Pace ADS200 soldering station

[n3mmr]

So please share your experience with ADS200 Plus. I do appreciate if you even post a photo of the internal PCB.

Early days yet, I've not had the time to test irlt seriously.
It seems that the plus unit switches power on more often than the non-plus, but if that means it handles really heavy  loads better needs some thought on how to set the test up and how to quantify my findings.
If you'd care to specify some part of a test setup you're welcome!

As a first idea: I'm thinking a euro standard PCB 100*160 mm with 35 micrometer copper and try to create and later melt a solder island centrally placed.
Using a ¼" ultra chisel bit at 330°C.
Bring your ideas on.

[2N3055]

So please share your experience with ADS200 Plus. I do appreciate if you even post a photo of the internal PCB.

Early days yet, I've not had the time to test irlt seriously.
It seems that the plus unit switches power on more often than the non-plus, but if that means it handles really heavy  loads better needs some thought on how to set the test up and how to quantify my findings.
If you'd care to specify some part of a test setup you're welcome!

As a first idea: I'm thinking a euro standard PCB 100*160 mm with 35 micrometer copper and try to create and later melt a solder island centrally placed.
Using a ¼" ultra chisel bit at 330°C.
Bring your ideas on.

Most interesting would be a photo of internal PCB, honestly. So we can compare if there was hardware redesign, or this is just different FW and redesigned tips..

[tooki]

Sorry if this is already addressed but is the ADS200 Plus the same as what sellers such as TEquipment sell as simply the ADS200?  Thanks

https://paceworldwide.com/news/introducing-ads200-plus#:~:text=Starting%20in%20the%20Spring%20of,be%20called%20the%20ADS200%20PLUS.

https://www.tequipment.net/Pace/ADS200-8007-0579/Soldering-Stations/?v=0

At my local supplier the plus unit is listed as plain ADS200. The part number is, I think, different.

Given Pace’s long history of retaining part numbers across revisions and even changes to the model number (!)*, I’d be very surprised if Pace updated the part numbers for the Plus versions.


*For example, the SX-80, SX-90, and SX-100 desoldering handpieces share the same part numbers: 6010-0106-P1 for the ones with black SensaTemp connectors, 6010-0149-P1 for the ones with blue IntelliHeat connectors. And the internal heater connector changed halfway through the SX-90 era, so when replacing an SX-90’s heater, one has to look out for that, too — one version is black, one blue, and that is independent of the black or blue external connector! So 6010-0106-P1 (black external connector) can be an SX-80 with black heater connector, SX-90 with black heater connector, SX-90 with blue heater connector, or SX-100 with blue heater connector, and 6010-0149-P1 (blue external connector) can be an SX-90 with black heater connector, SX-90 with blue heater connector, or SX-100 with blue heater connector. (The blue external connector was introduced after, or alongside, the SX-90, so there was never a blue-connector SX-80.)

[bdunham7]

Most interesting would be a photo of internal PCB, honestly. So we can compare if there was hardware redesign, or this is just different FW and redesigned tips..

The main question for me is whether they've increased the transformer secondary voltage.  My second question would be whether the new FW is compatible with the older non-plus systems.  IDK why they'd need to respin the board, but if they did then it's possible that the new FW won't work with the older boards.  That would be a shame since I think the biggest (and easiest)  improvement needed was to increase the effective duty cycle by reading the thermocouple less often when the tip temperature droops significantly.

[tooki]

Most interesting would be a photo of internal PCB, honestly. So we can compare if there was hardware redesign, or this is just different FW and redesigned tips..

The main question for me is whether they've increased the transformer secondary voltage.  My second question would be whether the new FW is compatible with the older non-plus systems.  IDK why they'd need to respin the board, but if they did then it's possible that the new FW won't work with the older boards.  That would be a shame since I think the biggest (and easiest)  improvement needed was to increase the effective duty cycle by reading the thermocouple less often when the tip temperature droops significantly.

As I understood it, in the original ADS200, they never came close to running anywhere near 100% duty cycle, so even if you read the temperature 4 times a second you could still increase the duty cycle a lot, without needing to increase voltage or anything.

[bdunham7]

As I understood it, in the original ADS200, they never came close to running anywhere near 100% duty cycle, so even if you read the temperature 4 times a second you could still increase the duty cycle a lot, without needing to increase voltage or anything.

From what I saw on mine it reads the TC about 3 times per second but the read cycle involves a 70ms power interrupt so the power-off time is 210ms per second or about 20%.  The two things I can think of to improve this just in software are to decrease the frequency of the TC read cycles when the tip temp droops enough that it cannot recover in ~300ms anyway and perhaps to shorten the TC read cycle at a sacrifice of accuracy when the tip temp is low.  I'd think they could go from ~80% max on time to >95% just in firmware.  However, I think that only gets them about halfway to their advertised power rating at best.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/newest-pace-ads200-production-station-(a-jbc-killer-at-$239)/msg4961779/#msg4961779

[rce_pirate]

i just bought an ads200 from the website on nov 30th. SKU: 8007-0578 - i think that is the plus. if someone wants me to run some speicifc tests let me know. i have a jbc cd1-bqe as a comparison. its old but still works well. just trying to change my daily driver to a newer company. i dont like jbc's customer service, been a interesting experience with the b-iron line of products....

[Shock]

After you've had a play if it's not beyond your ability, a shot of the transformer and good pcb front and back photos would be of interest. As well as the firmware version.

