really liking this setup. I had many el-cheapo irons over the years and finally got the Hakko FX-888D a few years ago. I like that the tips are cheap and the system works ok, but I felt there is lack of heat control. I bought the Pace ISB setup a few months ago and it is one of those pieces of gear that seems to disappear and just do what it's supposed to. I don't have to think about anything except the joint when I use it. Not cheap in Europe but still worth the money.

I don't hear any noise from mine but I haven't paid that much attention. And I have a window open almost constantly so there is some level of ambient noise, even in the quiet outskirts of Prague.

[pac1085]

The changes I noticed on the new board compared to the old board are noted in my post

Yes, sorry for asking a dumb question. 

I'm a bit hesitant to open mine up to check.  Can you post pics of the bad board?

All you do is take the 4 screws out of the front and it drops down and you can see. It's easy.

So, I repaired my old board tonight. I removed the 3 MOSFETS that I noticed they changed for the new board.  Only one of them was shorted - Q2. I replaced all 3 with the other model and it works again! So now I have a spare board - cool.

[berke]

I noticed the bad board has MOSFETS in Q2, Q36, Q37 labelled T06P10 and the replacement one, which you can see was reworked has DMP6023's in those places.  I have some DMP6023's on order, gonna try to replace them on the old board since they didn't ask for it back, to see if I end up with a spare.

Edit:: the DMP6023's came in and I replaced the T06P10's on the old board.  It is now working again.  Only one of the 3 was actually shorted - Q2. Q36 and Q37 were fine.

So I opened the unit, like you said it's very easy.

Q34, Q35, Q36 and Q37 seem to be SOT223's, Q34=Q35 is marked ZXMN 4AO6 and Q36=Q37 is labeled DII1 P6023.  Looks like I'm lucky and I've got the good stuff!

In any case, they're SOT223's and not PowerDI3333-8's so they'd be easy to replace.

[pope]

I noticed the bad board has MOSFETS in Q2, Q36, Q37 labelled T06P10 and the replacement one, which you can see was reworked has DMP6023's in those places.  I have some DMP6023's on order, gonna try to replace them on the old board since they didn't ask for it back, to see if I end up with a spare.

Edit:: the DMP6023's came in and I replaced the T06P10's on the old board.  It is now working again.  Only one of the 3 was actually shorted - Q2. Q36 and Q37 were fine.

So I opened the unit, like you said it's very easy.

Q34, Q35, Q36 and Q37 seem to be SOT223's, Q34=Q35 is marked ZXMN 4AO6 and Q36=Q37 is labeled DII1 P6023.  Looks like I'm lucky and I've got the good stuff!

In any case, they're SOT223's and not PowerDI3333-8's so they'd be easy to replace.

Interesting. I just opened mine.  Q2/ Q36 / Q37 are "DII1 P6023" but Q34/ Q35 are "W148 A 788055".

FWIW, The chip is RevF while the board itself is RevE.

[berke]

Interesting. I just opened mine.  Q2/ Q36 / Q37 are "DII1 P6023" but Q34/ Q35 are "W148 A 788055".

FWIW, The chip is RevF while the board itself is RevE.

Same here, the PLCC says Rev F 1187-0351, the board has a label with Rev E 6020-0258.

[pope]

Hello,

I bought some tips which are supposed to be brand new. Two of them seem fine (new and shiny) but the bigger one seems like used to me.

Can you please tell me what you think? Hopefully the photos quality is good enough...

[pope]

FWIW, I got a reply from PACE. Any thoughts? 

All of our tips are tested to varying degrees.  The one in your picture was likely used to verify tip temperatures were within the expected range or the more widespread testing process we use ran a little longer than usual for that one piece.  This type of testing would not have taken any appreciable amount of lifespan from your new tip.

[Bud]

They are saying they have tested it for you and that the test did not affect the tip's lifetime.

[pope]

They are saying they have tested it for you and that the test did not affect the tip's lifetime.

I know what they're saying but thanks anyway.

[bdunham7]

What does it look like if you tin it and wipe it off on the sponge?  I can't tell what I'm looking at, specifically if the iron plating is uneven or chipped.

[pope]

What does it look like if you tin it and wipe it off on the sponge?  I can't tell what I'm looking at, specifically if the iron plating is uneven or chipped.

I haven't tried it yet because I was considering to return it but since PACE confirms it's a brand new tip, I think I'm gonna keep it and hope for the best.

Still, not super impressed with the appearance, considering how nice all the tips I have bought in the past look but it's functional, it's fine with me.

I will most likely use it next week.

[audiotubes]

I bought three tips with mine. The first one I used looked great. The second one looked like hell (bumpy, rough) but did clean up fine with a few stabs in the brass wool. Have not looked at the third yet.

I guess Pace could do a better job on this appearance-wise, but if they test every tip I'm impressed.

[thm_w]

I guess Pace could do a better job on this appearance-wise, but if they test every tip I'm impressed.

Supposedly they are all tested for 5 seconds, as they had issues with failures in the past, you can read the post here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/newest-pace-ads200-production-station-(a-jbc-killer-at-$239)/msg2183462/#msg2183462

[Shock]

Looks far worse than it is, just need to warm it up and immediately add fresh solder, clean and repeat a few times.

That dullness is just a bit of oxidization on top of the protective solder layer they added. Unless the plating has worn the tip is fine. They will all get discolored when warmed, but when used for actual soldering you see more discoloration above the tinned surface (caused by flux).