Weller Soldering Iron

[ef37a]

I agree with Hugh, depends on the person and the experience they can prove.

In my case I think 45 years or so fixing TVs, radios, audio and microwaves should prove ability. Then I was working on live chassis for a guitar amp company past my retirement age. I hope they would give me a glowing reccy!

I would not however be 'qualified' to do certain works to my house wiring*, the regulations are very stringent. I HAVE of course! Fitted the odd extra 13A outlet. Some years ago I had to replace a switch unit in the meter cupboard so I was working with one live wire straight out of the company fuse. Nitrile gloves, insulated pliers and ensured that nothing 'earthed' was anywhere near me. Very stressful but in practice just getting one thick wire in a terminal block and screwing it tight. Some people do that every day!

The 'kids' will get the bungalow (or the local council? ) so they can sort out the rewire and the accumulation of 53 years of electronic junk.

*Who here has all the wiring qualifications?

Dave.

[Folderol]

There is this:
https://cpc.farnell.com/ideal-power/59r ... 20supplies

Depends on whether your iron can work on DC. That's down to how the thermal control is managed. If so, all you meed to do is arrange a suitably plug/socket combination. It's possible there are also slightly more beefy PSUs which would give you a bit of extra margin.

[Wonks]

There is this:
https://cpc.farnell.com/ideal-power/59r ... 20supplies

Depends on whether your iron can work on DC. That's down to how the thermal control is managed. If so, all you meed to do is arrange a suitably plug/socket combination. It's possible there are also slightly more beefy PSUs which would give you a bit of extra margin.

As the iron wants to draw 1.9A at 24v, that 1A supply will be overloaded! You'd need 24v with a 2A supply as a minimum.

And from the experiment with a 19v supply (giving 27W), a 24W power supply won't provide enough energy for the iron to stay hot in use.

This would be a better choice https://cpc.farnell.com/tiger-power-sup ... dp/PW04924

But by the time you add on shipping, you are au at £35 or so, and for £40 delivered, you can get a basic 60W temperature controlled soldering station from Amazon.

[GRAHAM99]

There are 24v 2 amp adapters on eBay for about £7.
I can’t work out how to copy the links though.
I will try one of these out!

[Folderol]

Ah! I thought it was a 24W iron

[DGL.]

I agree with Hugh, depends on the person and the experience they can prove.

In my case I think 45 years or so fixing TVs, radios, audio and microwaves should prove ability. Then I was working on live chassis for a guitar amp company past my retirement age. I hope they would give me a glowing reccy!

I would not however be 'qualified' to do certain works to my house wiring*, the regulations are very stringent. I HAVE of course! Fitted the odd extra 13A outlet. Some years ago I had to replace a switch unit in the meter cupboard so I was working with one live wire straight out of the company fuse. Nitrile gloves, insulated pliers and ensured that nothing 'earthed' was anywhere near me. Very stressful but in practice just getting one thick wire in a terminal block and screwing it tight. Some people do that every day!

The 'kids' will get the bungalow (or the local council? ) so they can sort out the rewire and the accumulation of 53 years of electronic junk.

*Who here has all the wiring qualifications?

Dave.

If I can see and correct faults that on paid work then I think I'm OK to do some work myself, Sparkies on YT like to complain about DIYers but some trained individuals are just as bad as a bad DIYer so going with a professional means nothing.

For example we are getting my Grans old house ready to sell and as a good few of the switches/sockets are probably original (1960's) I thought it would be a good idea to replace everything so it's modern and it matches, that's light switches, sockets, the cooker switch and the various fused outlets, all using the cheap but acceptable Crabtree Capitol range.
It also showed up the long defunct way the sockets were wired in which the downstairs sockets (excluding the kitchen which was rewired in the 80's) are spurs from sockets upstairs, now originally there would have been probably only 3 sockets in the living and dining rooms so it saved some effort.

Unfortunatly people who have added sockets have not realised this and have put extra sockets in where the regulations prohibit it (only one double or one single socket is allowed on a spur) and so as I have been replacing sockets I've been bypassing and blanking off sockets as necessary.

The new owner will probably get it rewired anyway as most of the wiring is probably original (though all PVC and I've seen no degraded cables behind and acessory) and it's all wire fuses with no RCD plus the wiring to the garage also really needs to go on it's own breaker, but rewiring was not something I fancied!

[GRAHAM99]

I have acquired a bag full of dimmable lighting transformers from our local recycling group.
They all say output 11.7vac 20-60w.
I have ordered a “proper” one off eBay now but I wonder if two of these could be ganged together to generate almost 24v??

[Folderol]

I have acquired a bag full of dimmable lighting transformers from our local recycling group.
They all say output 11.7vac 20-60w.
I have ordered a “proper” one off eBay now but I wonder if two of these could be ganged together to generate almost 24v??

Probably not. The dimmable bit suggests they are electronic thingies. These would not be happy wired together.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I'm all for a bit of DIY, but this really is in danger of becoming a bodge on top of a bodge on top of a bodge... all to save a few pennies.

