Soldering blues

[greenstar]

I don't use a soldering iron heavily - half an hour a day maybe - and have always used the Henley Solon 25W. I have replaced bits (from advice on threads here), and found irons at car boots, but now have four Henley's and a similar Griffin with failed elements. So first question, has anyone found replacements or managed to make a worthwhile repair (take element apart, twiddle ends together, carry on?). I would want to fix them if possible.

Next question is, I have a Weller PU 2D station, but no iron, from a recent Harpenden. A Weller iron would cost more than I want to pay, but I see there are inexpensive 24v 50W irons on sale with a five pin connector. The station has two terminals. Could these irons be adapted for my station?

Thanks.

[G4YVM David]

I cant answer your question but I was in a similar position when my Weller died. I bought a Precision Gold temp controlled station and it is a delight to use. Cheap as chips, soft flexi cable, decent weight pencil and temp changes happen quickly.

David

[McMurdo]

The weller station just provides power to the iron, and the temp control is done inside the handle, which is why the weller handpieces are dear. The cheap chinese irons are just dumb handpieces with the clever stuff contained in the dedicated base station, hence why the 5 wires are used; 2 for the element, 2 for the sensor and an earth.

TBH if you want a cheap temp controlled iron, you'd be better just buying a complete new system. You wont be able to convert it easily.

[PsychMan]

I bought a T12 clone, "Quicko T12" from aliexpress for around £40 delivered, mainly because I couldn't afford a weller or similar. Cant speak for longevity yet, but it works very well so far and is a nice upgrade from the knackered old antex I'd used for years.

It goes to low power and eventually shuts off when not used, but quickly gets up to temperature when picked up. The lead is nice and flexible. Its RF filtering is hilariously bad though, even the beeps from the internal speaker are audible on AM radios nearby

[G8UWM-MildMartin]

If you want to try one of the cheap 5-pin irons, a "DIY For 936 Soldering Iron Station Controller" for under £4 will run from the Weller's 24V ac.

[greenstar]

Mmm, looks like a used Precision Gold (Maplin?) and a used Weller TCP are about the same on ebay There are things there like this:60W Genuine WEP Soldering Iron Station Weld 6 Tips Stand Kit Digital Display, £28.99, and 58W Moss® Variable Temperature control Soldering Station Iron Electronic + Stand £14.87. But just how good are they? I have a cheap Maplin meter which is wonderful!
I will defer on that for the minute. Martin, thanks for the idea.
Will look again at my Henley's. I am impressed by all the advantages of modern irons, but have used the more primitive for years and found them adequate, and anyhow would want to keep one in reserve. I wonder if an element from a cheap iron would fit.

In my opinion there are two tools you need to spend a bit on, 1) wire cutters and 2) a soldering iron. The modern temperature controlled ones from China are quite good, get a load of bits as their iron plating is much thinner than on Weller TCP bits.

[MrBungle]

Originally Posted by PsychMan

I bought a T12 clone, "Quicko T12" from aliexpress for around £40 delivered, mainly because I couldn't afford a weller or similar. Cant speak for longevity yet, but it works very well so far and is a nice upgrade from the knackered old antex I'd used for years.

It goes to low power and eventually shuts off when not used, but quickly gets up to temperature when picked up. The lead is nice and flexible. Its RF filtering is hilariously bad though, even the beeps from the internal speaker are audible on AM radios nearby

I have one of those as a backup iron. I've converted it to run off 12V DC with a cheap £2 "150W" (yeah right) boost converter and run it off a 7Ah SLA battery. Does the job! They're pretty good. As good as a weller TCP and the parts are cheap and ubiquitous.

[greenstar]

Well, I've found a very nice looking iron I might treat myself to at some point.
60W Soldering Iron Station Rework Kit Variable Temperature Stand Digital LED UK
Meanwhile I found several Youtube videos on making soldering irons, which are interesting in that I'm thinking it should be easy enough to rewind the elements from my Henley Solon irons.

[Radio Wrangler]

I was lucky to work in a large lab that used TCP1s as standard. Repairs were handled by simple replacement, so it wasn't long before I'd scrounged enough dead ones being binned to build myself a worker. Using a 48W temperature controlled iron at work after fighting with a 15W Antex at home was a revelation. I've still got it and all it's ever cost me were bits.

Things moved on to Metcals, the very expensive RF heated ones. Now these things are flawed. Left on, the power MOSFET in the big power unit gets stewed to death. I soon had a few dead base units and had to trace out the circuit to fix one. It was a challenge I wasn't going to resist. I got the remains of a dropped stand and glued it together, but I had to buy a handle/cable unit. Cartridge life is OK if you only have them on when actually soldering.

The very short overhang from where you hold them to the business end makes them great for precise SMT work. I took mine into work at my new job along with my favorite microscope. Needless to say, other people kept leaving it on and burned out the power unit... so my bases are all home, and I now have two to fix again. Should have known better.

All this hinges on luck and being in the right place at the right time. So you can't just intend to go down this route and you need to get something affordable. But these high-end soldering irons are so good that it's worth keeping your eyes open just in case you come across a dead Weller, Metcal or JBC. They can be fixed. They are worth fixing, and parts can be traded.

David