Products > Test Equipment

Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

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Cerebus:

--- Quote from: bd139 on June 29, 2018, 09:49:39 pm ---If gadget pub fixed that I’d be there like a shot. Perhaps being too pissed to drive would be a win. 

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Did I forget to mention the excellent dungeons hutches cages creche facilities? I'm sorry. It should be obvious that GadgetPubtm's policy is to induce a feeling of carefree spending relaxation in our valued patrons. As husbands and fathers ourselves we know how important it is to get away from the bastards know that our loved ones are safe and cared for before we attend to our own lust for gadgets and booze need for a chance to relax and get legless with our cronies catch up with our gentlemen friends.

bd139:
Where do I sign?  :-DD

Specmaster:
You can only sign once you gave been given the required permission from SWMBO who must agree to you having time off being her slave and bag carrier.

From mobile device so predictive text might have struck again [emoji83]

GreyWoolfe:

--- Quote from: mnementh on June 29, 2018, 08:13:09 pm ---The big MX units like mine incorporate another feature as well; this is what the "SmartHeat" feature is all about:

The inductor is powered by PWM regulated HF AC; as such the entire tip is sensitive to changes in the metal mass at the tip. The control board monitors this loading, and increases the PWM Duty Cycle in response at the instant the tip contacts anything metal, so the entire "Temp at tip drops, sensor calls for more heat, heater heats up" part of the loop is bypassed.  As you correctly noted, it simply applies the heat faster.  That said... speaking as someone whose primary use is repair rather than assembly work, I still prefer the thinner profile of my T12 & MX tips. Another thing I prefer about the MetCal in particular is that when tinning/soldering wires, there's a lot less of the cheap insulation bubbling/shrinking back where you have to stop, trim the burnt stuff off, then tin again before you solder to not have a blobby mess.

Myself, I still prefer the MX overall... if you shop carefully, you can buy a working, guaranteed MX-500P for $50-75 pretty much any time on fleaBay, then add a new MetCal MX-RM3E handle for ~$110, or a new Thermaltronics SHP-1 for ~$80, add a couple tips for ~$20 each, and you're all in for around $200. You have the part you interface with, the handle and tip, brand new... and the MX500 power bricks are built like a effing TANK; they're made to run 24/7 in an industrial environment. If you get one that's working, odds are its going to keep working a good long time.  If you shop carefully for used handle and tips, you can get everything for more like $100-150, and then you only need a stand. if you don't want sleep mode, any stand will do. If you do want it, $40 buys a genuine MetCal or Thermaltronics stand with the magnet built in. Otherwise, you can do like I did and just mod a speaker magnet into your favorite stand.

I'm at ~$89 all-in (plus another $8 for the stand which I use for two different stations) for this setup with used STTS-838 1.5mm chisel tip; but that's after having to wrangle with the seller on the handle for selling "busted, fixed up best I could" as "used, working" and getting 1/2 my money back. I had to do some repair on the F-connector to get a reliable connection; that kind of shenanigans is the obvious reason to go with new instead of used for this most crucial part of the system.



--- Quote from: bd139 on June 29, 2018, 06:52:50 pm ---You don’t /need/ one but it’s like upgrading a chair leg to a Samauri sword so far.

Honestly I was a bit worried it was going to be a bit meh but I was pleasantly surprised. This is difficult for me as I’m a 100% cynical glass half empty sort of person.

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Yeah, that's MetCal; it doesn't look interesting with bright OLED screen, tell time, or beep at you like my KSGER T12 station in the background; it JUST EFFING WORKS.

My grandfather used to describe certain tools... ones where everything but "quality" and "tool-ness" had been pared away, leaving nothing to distract you from your work as "a joy in the hand". The MetCal MX is just such a tool.



mnem
*back to the grindstone*

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I am all in at $200 for my MX-500, NOS wand and stand, Talon tweezers and stand plus 5 tips.  It truly is a joy in hand.  I have had firesticks, then I bought a real Hakko 936.  I then upgraded to the FX-951 and then the deal on the Metcal came up.  If the Metcal came up first, I probably would not have bought the 951.  I have quite large hands and the RM-3E and the 2027 wands are so comfortable with the edge going to the Metcal-it feels more substantial.  The MX series is worth every penny, even if it's a lot of pennies.  For my use, it will long outlast me.

bitseeker:

--- Quote from: mnementh on June 29, 2018, 09:29:06 pm ---
--- Quote from: bitseeker on June 29, 2018, 08:38:41 pm ---
--- Quote from: mnementh on June 29, 2018, 03:34:40 am ---

The funny looking clippies are from the garden section of the local Dollar Store; they're meant to hold vines and such to trellises or stakes without injuring them. You get like a dozen of 'em for a buck, and they're perfect for jobs like this where you need a zillion little fingers to gently pinch all around the edge of something.

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Nice clamps. Must remember the dollar store for that.

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Just remember that these little guys are for where you need a soft touch... a few ounces of pressure is all they produce. Not like the $4 plastic Bucket o' Clamps from Horror Fraught that clamp tight enough to break themselves.

These clips are also a good emergency source of 100mm-150mm pieces of spring steel wire when you need to fabri-cobble something together real quick.

--- End quote ---

Yep, everything has its place and purpose. Come to think of it, the lightweight plastic clothes pins that I got for backpacking might be similar to your green clamps, just with less-obvious spring wire.

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