Soldering stations with "auto sleep" temperature lowering?

[tsmith35]

That sounds like a particularly painful death by molten metal submersion!

Oh, I dunno... the terminator gave it a thumbs up.

I'm glad the Hakko FM-203 has an option to turn off the beeper. It was the first thing I did when I received it.

[creyc]

[gotvolts]

I would spend the money on a new METCAL in my opinion.

I've worked with wellers and a bunch of other ones for years until I purchased my own METCAL.  I'll never go back. 

[SLJ]

I just bought a new Weller WX station.  I've used it for a day now and here's what I found.  The pencil heats up from off to full temp in under 3 seconds.  It has an accelerometer so going into standby does not have anything to do with the stand.  The magnet in the stand is just there to help hold it in place.  Lay it down on the bench and it will go into standby at your predetermined time. When you pick it up again it's ready to go in a couple of seconds.  You can set any times and temp you want from the touch screen. The touch screen works great.  They have both SMD pencils and different wattage irons available for it.  The irons actually have a LED ring in the handle that will let you know if the tip drops below temp (settable parameter).

The reason I bought this Weller now (I was going to buy the lower WD model or a JBC)  is they have a special going on till the end of the year where if you buy a WX or WD station they will send you a free tool. Pretty much your choice of tools for it.  I bought the WX2 controller with a pencil and stand.  They are sending me a free set of $300 tweezers.  If you can swing it you can buy just the WX1 power supply now for around $350 US and then choose any of the tools for it for free.  That's not bad for a top of the line station.

I used a JBC for a summer on a job and they are good and I was considering one but then I saw the deal on the Wellers.
I had a Metcal last year for a couple of weeks.  Quick to heat up but it would not always come out of sleep mode without turning it off and on again. It was a pain. That's why I got rid of it.  Could have just been a bad unit but it was fairly new and someone else told me theirs had the same problem.  I'm sure there will be many here that will say the Metcal is better but after using both, I have to say the Weller kicks ass.

[nanofrog]

I just bought a new Weller WX station.  I've used it for a day now and here's what I found.  The pencil heats up from off to full temp in under 3 seconds.  It has an accelerometer so going into standby does not have anything to do with the stand.  The magnet in the stand is just there to help hold it in place.  Lay it down on the bench and it will go into standby at your predetermined time. When you pick it up again it's ready to go in a couple of seconds.  You can set any times and temp you want from the touch screen. The touch screen works great.  They have both SMD pencils and different wattage irons available for it.  The irons actually have a LED ring in the handle that will let you know if the tip drops below temp (settable parameter).

The reason I bought this Weller now (I was going to buy the lower WD model or a JBC)  is they have a special going on till the end of the year where if you buy a WX or WD station they will send you a free tool. Pretty much your choice of tools for it.  I bought the WX2 controller with a pencil and stand.  They are sending me a free set of $300 tweezers.  If you can swing it you can buy just the WX1 power supply now for around $350 US and then choose any of the tools for it for free.  That's not bad for a top of the line station.

I used a JBC for a summer on a job and they are good and I was considering one but then I saw the deal on the Wellers.
I had a Metcal last year for a couple of weeks.  Quick to heat up but it would not always come out of sleep mode without turning it off and on again. It was a pain. That's why I got rid of it.  Could have just been a bad unit but it was fairly new and someone else told me theirs had the same problem.  I'm sure there will be many here that will say the Metcal is better but after using both, I have to say the Weller kicks ass.

Nice. 

Finally there's some value back in their products. Well, at least until the promo runs out.     

Hope you get years and years of great service out of it.

[SLJ]

Finally there's some value back in their products. Well, at least until the promo runs out.     
Hope you get years and years of great service out of it.

Actually even without the deal, the WX1 (single channel w/touchscreen) with an iron and stand is about $500. A comparable Metcal starts above $650 US.  The WD series (Without the cool touchscreen and USB but still all the controls) is around $300 so that's pretty even with the other entry level stations and gives the same controls if not better than the higher Metcals.  Price wise they are all pretty much in the same range.  Even without the deal at this point I would still go for the Weller.   

