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| Weller WTCP-51 solder station and TCP-S pencil not working |
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| Gyro:
--- Quote from: 9a4wy on June 21, 2024, 12:08:43 pm ---We stoped using Weller TCP-S soldering pencils/stations and we moved to JBC...little expensive but much more reliable. Most important thing...you can lock max. temp with password... so no independent change settings. From that point, we cut costs in half . If you have TCP-S from 1990's they will last forever. But if you have later ones(I think they moved switch production to mexico) they will not last long. We had even new open box TCP-s switches that did not work. I have here 20 WTCP-s stations with pencils, and they probably will go to garbage. They are good enough for work, but simply there is no point to keep them, switches are so bad. --- End quote --- Indeed, I have a TCP-S from the pre '90s that has never missed a beat (Rifa cap and all), it's reserved for 'two iron' jobs these days though. I suspect that there was a change in contact material on the later magnestat switches that develops an interface layer that takes more than 24V to break down. The original switches were also used in their mains element irons so probably had better contact composition than the later ones (after the mains ones were discontinued). |
| stj:
i'm kind of amazed that everybody is focussed on the technology, MagnaStat / electronic / "dimmer", rather than the fault. having had many irons fail including several wellers, the most common failure is the cable. it usually breaks under the insulation just where it leaves the handpiece because of the constant moving. if you dont mind the cable being 4-6" shorter it's easy to fix without buying new cable - although it's a good idea once this problem happens to ditch the old stuff. |
| Gyro:
--- Quote from: stj on June 22, 2024, 12:52:46 pm ---i'm kind of amazed that everybody is focussed on the technology, MagnaStat / electronic / "dimmer", rather than the fault. --- End quote --- If only it was possible to get the OP to do some basic fault-finding rather than doing lots of 'wondering', but given who the OP is... I've tried [Edit: to the point of losing my temper, but all I get is 'thanked' as usual] EDIT: Even this just got thanked rather than prompting him to actually do something! |
| Faringdon:
Hi, The magnastat temperature control system sounds terrible in terms of ESD. I mean, the tip must be earthed for ESD protectivity reasons. But a tip that is loose when it "flicks up" away from the heater, "magnastat style", cannot be earthed. As such, I am surprised such a system exists. Clearly , with any solder iron, the tip should be continuously connected to an earthed heater structure. Do you confirm that the tips of magnastat are not earthed, indeed, cannot be realistically earthed? The top post here seems to confirm that its not ESD safe. Surely, such an "instrument of doom" should have like an ESD "skull & cross bones" on it, clearly visible. A soldering iron without ESD safety is like a dishwasher that smashes the plates! I mean, this is likely why the 8 VSSOPs i just soldered in are malfunctioning. Again, the top of this (below) says the WTCP-51 is not suitable for ESD operation as the "tip is not anti-static"...but surely the tip is earthed? https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1448594.pdf |
| Ian.M:
Faringdon, you are a troll. You are also so incompetent at basic research that you could not pour piss out of a boot with instructions on the sole! If you believe the tip clicks or "flicks up" to and fro, alternately towards and away from the heater "magnastat style", then you have obviously never used a Weller Magnastat iron, nor been in close proximity to anyone using one for long. The tip does not move in and out as it cycles round the temperature set by the Curie point slug, and if you had used one you would know that. The moving parts are the magnet inside the hollow shaft containing the heater element, the wire pushrod bonded to the magnet and the switch contacts on the other end of the pushrod. The magnet and pushrod oscillate up and down a small fraction of an inch inside the shaft as it cycles, with no externally visible movement. Older TCP base stations did not ground the tip. This was easy to resolve by fitting a three wire mains lead and plug, and running a ground to the dedicated wire in the iron cord that connects to the shaft/heater mounting flange and thus to the tip. I suppose there may be one or two Weller Magnastat irons still out there with two wire cords - if you have one of those, you'll need to replace it with a three wire cord as well, with a ring terminal at the handle end of the ground wire to fit under one of the mounting flange screws. |
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