It really would be so much more practical -- and safer -- to buy a half decent modern temperature controlled soldering iron as suggested earlier in the thread.

[DGL.]

I'm all for a bit of DIY, but this really is in danger of becoming a bodge on top of a bodge on top of a bodge... all to save a few pennies.

It really would be so much more practical -- and safer -- to buy a half decent modern temperature controlled soldering iron as suggested earlier in the thread.

Or if you really want to get it working try bidding on this, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324997637603 ... SwIMth4rlm
You'd need the correct bulgin plug to connect to it though.

Personally I would get one of the cheapo Chinese stations that includes a hot air gun, great for heatshrink.

[GRAHAM99]

I have ordered an adaptor off eBay!!

[DGL.]

It's a bit battered but I have just found a Weller PS-2D if you want it for the price of postage.
The case has been cable tied together, part of the output socket has broken off (though the socket is still perfectly usable) and it currently has no plug, but it was working when last used.

[GRAHAM99]

Many thanks for that.
I may well take you up on that.
I have ordered an adaptor from eBay with the correct wattage and if it works ok I will deffo get the “proper one” of you!

[DGL.]

That's fine, I didn't pay for it in the first place anyway as I got a couple of them from school for free many moons ago but both my irons are borked so the base is no longer required.

[GRAHAM99]

The plot thickens!!
I bought a 24v 2a adapter from eBay.
I wired it in but the iron hardly gets hot.
It is hardly drawing any current at all.
Would the adaptor have some kind of cut out on it?
Before it is wired in it measures 24v but when wired in no voltage at all.
The other adaptor I had measured 19v and 1.46a which is 27w.
The iron is 24v and 45w.
This May all seem a bit silly but it is educational for me!!

[Folderol]

Sounds like either a faulty adaptor, or one that goes into 'safe' mode if the initial current demand is slightly too high. When the iron element is cold its resistance will be lower - hence more current. If you've got some odd resistors lying around you can try sticking them on and see what happens. 12ohms on 24V would draw 2 amp. Also, if you have a meter, measure the resistance of the iron when it is cold.

[DGL.]

Just got word that after acquiring a proper PSU from myself and the correct bulgin connector everything works just fine, no hacks required!

[Hugh Robjohns]

[James Perrett]

I'm resurrecting this thread because my Oryx soldering iron has just died - after something like 40 years of regular use. It looks like the element has gone because the light stays on but it doesn't warm up.

A few years ago I was given a Weller soldering iron from a company that was closing down which I put on a shelf in the garage and left it without thinking much about it. I dug it out today to see if it worked and it does. However, the temperature control doesn't seem to be working - it just gets very hot after a few minutes. It is a 45W 24V TCP just like the one originally posted about here.

I'm now trying to work out whether it would be worth replacing the thermostat (I think they are about £50) or whether to get something new? I know that Dave is familiar with these - is it an easy job to replace the thermostat?

[ef37a]

Reassembling the Weller irons can be a bit tricky but I would guess you are more dextrous than average James? If you intend to take it apart, mark the relationship of the element housing and the blue handle. Reassembly is not intuitive.
However there may be a problem. Weller changed the sizes of some components and old and new parts no longer fit. The iron does not have a "thermostat" as such. Temperature is set by the Curie point of an alloy on the base of the tip that opens a switch when working temperature is reached. Good chance that switch has stuck on. Have you tried a 'technical acceleration test? AKA a good thump or two! The trick is knowing when the switch is open or closed. I built a gadget to tell me that but today you could use one of those plugs that monitors mains current?

If you want to use the iron, and they are very good, I would suggest you buy a complete new pencil. Yes nearly twice the price of the part but a lot less faff and the new part might not fit anyway.

If you do use it a #8 tip will be fine for all Lead solder work and even light Pbfree but heavier Lead free will need a #9.

Dave.

[ef37a]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313965775998 ... VwQAvD_BwE

Unless you do a lot of soldering and of quite heavy stuff James you might like to cut your losses and buy one of the above? I swore by my magnastat for 40 years but have now used that iron for some 4 years and it is perfectly serviceable for jacks and XLRs.

Dave.

[James Perrett]

Thanks for the useful tips Dave. I tried the "technical acceleration test" but it didn't change anything. I've been using a lamp limiter to check the current consumption and it just glows continually. I'll take it apart to see if I can fix it but otherwise I'll probably go with your recommendation.

[Arpangel]

I’ve got to replace my Antex 15w iron, it’s painfully underrated for even making leads, would a 25w do the job?

[ef37a]

I’ve got to replace my Antex 15w iron, it’s painfully underrated for even making leads, would a 25w do the job?

The 25W Henley Solon was the most ***t soldering iron ever made! You need 50W these days, makes Nukey 'buckets' a doddle. Get that station I linked to.
BTW do you use Lead/Tin solder? Quite safe if you are sensible. Bit harder to find so let me know if you have bother.

Dave.