WELLER

>>1129361
>>Can this be fixed?
Probably not without destroying the handle.

>What went wrong with it?
That style of iron is very cheap and generally only has a few parts inside of it. Something was probably put together badly, which caused that part to overheat and burn out. I bet if you opened it you'd find a broken contact somewhere inside of it.

>>1129361
Do simple soldering irons really just die out like this? Is this normal?

>>1129365
I have opened it up before. It is full of some chock material inside the visible metal piece. The rest looked fine though. I will post pics in a minute.

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>>1129365
what now?
should i poke out the chock crap and keep going?

>>1129361
>NOTHING heats up at all.
>>Can this be fixed?
Of course
>>What went wrong with it?
The heating element died

>>1129367

My first iron sure burned out the same way... One day you try to use it, plug it in, and it's cold. Pretty sure the heating element is busted. Even if you remove the chock crap and it's somehow replaceable, you're gonna need to stuff some crap back in to insulate the board and handle. Time to get a new (real) iron.

>>1129367
Yes, the heating element expands and contracts each time you plug the iron, after many cycles the stress ends up breaking it.

1) check the resistance across the heater element wires. If it's an open circuit, it's nfg

2) get a hakko fx-888 and never look back

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>>1129392
This.

It is one of the reasons you need an iron that you can replace the heating element as part of its design. Those soldering guns with the trigger, light, and dog-legged heating element are great. My father had one for 30+ years before someone destroyed it when his house was robbed.

I use one of these for most things, but it isn't for everything. At least the heating elements are ultra cheap and easy to source anyplace that sells pencil leads for mechanical pencils.

>>1129392
What about HF based irons?

Personally I thought Weller, Antec and Metcal where the good brands but recently ive heard the opposite. Really considering replacing my metcal with a jap station, the kind with hotair reflow.

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>>1129462
Pic related. Also has anyone on here had success with the lead free shit? I still have a few rolls of skytronics 60/40 but that wont last forever, have heard the lead free is difficult to work with and eats away at the tips.

>>1129372
The crumbly stuff is either epoxy to keep the element secure, or part of the element itself. Removing it won't help, it's just dead.

anyone recommend a <$25 soldiering iron i could use hakko or simillar quality tips in?

ive been getting by with a $5 iron but not having variability and proprietary tips that have large tips and oxodize too quickly

dont suggest to just get a weller or hakko i cant afford it at this time in my life and i believe the handicap has increased my dexterity and ability

>>1129413
"cheap and easy to source anyplace that sells pencil leads for mechanical pencils."

is this a meme?

what size graphite are you using?

do you have /DIY/ iron?

pics please!

>>1129541
nvm sorry im on phone.

did you make one of these yourself or is that a repost?

this looks pretty dangerous honestly

anons proceed with caution im going to do some testing
if its viable after some prototyping

im going to maybe try and ruggedize the design and isolate the PSU for surges external sparks

do you have it grounded and is the psu exposed?

>>1129465
Nowhere near as easy as with lead. You're also forced to use lower temperatures as the solder does not flow on its own like lead based ones. With lead based at least it moves towards wherever is hotter, but with lead free it doesn't flow without flux meaning if your temperature is too high the flux just burns off. Makes soldering anything with a large thermal mass fairly frustrating.

>>1129462

I've mentioned it before in another thread, but Weller makes both crappy irons with red plastic and high-quality professional ones in light-blue plastic. Antec and Metcal are probably a similar case...

>>1129465

I use lead-free, it's fine. Hobbyists like to complain about it but they need to man up - it's better than polluting groundwaters with lead... Main issue with lead-free is that it doesn't solidify instantly when you pull the iron off the joint. It sort of stays liquid longer than normal, and when it does get solid you get a more dull finish compared to 60/40. I've heard the thing about the tips but i haven't had a tip go bad yet. (I'm using original Weller and/or Plato tips btw)

>>1129538

You can try one of those chinese knockoff Hakko 936-es. Some of them are built OK (though you can never be sure with so many different factories making them) and you'll be able to use original tips if you need to. I heard Ningbo-Zhongdi make good soldering stations, often Weller and Hakko clones, but they're not very cheap either.

>>1129462
get ts100 m8 you wont regret it

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>>1129541
>>1129542
Literally all your questions are answered in that image in >>1129413

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>>1129935

>>1129361
I got that iron too, but I don't use it because the tip smokes. There's some residue or something where the tips go in.

>>1129936
using electricity to solder electronics sounds like a good way to fry them.

>>1129465
>Pic related.
Oh god, don't buy that crap. It's not even worth the 'but it costs 1/20th what Hakko does!'

>Also has anyone on here had success with the lead free shit?
Yes, I use only lead-free. K100LD is good stuff. It will only eat the tips if you're using unplated tips or tips not rated for lead-free.

>>1129935
good luck using that on anything that isn't bomb-grade electronics from the early 70s.

>>1129361
>What went wrong with it?
Its not all least a hakko fx888d

>>1130330
>>1130340
https://www.google.com/search?q=resistive+soldering

It is all about the electrode style you use, kid.

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>>1129361
I got the exact same iron. Did you manage to find a adapted base to pose it? Can't find any....

>>1130407
Tell that to unprotected nMOS.

>>1130440
>not knowing how soldering works

>>1130447
Yeah, all those ESD-safe grounded irons for micropower electronics are totally a scam.

>>1130449
PSUs are grounded.

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>>1130410
not him but I made this

>>1129546
i have a plug in iron and only ever burned one tip with the solder. really all you need to do to prevent that is make sure there aren't any globs of solder left on the tip. and as for oxidation, i just lightly sand off the oxidation then tin

>>1130600
I like that.

>>1130600
>lead free
why would you do this to yourself

>>1129527

It's ceramic not epoxy.

