Weller quandary: find iron for EC1002 station or give up?

[usuthu65]

Hi all,

In a bulk buy, I ended up with a complete Weller WTCPT station including the TC 201T iron (fixed 42 watt).  I also ended up with a Weller EC 1002 ESD safe controller base but sadly no iron.  I've looked online and the irons that go with the EC1002 seem to be nearly all unavailable.

My goal is to have a temperature adjustable but good quality soldering station.

Any suggestions?  Should I just sell both of these items and buy a Haako?  Or should I stick with the EC 1002 base and, if so, is there a good place to find the EC 1002 compatible iron at a non-ridiculous price?

[eeviking]

You need to find a Weller LR21 iron for the EC1002

Put a ET-H tip on it and you have a decent station even for small smd work.

I have a 25 year old EC2002 that's still working great

[Neomys Sapiens]

I have not encountered an EC1002, but if it is compatible to the WECP20/EC2002, you could also use the MLR21 iron. And the LR20, which is the precedessor of the LR21.

[usuthu65]

Hi all,

  Thanks for the replies.  However, Weller equipment is not inexpensive, and the cost of any of the irons you have provided is almost as much as a brand new Hakko 888 station.  Anyone want to convince me that I should stick with trying to find the Weller part?

[Messtechniker]

Hi all,

  Thanks for the replies.  However, Weller equipment is not inexpensive, and the cost of any of the irons you have provided is almost as much as a brand new Hakko 888 station.  Anyone want to convince me that I should stick with trying to find the Weller part?

If you are planning to use Weller frequently in the very long term then go for it. My WECP20 with its LR20 is now 45 year old.
Only had to replace a broken cable once after 30 years of almost daily use. And of course also the tips from time to time.

[eeviking]

Just looked at images of the EC1002 and they all seem to have a warning on the front about only use EC1201A / EC1302A / EC1503A irons and they have a slightly different 5pin connector.
So maybe the LR21 etc. irons is not a match for the made in USA stations.
I guess the US EC1002 / EC2001 irons use a different temp sensor than the EU (German) WECP20 / EC2002 ?

[Kilo Tango]

The trouble is, weller changed the wiring of the iron cable, and effectively put the sensor over where the element was, so if you plug an old iron into a new station or vice versa you blow the temp sensor, which is expensive 

A resistance check is not a lot of use 'cause they measure around the same. However on the cable the sensor pins are gold in colour and match up with the gold coloured sockets on the stand socket. 

An advantage about the older irons is there is a lot more tip metal in contact with the heating element so better heating. The new irons just have the small tip base, a circle around 6mm, to transfer the heat.

Ken