Weller WLC100

[bobcat2000]

Hi Guys,

I want to buy a Weller WLC100.

This person gave it a very bad review.  Looking at the picture, there was no way this thing could overheat and melted like this.  Right?  Look at the tip.  Looked like it was torched by purpose.  If it overheated like this, there would be smoke coming out from the body not melted from the handle itself.  Do you think this review was fake?

[Shock]

I'd pass on that Weller it's only 40W and get a 65W Hakko FX888D from the tequipment.net website. The Hakko is a little more expensive but it's one of the most reliable and safe entry level stations with a decent tip selection.

We have a 6% discount with tequipment but check around before buying. You might want to look at tips as well and get a chisel or something a little better for through hole than the provided pointy tip.

Edit:

If you do get a Hakko get it from an authorized distributor there have been chinese fakes sold on online marketplaces like Amazon and Ebay.

[wraper]

Please don't buy this crap. I doubt Weller even made it. Either it's a clone of old and crappy Zhongdi ZD-99 station with a triac dimmer, or might be even made by them and is simply a rebrand. For this money you can buy a somewhat decent station instead of this crap with no real temperature control and bulky soldering iron.

[wraper]

Note how they claim "accurate power 5W to 40W", not accurate temperature  .

[Ian.M]

The screw head visible is still in line with the handle, and I doubt Weller are using a thermoplastic for their handles, so the only way the shaft could be that badly out of line without severe visible damage to the handle would be if it or its mounting flange is badly bent at their junction.  Diagnosis: Idiot damage, either by posties or couriers playing football with the package in transit, or by the lUser rapping the shaft hard on the bench in a misguided attempt to remove excess solder from the bit without wiping it.

The bit looks typical for one (on any iron) that has been abused by an idiot by running it too hot for too long without keeping it wiped and tinned.  Once you get over around 400 deg C, a bit can go bad like that in under an hour.  If you need to use a high bit temperature with a soldering station that doesn't have set-back when the iron is in the stand, if you haven't used it for several minutes, you *MUST* clean and re-tin it and turn the temperature way down (or even better, switch it off), only turning it back up (or on) when you need it again.  If you don't have the self discipline to do that reliably, either pony up for a pro-grade station with in-stand setback, or if you are a real cheap-skate, get a loud 3 minute egg timer and start it whenever you park the iron!

However, as Wraper has just pointed out, the Weller WLC100 isn't temperature controlled - its knob is just a power control, so its no better than a cheap 40W 'firestick' iron + a light dimmer that you can get for half the price or even less, so I'm with Shock and Wraper - don't buy it.   If you cant afford the suggested Hakko, there are various cheaper options for a proper temperature controlled iron, but you have to know what you are doing as several options require their base stations to be modded to actually meet the safety standards expected in first world countries!

[wraper]

The screw head visible is still in line with the handle, and I doubt Weller are using a thermoplastic for their handles, so the only way the shaft could be that badly out of line without severe visible damage to the handle would be if it or its mounting flange is badly bent at their junction.

Weller uses thermoplastic even in much more expensive soldering stations and so do other expensive brands.

[Stray Electron]

   I've never seen an orange Weller solder station and I doubt that Weller made it. But FWIW I've used many of the old blue-grey Weller irons and they all worked great.  Used Well stuff is wifely available in the US so if you need to save money go buy one of those (with the features that you need) from a surplus store or from E-bay. If Ebay make sure that it listed as Used (or New) since E-bay/PayPal will make the seller refund your money if it doesn't work and isn't "as described".

  I have several Hakko stations and they're good but usually are very expensive in the US when compared to Weller. Which ever you consider, check and see how easy it is to get replacement tips and heater for that model before make your final decision.

[Bud]

The screw head visible is still in line with the handle, and I doubt Weller are using a thermoplastic for their handles, so the only way the shaft could be that badly out of line without severe visible damage to the handle would be if it or its mounting flange is badly bent at their junction.  Diagnosis: Idiot damage, either by posties or couriers playing football with the package in transit, or by the lUser rapping the shaft hard on the bench in a misguided attempt to remove excess solder from the bit without wiping it.

Seems it was delivered damaged since the guy (who appears had no experience)  said:

At first i thought it is the way it should be

I have no clue what he did with it as it is not possible to make the tip body  *That* crusty in just an hour, unless you keep fully dipping it in acid flux

[Ian.M]

I've seen a Weller Magnastat TCP PTDD9 bit (a brute of a hoof bit that runs at 900 deg F, approx 480 deg C) get that cruddy in not much over an hour just resoldering heavy terminals and we were trying to keep it clean and tinned, so I suspect he tried to compensate for poor performance due to lacking technique and tip-care knowledge by 'turning it up to 11'.  He probably also didn't know the importance of getting a new bit's face properly tinned as soon as it will just melt solder the first time it heats up.

