[Coco] Soldering Irons

[Michael Furman]

Now that Gene mentions it, I have replaced a heater in these Weller irons before.  This is a simple task and the instructions are very good.  I have an older WTCPL iron and here are the instructions for it.  Also it's worth reading the operating principles:

http://bama.edebris.com/download/weller/wtcpl/WTCPL%20Tech%20Sheet.pdf

The boat anchor archive also has the manuals and tech sheets for most of the other Weller models, I think the ebay auction is sent before is wtcpn or wtcpr it just depends on when it was manufactured:

http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/weller/

Also there is additional info on stack exchange:

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/1929/older-weller-soldering-iron-wont-heat

--
Michael R. Furman
Email: n6il at ocs.net
Phone: +1 (408) 480-5865

> On Nov 4, 2017, at 5:32 AM, Eric <eric at canales.me> wrote:
> 
> I'm in love with my butane soldering gun:
> https://www.radioshack.com/products/mini-butane-gas-powered-iron
> 
> Which is a re-branded ISO-Tip soldering iron:
> https://iso-tip.com/product/pro-50-butane-soldering-iron-kit-7971
> 
> 
> 
>> On Sat, Nov 4, 2017 at 3:01 AM, Gene Heskett <gheskett at shentel.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> On Saturday 04 November 2017 01:51:02 Michael Furman wrote:
>>> 
>>> I'd recommend a Weller WTCP or the newer WTCPT series soldering
>>> station with the matching iron. You should be able to find them on
>>> eBay or surplus for reasonable prices.  These irons basically last
>>> forever. The standard tip is 600F medium conical tip that does just
>>> fine for most jobs but you can get  tips of many different shapes,
>>> sizes, and temperatures that simply screw on.
>>> 
>>> https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fu
>>> lk%2Fitm%2F142561354478
>>> 
>> Three things on this model.
>> 
>> 1. If the 3rd pin on the power cord has been removed, it will blow gates
>> in an IC when it switches on and off to maintain the set temp, which is
>> marked on the button at the rear of the tip. Never ever use a third pin
>> isolation adapter, or a drop cord thats been clipped, it MUST have a
>> good ground. This also means the board you are working on must be
>> disconnected from any source of power. Even then, its not 100% safe in
>> CMOS circuitry. 99.9999% maybe.  Or I had an already damaged chip.
>> 
>> 2. the pocket where all the loose tips are shown in that set of pix needs
>> to have a sponge cut to fit the pocket, and kept wet to serve as a tip
>> wiper/cleaner.
>> 
>> 3. Modern low or no lead solders will need a tip stamped with a 7 for
>> 700F temps as they are a higher melting point solders. So will solders
>> with a 2 or higher percent of silver content. Excellent solders, but
>> 600F may be found to be a bit slow with them.
>> 
>> And since Cooper Group bought Weller, decades ago, the heaters have a
>> limited lifetime.  I have one of the original old black brick style of
>> that iron, bought it in the 1950's, probably has accumulated 250,000
>> power on hours by now, powered up 8+ hours a day at the various tv
>> station service benches where I was employed down thru the last 40 years
>> I worked in tv. Still using its original heater.  Looks like it lost the
>> war, and no, its not for sale, its still my goto iron for small quickly
>> done projects.
>> 
>>> --
>>> Michael R. Furman
>>> Email: n6il at ocs.net
>>> Phone: +1 (408) 480-5865
>>> 
>>>> On Nov 3, 2017, at 9:41 PM, rcrislip <rcrislip at neo.rr.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hello, What would be a good soldering iron for circuit board work?
>>>> What heat, watts, Brand, etc. TIA
>>>> 
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>> 
>> 
>> Cheers, Gene Heskett
>> --
>> "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
>> soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
>> -Ed Howdershelt (Author)
>> Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene>
>> 
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> 
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