Re: OT: Weller soldering irons
On Mon, Apr 6, 2020 at 4:40 AM Doug Jackson via cctalk wrote: > > for me, the item that usually fails in the WTCP series is the switch at the > end of the sensor. > > I have replaced the sensors each time, because dammit - My 40 year old iron > sometimes just needs a new cord, or a new heater, or a new tip, or a new > sensor. Best iron I have ever had :-) The element in my Weller TCP failed a couple of years ago, after 25 years on my bench and having soldered probably hundreds of thousands of joints. I bought a replacement (not _too_ expensive) and a spare to go in the tool cupboard. I then realised that if the replacements last as long as the original I will never have to buy another element, I'll be gone first! -tony
Re: OT: Weller soldering irons
for me, the item that usually fails in the WTCP series is the switch at the end of the sensor. I have replaced the sensors each time, because dammit - My 40 year old iron sometimes just needs a new cord, or a new heater, or a new tip, or a new sensor. Best iron I have ever had :-) Kindest regards, Doug Jackson em: d...@doughq.com ph: 0414 986878 Check out my awesome clocks at www.dougswordclocks.com Follow my amateur radio adventures at vk1zdj.net --- Just like an old fashioned letter, this email and any files transmitted with it should probably be treated as confidential and intended solely for your own use. Please note that any interesting spelling is usually my own and may have been caused by fat thumbs on a tiny tiny keyboard - for this I apologise in advance - It's ok bec we don* nee* accu tex* to unde** actu** mean***. Should any part of this message prove to be useful in the event of the imminent Zombie Apocalypse then the sender bears no personal, legal, or moral responsibility for any outcome resulting from its usage unless the result of said usage is the unlikely defeat of the Zombie Hordes in which case the sender takes full credit without any theoretical or actual legal liability. :-) Be nice to your parents. Go outside and do something awesome - Draw, paint, walk, Setup a radio station, go fishing or sailing - just do something that makes you happy. On Mon, Apr 6, 2020 at 11:14 AM Pete Turnbull via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > On 06/04/2020 00:22, Jon Elson wrote: > > On 04/05/2020 03:32 PM, Pete Turnbull via cctalk wrote: > >> A few hours ago I started looking at three "smart" light switches that > >> need LEDs replaced, and switched on the soldering iron, and ... nope. > >> It's a Weller WP80 and it seems the sensor in the heating element has > >> died. > > > Is the sensor a separate component? > > Sadly, no. That's the first thing I thought of. The heater and sensor > are integral with the stainless steel shaft and I can't see any way to > get them out without destroying the shaft. > > -- > Pete > Pete Turnbull >
Re: OT: Weller soldering irons
On 06/04/2020 00:22, Jon Elson wrote: On 04/05/2020 03:32 PM, Pete Turnbull via cctalk wrote: A few hours ago I started looking at three "smart" light switches that need LEDs replaced, and switched on the soldering iron, and ... nope. It's a Weller WP80 and it seems the sensor in the heating element has died. Is the sensor a separate component? Sadly, no. That's the first thing I thought of. The heater and sensor are integral with the stainless steel shaft and I can't see any way to get them out without destroying the shaft. -- Pete Pete Turnbull
Re: OT: Weller soldering irons
On 04/05/2020 03:32 PM, Pete Turnbull via cctalk wrote: A few hours ago I started looking at three "smart" light switches that need LEDs replaced, and switched on the soldering iron, and ... nope. It's a Weller WP80 and it seems the sensor in the heating element has died. I discovered that only after resetting and then dismantling the control unit to check it out with a DVM, of course. Clearly I need either a new WP80 element, or a new soldering iron. I could get a WSP80 for far less than the cost of a new element for the WP80, but I'd get the element faster. So which, if any, is the better iron? What would you guys do? I begrudge paying UKP 92 for a new element. That's the cheapest I could find -- /half/ the most expensive price -- but just seems ludicrously extortionate for what amounts to a piece of swaged stainless steel tube with a short length of resistance wire and an even shorter length of thermocouple wire inside it. I could buy a whole new solder station with more bells and whistles, albeit of a "lesser brand", for less. Is the sensor a separate component? On the EC1302 and several other models, the sensor is a separate piece that fits up through the center of the heater and poked into the back of the replaceable tip. I got one for that iron years ago from, I think, Newark. So, you might try at Farnell and see if they have spares. Jon
OT: Weller soldering irons
A few hours ago I started looking at three "smart" light switches that need LEDs replaced, and switched on the soldering iron, and ... nope. It's a Weller WP80 and it seems the sensor in the heating element has died. I discovered that only after resetting and then dismantling the control unit to check it out with a DVM, of course. Clearly I need either a new WP80 element, or a new soldering iron. I could get a WSP80 for far less than the cost of a new element for the WP80, but I'd get the element faster. So which, if any, is the better iron? What would you guys do? I begrudge paying UKP 92 for a new element. That's the cheapest I could find -- /half/ the most expensive price -- but just seems ludicrously extortionate for what amounts to a piece of swaged stainless steel tube with a short length of resistance wire and an even shorter length of thermocouple wire inside it. I could buy a whole new solder station with more bells and whistles, albeit of a "lesser brand", for less. -- Pete Pete Turnbull