One can also FUBAR a bit within minutes by using it to melt plastic and not thoroughly cleaning and retinning it immediately afterwards with no delay. Molten PVC or other halogenated plastics are *WORSE* than acid flux!

[bobcat2000]

Thanks for the tips.

So, the guy didn't know what he was doing.  I have a bunch of cheap irons.  Never seen one that bad.

I have the blue one which is 15W.  The red one is 25W.  The black one is... don't remember how hot it is but I remember it is too hot.  The black one melt everything it touches.  I have these 3 irons for like forever.  They all work great.

I use the red one a lot.  It is a Weller and it works great.  But lately, I have problem melting the solder with the red one.  I think all those lead free solder are difficult to melt.  That's why I want another cheap and cheaply made Weller but hotter and can last forever like all these 3.

[wraper]

That's why I want another cheap and cheaply made Weller but hotter and can last forever like all these 3.

FFS forget all these crappy firesticks and get a proper temperature controlled soldering station. Which you can easily do for the price of this crappy Weller.

[tooki]

Please don't buy this crap. I doubt Weller even made it. Either it's a clone of old and crappy Zhongdi ZD-99 station with a triac dimmer, or might be even made by them and is simply a rebrand. For this money you can buy a somewhat decent station instead of this crap with no real temperature control and bulky soldering iron.

It’s much more likely that the Zhongdi is a clone of this Weller.

   I've never seen an orange Weller solder station and I doubt that Weller made it. But FWIW I've used many of the old blue-grey Weller irons and they all worked great.  Used Well stuff is wifely available in the US so if you need to save money go buy one of those (with the features that you need) from a surplus store or from E-bay. If Ebay make sure that it listed as Used (or New) since E-bay/PayPal will make the seller refund your money if it doesn't work and isn't "as described".

Red Weller products are their consumer line, whereas the blue ones are their professional line:



With that said, I 100% agree with you and everyone else saying to avoid it. For the same money you can get a decent quality Chinese Hakko clone that will run circles around it. OP, if you follow everyone’s advice and get a proper temperature-controlled (not power-controlled!) station, you’ll wonder how you ever did without!

This Weller station is literally nothing more than your existing 40W iron with a light dimmer in line. You could achieve the same performance by using your existing 40W iron plugged into a dimmer.

[wraper]

Please don't buy this crap. I doubt Weller even made it. Either it's a clone of old and crappy Zhongdi ZD-99 station with a triac dimmer, or might be even made by them and is simply a rebrand. For this money you can buy a somewhat decent station instead of this crap with no real temperature control and bulky soldering iron.

It’s much more likely that the Zhongdi is a clone of this Weller.

Who knows, that Zhongdi is available for at least 25 years, and I can find mentions of Weller in early 2000's

[tooki]

Please don't buy this crap. I doubt Weller even made it. Either it's a clone of old and crappy Zhongdi ZD-99 station with a triac dimmer, or might be even made by them and is simply a rebrand. For this money you can buy a somewhat decent station instead of this crap with no real temperature control and bulky soldering iron.

It’s much more likely that the Zhongdi is a clone of this Weller.

Who knows, that Zhongdi is available for at least 25 years, and I can find mentions of Weller in early 2000's

Weller has been around since 1945. There is no chance that Weller is cloning a Chinese junk station.

[wraper]

Weller has been around since 1945. There is no chance that Weller is cloning a Chinese junk station.

There are many old companies which nowadays don't produce anything and just resell stuff under their brand. And I was talking talking about particular models. There is a high chance Weller selling station made not by them. And their cheap stuff is frankly crap and there were issues like tips disintegrating within a few hours of soldering. FWIW Zhongdi have more expensive stations with this style of iron and real temperature control. While for Weller it's a single model AFAIK.
EDIT: and there is also Solomon selling stations  with such style of irons for as long as I can remember. But they don't sell this cheap dimmer crap.

[Stray Electron]

    https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=weller+solder+station&_sacat=0&Brand=Weller&_dcat=258302&LH_ItemCondition=4&_sop=15

   $30 to $40 will get you a good used temperature controlled Weller solder station on fleabay. 

[tooki]

Weller has been around since 1945. There is no chance that Weller is cloning a Chinese junk station.

There are many old companies which nowadays don't produce anything and just resell stuff under their brand.

That is largely old brands that went out business, and someone else bought the name and resurrected it for junk gadgets (like Polaroid, Telefunken, Blaupunkt, RCA, etc). Weller never went out of business.

The only vintage Weller catalogs I could find were from 1970s and earlier, and this station wasn’t in them, but if I had to guess based on the aesthetic design, it’s from the 80s. I think my theory that the Chinese cloned Weller is far far more plausible than what you propose.

[Bud]

To my recollection that red soldering station appeared somewhere in early to mid-2000.
Digikey sells it under Apex Group brand and gives a link to the Weller catalog but there is no that station in that catalog.