Besides, the WX looks awesome.  Nice big, easy to read display. Great for my old eyes. Not just a black box.

[nanofrog]

Finally there's some value back in their products. Well, at least until the promo runs out.     
Hope you get years and years of great service out of it.

Actually even without the deal, the WX1 (single channel w/touchscreen) with an iron and stand is about $500. A comparable Metcal starts above $650 US.  The WD series (Without the cool touchscreen and USB but still all the controls) is around $300 so that's pretty even with the other entry level stations and gives the same controls if not better than the higher Metcals.  Price wise they are all pretty much in the same range.  Even without the deal at this point I would still go for the Weller.   

Besides, the WX looks awesome.  Nice big, easy to read display. Great for my old eyes. Not just a black box.

I was thinking in terms of the WX1 + free iron & stand @ ~$350 vs. a JBC Compact @~$430. Extra $80 could be put towards a few tips. At full price, the JBC comes in cheaper, hence the value comment for a single port station just running an iron (separates do have an advantage with being able to run additional tools, which you were after). Tossing in 2x tips for free helps tip the scale in JBC's favor just that much more as well.

There's also the variable tip quality that goes hand-in-hand with Weller lately (some good, had some the plating is shot in ~50hrs), so even if it is less expensive, it may cost more on consumables down the road. YMMV of course, but I consider consumables and particular tool selection as part of the decision process, and may change in favor of different companies depending on the specifics.  But it seems that JBC has come in cheaper at more recent examinations (iron/s + tweezers + tip quality & selection).

In some cases, there are alternative tip sources (Plato/Techspray; even seen Chinese clones from one eBay seller). Unfortunately, they don't make what you'd need though (nothing that's an AIO type, and only the more popular tip series). 

[SLJ]

I've not had enough experience with tips for these newer Weller stations yet.  The MX SMD pencil tips cost but the iron tips are under $10.  The cheaper Wellers I've seen lately are made in Mexico but the WX and WD series are made in Germany so my bet is the tips are fine.  I've had a Weller WESD51 on the other bench for over a year now and that's been fine also. Still using the original tip which gets a lot of use and gets left on for long durations.  Don't know where it was made as there is no country of origin marked on it.

[nanofrog]

I've not had enough experience with tips for these newer Weller stations yet.  The MX SMD pencil tips cost but the iron tips are under $10.  The cheaper Wellers I've seen lately are made in Mexico but the WX and WD series are made in Germany so my bet is the tips are fine.  I've had a Weller WESD51 on the other bench for over a year now and that's been fine also. Still using the original tip which gets a lot of use and gets left on for long durations.  Don't know where it was made as there is no country of origin marked on it.

Weller's tips are made all over the place. LT series for example are made primarily in Bosnia (seen one from Japan). NT series is made in Japan. RT series are from Germany though, so I don't have direct experience (seen a review that indicated they bend FWIW; not sure if QC issue or improper use/abuse).

Even their German made stations have had issues however (WD, WRM, & WX), and from my perspective, it's due to the rules regarding the "Made in Germany" qualification (20% content or significant transformation) that allow them to cut corners and still qualify.

Mine for example (WD1), at least the power board was manufactured by an OEM in Asia. Pics of mine can be found here. Other threads cover the issues.

It's not garbage by any means, nor am I looking to dump mine. But Weller isn't what it once was in regard to reliability or QC, tips included IME, and are being bested by the competition as a result.

[SLJ]

I think it's a given that nobody's station is going to last 30 years at this point.  There's more to them now than an on/off switch and heater and a heck of a lot more to fail.  I haven't  had any tip problems with any of mine but I'm only using the PT, ET, and now the RT tips.  I never buy tips on ebay as there are fakes all over the place. Don't use sponges anymore either.

[DL8RI]

They seem to have changed their Tip-Manufactoring lately. At least my new LT-Tip (ordered at Farnell last week, produced 7/13) looks a little bit different from the other ones i bought the years before, e.g. it has the Weller-Logo printed on it.

I hope for the best, has been used two times until now and has seen probably ~10 hours of heat (300-350°C). I will have a sharp eye on it and will report here if something happens.