Don't expect it to behave like the JBC, on certain JBC models the heating to setback/standby temp and overshoot are not display to the user. The original ADS 200 by design was more conservative heating the last 20C or so.

Many of the previous user comparisons of stations more compare the regulation accuracy and confuse a large mass with an insulated ground plane, making the tests about higher temps than power or throughput, so the outcome can be skewed.

The testing performed by actual manufacturers however tracked external tip temp and multiple conductive (uniform) targets so you could see actual tip recovery in action and the data made sense.

Perhaps a video of the display during a room temp bare tip (small chisel) heating up from power off. Then some soldering observing the display during some easy targets that go quickly molten. This may show any firmware changes around or near set temp.

[rce_pirate]

i am sure i can do some of that, should be coming this weekend. i was actually interested in pulling the firmware myself just to understand that part. i am in the middle of doing a bunch of bga chip off's so this will be a piece of cake to test out soldering. i have some boards for testing.

[knotlogic]

Hi n3mmr, am I reading right that you have both the older ADS200 and the newer ADS200 Plus?  I'm curious if there are any discernible differences between the tip cartridges between the two stations.

Their product launch page says:

Through redevelopment of the entire thermal cycle, from power source to tip-heater cartridge, the ADS200 PLUS is now more responsive when higher thermal demand is required in the soldering process, as well as offering improved thermal recovery.

Which I take to mean that they've made changes to the tip cartridge.  At the same time, I would have thought that they're fully compatible with the older version as it wouldn't make sense to have a second near identical line of tips for the ADS200 Plus, when they have the ADS200 and MBT360.

Which leaves the question of how would us end users be able to tell which is which.

[n3mmr]

Hi n3mmr, am I reading right that you have both the older ADS200 and the newer ADS200 Plus?  I'm curious if there are any discernible differences between the tip cartridges between the two stations.

Their product launch page says:

Through redevelopment of the entire thermal cycle, from power source to tip-heater cartridge, the ADS200 PLUS is now more responsive when higher thermal demand is required in the soldering process, as well as offering improved thermal recovery.

Which I take to mean that they've made changes to the tip cartridge.  At the same time, I would have thought that they're fully compatible with the older version as it wouldn't make sense to have a second near identical line of tips for the ADS200 Plus, when they have the ADS200 and MBT360.

Which leaves the question of how would us end users be able to tell which is which.

The tips are identical, as far as I know.
I think there are hw changes plus fw changes to handle those hw changes.
But I have no idea what the he changes are. Once I have dealt with some stuff I need to prioritize I will take pictures of the internals and/or test the thermal performance.

[tooki]

i just bought an ads200 from the website on nov 30th. SKU: 8007-0578 - i think that is the plus. if someone wants me to run some speicifc tests let me know. i have a jbc cd1-bqe as a comparison. its old but still works well. just trying to change my daily driver to a newer company. i dont like jbc's customer service, been a interesting experience with the b-iron line of products....

Again, Pace doesn’t change SKUs/part numbers when they update products, so 8007-0578 could be ADS200 or ADS200 Plus (though that part number does mean the 120V version with standard stand). With that said, Pace introduced the Plus early this year, so there’s no chance you’ll get a non-Plus version.

[Shock]

Everyone loves a good mystery.

[n3mmr]

Everyone loves a good mystery.

I REALLY do NOT agree with that!

[n3mmr]

Today I got a new PLCC prom with firmware 1.5 for my older station, the ADS200.
That actually gave a real and immediate improvement in performance.

With the new FW I had no problem to put a large solder blob on a large 35μm copper PCB.
With 1.2 the ADS200 struggled even with large Ultra tips.
Now it was easy to do.

[2N3055]

Today I got a new PLCC prom with firmware 1.5 for my older station, the ADS200.
That actually gave a real and immediate improvement in performance.

With the new FW I had no problem to put a large solder blob on a large 35μm copper PCB.
With 1.2 the ADS200 struggled even with large Ultra tips.
Now it was easy to do.

Hello!

May I ask where did you get it from?
I have 1.4 (that was released quickly after ADS200 was released) and wonder if there would be any benefit to switch to 1.5

Thanks!

Best,
Siniša

[Shock]

N3mmr so ADS200 1.5 and ADS200 Plus 1.6 that suggests there could be at least a small hardware revision in the Plus model.

I recall the more recently made original ADS200 had new caps and mosfets but those were likely just part subs as the stations were still on 1.4 firmware.

Would be nice if you can find time for some PCB front/back and transformer pics of the new ADS200 Plus. The original ADS200 microcontroller (with 1.2 firmware or Rev C) is an Atmel 89C51 RB2-UM under the sticker.

[n3mmr]

Today I got a new PLCC prom with firmware 1.5 for my older station, the ADS200.
That actually gave a real and immediate improvement in performance.

With the new FW I had no problem to put a large solder blob on a large 35μm copper PCB.
With 1.2 the ADS200 struggled even with large Ultra tips.
Now it was easy to do.

Hello!

May I ask where did you get it from?
I have 1.4 (that was released quickly after ADS200 was released) and wonder if there would be any benefit to switch to 1.5

Thanks!

Best,
Siniša

I got it from the EU rep for Pace, Factronix GmbH in Germany.
I bought the station in 2019 from the EU rep at that time, Welectron, and that is probably why I was handled by a German firm. They probably had to accept handling support for existing customers when taking on the representative role.

[Hydrawerk]

My ADS200 was bought in 2022 and there is 1-5 firmware version shown on the LED display.