[bobcat2000]

Someone took apart the WLC100.  It looks great to me.  No fancy circuit.  No moving part = Less stuffs to fail.

http://www.tonyvanroon.com/oldwebsite/circ/wlc100.html

[tooki]

To my recollection that red soldering station appeared somewhere in early to mid-2000.
Digikey sells it under Apex Group brand and gives a link to the Weller catalog but there is no that station in that catalog.

Well, Apex Group is Weller's parent company.

[Ian.M]

Someone took apart the WLC100.  It looks great to me.  No fancy circuit.  No moving part = Less stuffs to fail.

http://www.tonyvanroon.com/oldwebsite/circ/wlc100.html

Its good if you are building wiring looms, but that teardown says the tip isn't even grounded, which for a mains voltage element iron, makes it totally unsuitable for any serious work with ESD sensitive components (i.e. most modern electronics) due to the likelihood of element to tip leakage current blowing them.

Also power control isn't temperature control.  If its set low enough not to cook the bit in the stand, you'll have to turn it up after the first joint or two in a continuous run of soldering as the bit looses heat to the work.

Your 40W iron, given a new bit, fed from a light dimmer will be exactly equivalent to the WLC100.  If you re-wire your 40W iron with a three wire mains lead, to get a ground to its shaft and bit, it will be *BETTER* than the WLC100. 

N.B. Mains voltage element irons need their shaft (and thus bit) directly grounded.  A 1 Meg series resistor as used for ESD grounding is *NOT* suitable for bit grounding as the element to shaft leakage current can easily become high enough when hot, aided by flux fume contamination of the insulation, to develop an unsafe voltage across it.

[wraper]

Someone took apart the WLC100.  It looks great to me.  No fancy circuit.  No moving part = Less stuffs to fail.

http://www.tonyvanroon.com/oldwebsite/circ/wlc100.html

120V across potentiometer is 'reliable'  for sure. It's crappy dimmer with crappy iron.

[Shock]

Someone took apart the WLC100.  It looks great to me.  No fancy circuit.  No moving part = Less stuffs to fail.

http://www.tonyvanroon.com/oldwebsite/circ/wlc100.html

Reads linked page and it immediately mentions a faulty unit.

[tooki]

Someone took apart the WLC100.  It looks great to me.  No fancy circuit.  No moving part = Less stuffs to fail.

http://www.tonyvanroon.com/oldwebsite/circ/wlc100.html

As others have said, it’s just a regular dimmer circuit just like what’s in your dining room.

I also think it’s hilarious how the guy says “This station lasted about 6-years of 7-hour a-day use, so really fantastic.” as if that were somehow impressive. A decent soldering station will last for decades.

Mind you, proper soldering stations don’t have any moving parts, either. But they do actually control temperature (not power), which is magical if you’ve never used it before.

[wraper]

“This station lasted about 6-years of 7-hour a-day use, so really fantastic.”

This is either bullshit or this guy is an idiot. You need to be completely crazy to use this for daily work, not to say 7 hours a day. Also you'd be churning through tips like crazy. There is no standby function, and even if you switch it off when not needed, it will spend several minutes after turn on before you can solder again.

[bobcat2000]

Thanks for all your inputs.

So, the conclusion is not to spend 30 clams on the Weller WLC100.

The WLC100 is just a light switch with a metal rod to heat up the tip.  It is not a precise equipment.  It has no temperature control or grounding.  These two requirements are crucial.  Reliability is also questionable for the WLC100.

[Shock]

Is $30 all you have to spend? It's entirely up to you and your budget but it won't get recommendations because it's so basic you would expect to find this in someones workshop used to solder a couple of wires together or someone who knows nothing about electronics. Got to start somewhere but you can do better with your money than aim that low.

[tunk]

You could take a look at this iron. Haven't used it so YMMV.
https://okelectronic.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/fixing-and-reverse-engineering-cheap-temperature-controlled-soldering-iron/

[wraper]

You could take a look at this iron. Haven't used it so YMMV.
https://okelectronic.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/fixing-and-reverse-engineering-cheap-temperature-controlled-soldering-iron/

It's crap. If on tight budget, buy cheap T12 cartridge station like Bakon 950D or better KSGER which is more expensive.

[bobcat2000]

Do you have a link to the picture of the inside of a Bakon 950D?

Is it safer than the Ksger?

Thanks!

[Gregg]

Do you have a link to the picture of the inside of a Bakon 950D?

Is it safer than the Ksger?

Thanks!

I purchased one of these Sealody T-12 soldering irons: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZCTM3CV on an Amazon lightning deal for $28.  The circuit board is silkscreened "Bakon 950D" and it takes T-12 tips although the handle seems a little flimsy. I didn't take a picture of the board, but it appears to be safer than the KSGER.  If you can't find a picture of the Bakon, I can take it apart again.

