Andrew VK3BFA wrote:

Bugger me - I'm glad you lot are not troubleshooting a nuclear power
station!
The Weller WTCP must be one of the simplest decent temperature
controlled irons on the market, mine runs 15hrs/day and does so year
in / year out. Sometimes more when I forget to turn it off - the new
ones dont have the neon in the mains switch so it does happen - I have
2 of them now, one on each bench...

Test procedure.

1. Runs continually, therefore base station and element OK.

2. Check switch - unscrew bit retainer and remove (iron off). Pull
tip in and out - should hear click if switch working. If not, then
switch or tip faulty.

3. LOOK at tip, see if mangnet thingo at bottom has fallen of - if so,
buy new tip (and after all the years youve had it, I wonder if it
could solder anything except 2 wires together, my tips last about 3
months on average, I buy them by the half dozen). If tip defective,
completely dismantle iron and remove magnet from switch assembly.

4. If tip OK (go on, be a devil, buy a new one anyway....) then switch
faulty. Buy new one.

5. Exception to item 4 - if you have done bugger all maintenance to
your iron, clean the garbage out of the barrel - it is rare for
switches to fail "on" (never had one do it, as a matter of fact, but
have only been using Wellers for 20 years so it COULD happen...) - use
a bamboo satay skewer to clean out the crap, then follow procedure 2.

Hope this helps,

de VK3BFA Andrew (at 50, an "official old grump")

I want it for the same reason I want manuals for all of my equipment.
It saves a lot of time locating part numbers when you do a repair. I
have used, and repaired, these soldering stations off and on for years,
but I always had to wait for the distributor to look up the part
numbers.

BTW, I don't do nuclear power, but I did build and test telemetry
equipment used by NASA, including a KU band receiving system aboard the
International Space Station.

The Weller stations were banned from the production line because of a
surge in leakage current when the thermostat tripped in the heating
element, and we were required to use irons with grounded tips that could
reliably measure under three ohms from the hot tip to the electrical
ground on the bench. They were replaced with Ungar "Loner" irons with
electronic temperature control.

I used a spare DMM connected between ground and a piece of scrap
copper to quickly test the resistance any time any of the three irons
had sat idle. I used the irons so many hours a day they tips only lasted
a few weeks before the iron plating was pitted, and would no longer go
below three ohms. I threw out a lot of tips that could have been used
in non ESD situations, but we couldn't risk someone reusing a bad tip,
so they went into the recycling bin with other solder related scrap.

I have five dead Weller soldering stations I picked up that will need
new irons, after someone tried to "Fix" them, and left the irons in
pieces.


--
6 days!


Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
Andrew VK3BFA wrote:
The Weller WTCP must be one of the simplest decent temperature
controlled irons on the market, mine runs 15hrs/day and does so year
in / year out. Sometimes more when I forget to turn it off - the new
ones don't have the neon in the mains switch so it does happen - I have
2 of them now, one on each bench...

Actually Collins radio used the original TCP stations (black bakelite) on
their productions lines and for repair in the 1950s and 1960s
(5 of these from Collins surplus were the first ones that I repaired in
1975 - as I started college)

The original ones did not have the switch OR neon bulb ... and they ran 24
hours/day at Collins.

The Weller stations were banned from the production line because of a
surge in leakage current when the thermostat tripped in the heating
element, and we were required to use irons with grounded tips that could
reliably measure under three ohms from the hot tip to the electrical
ground on the bench. They were replaced with Ungar "Loner" irons with
electronic temperature control.

Darn shame, but components have changed as well as their tolerance to ESD.

I have five dead Weller soldering stations I picked up that will need
new irons, after someone tried to "Fix" them, and left the irons in
pieces.

I assume the later WTCPS and WTCPT models? In addition to the ESD
requirement, "T" model changed the 3 amp fuse
on the transformer's secondary (to protect transformer from a heater short)
to a 6/10 amp fuse on the transformer primary
(and an MOV across primary on some models).

Greg
w9gb

"G.Beat" wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
Andrew VK3BFA wrote:
The Weller WTCP must be one of the simplest decent temperature
controlled irons on the market, mine runs 15hrs/day and does so year
in / year out. Sometimes more when I forget to turn it off - the new
ones don't have the neon in the mains switch so it does happen - I have
2 of them now, one on each bench...

