28 May
2009
28 May
'09
5:58 a.m.
On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 4:21 AM, David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> wrote:
Tonight I had one of those I-gotta-tinker moments at midnight....
... No heat....?I guess it's dead. ?There went another disposable
soldering iron.
One reason I never graduated to /real/ soldering stations is that I kept
wondering "what do I do when it goes bad?". ?What do you guys recommend?
Personally, I have several Weller soldering stations I've gotten for
free from former employers - some because of upgrades, some because
they didn't work and the company didn't want to "fuss" with fixing
them.
I fuss.
I have replaced heating elements and temp sensors, mostly, though one
or two could probably use a new cord because the strain relief isn't
as robust as when it was new (25 years ago).
Wellers are easy to get parts for. I tend to pick up what I need at
events like the Mansfield Hamfest, but they can be mail-ordered, too.
Diagnosis and repair is somewhat simple - put a known-working iron on
the base (helps if you have more than one ;-), and so far, it's always
been the iron that was faulty, then test the sensor then the heating
element. I did have one that had both defective, but usually it's one
or the other.
Mostly, though, they work for decades unless mishandled.
-ethan