[bobcat2000]

...If you can't find a picture of the Bakon, I can take it apart again.

Yes, please.

No, I didn't find any picture.  I did find a review saying the person replaced the capacitor with a "better" one.  Do you also have a picture to show how long the T12 tip sticking out from the handle?  It looks very long from the picture from Amazon.

These fancy irons run 5A 24V to a piece of metal rod with me holding it.  If they are not safe, I may just get the WLC100.  I don't see a light dimmer hooked up to a heating coil can kill me.   

Many Thanks!!!

[Shock]

There are a few types of the T12 handpiece on the Bakon 950D. One seems longer with shorter tip working distance (shown in the below image), it's black with rubber only in the front. Don't get it confused with the T13 version or the version with metal/thumb screw.

Regarding safety, as best as I can recall the Bakon had a non grounded/earthed tip so was not ESD safe. In early photos I saw that the power cable had the grounded/earth wire but it was just hanging in free air inside the smps case. They might have changed this, but just seeing the pin on the power cable is not conclusive.

I don't think either is particularly safe compared to western standards. Having ground/earth leakage protection is a really good idea when running stuff like this.

[Gregg]

I started a new topic for the Sealody rebrand of the Bakon with a few pictures https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/teardown-of-sealody-980e-(rebrand-of-bakon-bk950)/
It seemed like it was worthy of a new topic.

[rrinker]

 It's a real Weller product. Not temperature controlled, just power controlled. MSRP is $61USD as can be seen on the Weller web site:
https://www.weller-tools.com/consumer/USA/us/Weller+Consumer/Soldering+Stations/Electronic%2C+Repair%2C+and+Everyday/WLC100

I've seen "hobby" places (non-electronic) asking as much as $75 for this POS. Considering I paid less than $50 for my Xytronic which actually IS temperature controlled - I try to discourage as many people as I can from getting these WLC100 models.

I've previously posted my thoughts on Weller. The name was ruined bu Copper Industries and subsequent owners as they make everything from high quality production equipment to absolute garbage and slap the same Weller name on all of it. You could probably power my home town with Carl spinning in his grave (Carl Weller was from my home town, and his factory was less than a mile from my house).

[bobcat2000]

Weller gives the WLC100 a 7-yr warranty.  It is not a fancy iron but Weller does stand behind their products.
All of these fancy soldering stations have very little warranty.  Maybe couple months.

The Xytronic looks nice.  But they only cover their product for a year.

This one looks nice.
Xytronic LF-389D

http://www.xytronic-usa.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=253

[wraper]

Weller gives the WLC100 a 7-yr warranty.  It is not a fancy iron but Weller does stand behind their products.

It has 1 year warranty. It's not in the list of products with 7y warranty.

[bobcat2000]

Oh you are right.  Damn those small prints.

7-year is for the cheap ones that don't have any moving part.
1-year is for those with moving parts.

That makes sense.  More moving parts = More ways to worn them out.

[bobcat2000]

Would you guys point me to the posts for this type of iron pen please?  Thanks!

[bobcat2000]

If you are still reading this post, I found a very good video that compares the Ksger with the WLC100.  It is at the end of the video.  The video shows how the WLC100 is not safe.  It will burn your house down.  The video shows the Ksger is cheaply made but it is safer with all the sensors.

[Shock]

Just in case you missed it, the video points out that neither of them are inherently safe.

The automatic power off though is a totally different issue. It's quite common to have no power saving or auto off feature on cheap or older style soldering irons. You have to be conscious about the risks of leaving them unattended and if you do that the soldering iron or station is robust enough to sit there without failing.

This video shows a leaking cap on a brand new Ksger. But putting the lithium cell battery on the heatsink seems a dumb idea as well. They used to squash it under the top of the case on the power supply. Combined with all the other problems it's a bit of a joke.

[bobcat2000]

Yes, I watched this leaking cap video before.

The one I found actually compare the WLC100 with the Kgser.  That is actually what I want to see.

It is at the very end.  So, I missed it the first time I watched it.

The post I found before only talked about the light dimmer circuit. That post does not talk about how bad or good it is.
This video I found actually talked about why the WLC100 is bad.

[rrinker]

Weller gives the WLC100 a 7-yr warranty.  It is not a fancy iron but Weller does stand behind their products.
All of these fancy soldering stations have very little warranty.  Maybe couple months.

The Xytronic looks nice.  But they only cover their product for a year.

This one looks nice.
Xytronic LF-389D

http://www.xytronic-usa.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=253

 That's the updated version of mine. That one is digital, mine just has an analog knob. I'm not so worried about warranty, I've had mine for at least 13 years now. And tips and replacement heaters are still available for my old one. Though I haven't had to replace the heating element. And the original tip is still usable.