>>1130600
Very nice. I will do copy

>>1130476
Um, resistive soldering means there has to be voltage at the fucking electrode/tip.

>>1130709
>lead free
>why would you do this to yourself
Because it's fucking toxic, and I've had lead poisoning personally (as has one of my dogs and one of my kids). I'm not willingly bringing any more unnecessary lead into this house or my workshops.

>>1129361

tfw to fix the soldiering iron you need a soldering iron

>>1130849
Which is completely different from ESD problems. Have you ever used a resistive solderer before? Do you know how electricity works?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn63FOWqesk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYecy46Pul8

Um, are you an idiot, kid?

>>1130851
how the fuck does your whole family get lead poisoning

paint chip casserole?

>>1130876
Wow, edgy. The insults really seal your argument. I'm totally trusting what you say, you're clearly a professional who knows what he's talking about.

>>1130883
>paint chip casserole?
flakes of lead solder, solder dust
tracked around
sucked up by vacuum and blown around

>>1130876
>Which is completely different from ESD problems.
Once the oxide layer breaches, it's exactly the same problem.
a few V below the floating ground potential is enough to blow up quite a few things.

>>1130876
Those vids all show it being used on power electronics. Nothing precision or voltage sensitive.

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>>1130896
>>1130891
>>1130895
>use one of these for over ten years at work on all manner of PCBs
>never any problems
>use homemade version for over 5 years
>never any problems

Sometimes I think /diy/ is chop full of kiddies who have never done anything other than read about shit on instructables and used their daddies' tools without his supervision. You don't even know anything about basic electrical theory. It literally has nothing to do with how pissed off you are or how shitty the "argument" happens to be. It has to do with established science since time immemorial. If you don't know what you are talking about, stop posting. You are just embarrassing yourselves.

>>1130912
>>use one of these for over ten years at work on all manner of PCBs
Uh, yeah, have you used them with digital electronics, or just a bunch of old stereos and power supplies? I can't find any mentions _anywhere_ of using one for, say, SMD. Having tried a resistance soldering setup about ten years ago, I can't think of anything it would be better for than a traditional pencil.
>If you don't know what you are talking about, stop posting.
You haven't answered any questions, just bragged about the size of your solder-peen and called everyone else 'kiddie'.

>>1130912
those have a specific purpose - high localized heat by passing high currents through a small area

aren't all soldering irons resistance heaters? contact irons electrically shield the resistance, that one uses the surface as a resistor.

i wouldn't want to risk using that around any active components

>>1131007
>i wouldn't want to risk using that around any active components
Well, yeah, that's what I said, and he called me a kiddie.
V=IR, Kirchoff's voltage law, first day of college EE. If you have current through a resistance makin' all that heat, then you've got a voltage across those tips. Voltage at the tip + active components == a big no-no.

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>>1131007
>>1131027
Sure thing, kid.

>>1130709
I am cri every tim

>>1130600
>Altoids can, tomato paste can, coat hanger, super glue, leftover plywood

>>1130600
ITT : plebs.

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>>1131394
not all of us.

>>1130893
Not sure I believe you.

>>1130893
I like your station, but that has to be bullshit. If you think that switching over to lead free has put an end to your lead consumption then you should re-evaluate the sources of lead in your area other than the solder.

>>1132501
>Not sure I believe you.
I'm with this guy.

>>1132529
*shrug*. the lead poisoning went away. It seemed unlikely to me too, but whatever.

>>1130709
If I could do it again I would get a variable temperature soldering station and lead solder but the iron was a gift and I bought the solder not really knowing what I was doing.

>>1133748
Seriously, K100LD is good enough I don't miss lead.

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I spend a good part of my working day today researching temp-adjustable soldering irons and found pic related quite convincing:

http://www.banggood.com/de/CXG-US-Plug-110V-High-Precision-936d-LCD-Adjustable-Temperature-Digital-Electric-Soldering-Station-p-1019307.html?rmmds=search

Just make sure to do the copper mod as explained here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtgjhz5sLA8

>>1135328
>I spend a good part of my working day today researching temp-adjustable soldering irons and found pic related quite convincing:
>researching temp-adjustable soldering irons
>researching
Is that what they call shopping on eBay all day now?
>no, no, it's 'research'

>>1135328

Unless you are deadset on not having a station, just get a 951 clone like the Bakon 950D. The heater is build into the tip, no need for any mods.

>>1131311
the only parts I'm not a fan of are the sharp edges on the tomato paste can and using wood as a base for the iron. Other than that it's simple and works

>>1135382
Why the irony, dear friend? I surely did not get my information from ebay exclusively. I did find, however, these russian websites quite interesting:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=http://go-radio.ru/kitayskiy-payalnik.html&edit-text=&act=url

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=http://pokupandex.ru/aliexpress/1509/cxg-936d-payalnik-s-keramicheskim-nagrevatelem-termostabilizaciey-i-zhalami-hakko-900m.html&edit-text=&act=url

I have ordered said iron meanwhile and will comment on it if this thread is still around then.
>>1135403
Yes, these integrated tips look promising. I'd love to compare one to my solder stations.

>>1129361
buy another one, it's like 10$

>>1137758
>Why the irony, dear friend?
ha ha, cute. But that's not irony.
Seriously though, you're making recommendation on sketchy csg-grade products you've window shopped and never touched let alone used?
If you want to solder well, the *first* thing you do is stop buying cheap, gimmicky equipment.

>>1130912
> chop full
> calling people "kid" but still can't speak fucking english

>>1137887
This, those cheap wellers serve me well, even if the tips cost over half the price of the iron. I dont feel bad abusing them.

the nichrome is probably I just cut at some point ..
Please it a hassle to find if its not one end...
I would not recommend fiddling around inside your soldering iron