Actually Collins radio used the original TCP stations (black bakelite) on
their productions lines and for repair in the 1950s and 1960s
(5 of these from Collins surplus were the first ones that I repaired in
1975 - as I started college)

The original ones did not have the switch OR neon bulb ... and they ran 24
hours/day at Collins.

The Weller stations were banned from the production line because of a
surge in leakage current when the thermostat tripped in the heating
element, and we were required to use irons with grounded tips that could
reliably measure under three ohms from the hot tip to the electrical
ground on the bench. They were replaced with Ungar "Loner" irons with
electronic temperature control.

Darn shame, but components have changed as well as their tolerance to ESD.

I have five dead Weller soldering stations I picked up that will need
new irons, after someone tried to "Fix" them, and left the irons in
pieces.

I assume the later WTCPS and WTCPT models? In addition to the ESD
requirement, "T" model changed the 3 amp fuse
on the transformer's secondary (to protect transformer from a heater short)
to a 6/10 amp fuse on the transformer primary
(and an MOV across primary on some models).

Greg
w9gb

I don't know which model they were using. They were pulled from the
production floor a year before I was hired. They were in storage in a
separate building, and I was never able to get my hands on them They
were probably destroyed last year when the plant was closed and moved to
Pennsylvania. I kept hearing the old timers complain about the new irons
because they had used the Wellers for years, and didn't like to do the
extra maintenance on their "Loner" irons.
--
4 days!


Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

"G.Beat" wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
Andrew VK3BFA wrote:
The Weller WTCP must be one of the simplest decent temperature
controlled irons on the market, mine runs 15hrs/day and does so year
in / year out. Sometimes more when I forget to turn it off - the new
ones don't have the neon in the mains switch so it does happen - I have
2 of them now, one on each bench...

Actually Collins radio used the original TCP stations (black bakelite) on
their productions lines and for repair in the 1950s and 1960s
(5 of these from Collins surplus were the first ones that I repaired in
1975 - as I started college)

The original ones did not have the switch OR neon bulb ... and they ran 24
hours/day at Collins.

The Weller stations were banned from the production line because of a
surge in leakage current when the thermostat tripped in the heating
element, and we were required to use irons with grounded tips that could
reliably measure under three ohms from the hot tip to the electrical
ground on the bench. They were replaced with Ungar "Loner" irons with
electronic temperature control.

Darn shame, but components have changed as well as their tolerance to ESD.

I have five dead Weller soldering stations I picked up that will need
new irons, after someone tried to "Fix" them, and left the irons in
pieces.

I assume the later WTCPS and WTCPT models? In addition to the ESD
requirement, "T" model changed the 3 amp fuse
on the transformer's secondary (to protect transformer from a heater short)
to a 6/10 amp fuse on the transformer primary
(and an MOV across primary on some models).

Greg
w9gb

I don't know which model they were using. They were pulled from the
production floor a year before I was hired. They were in storage in a
separate building, and I was never able to get my hands on them They
were probably destroyed last year when the plant was closed and moved to
Pennsylvania. I kept hearing the old timers complain about the new irons
because they had used the Wellers for years, and didn't like to do the
extra maintenance on their "Loner" irons.
--
4 days!


Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
Andrew VK3BFA wrote:
The Weller WTCP must be one of the simplest decent temperature
controlled irons on the market, mine runs 15hrs/day and does so year
in / year out. Sometimes more when I forget to turn it off - the new
ones don't have the neon in the mains switch so it does happen - I have
2 of them now, one on each bench...

Actually Collins radio used the original TCP stations (black bakelite) on
their productions lines and for repair in the 1950s and 1960s
(5 of these from Collins surplus were the first ones that I repaired in
1975 - as I started college)

The original ones did not have the switch OR neon bulb ... and they ran 24
hours/day at Collins.

The Weller stations were banned from the production line because of a
surge in leakage current when the thermostat tripped in the heating
element, and we were required to use irons with grounded tips that could
reliably measure under three ohms from the hot tip to the electrical
ground on the bench. They were replaced with Ungar "Loner" irons with
electronic temperature control.

Darn shame, but components have changed as well as their tolerance to ESD.

I have five dead Weller soldering stations I picked up that will need
new irons, after someone tried to "Fix" them, and left the irons in
pieces.

I assume the later WTCPS and WTCPT models? In addition to the ESD
requirement, "T" model changed the 3 amp fuse
on the transformer's secondary (to protect transformer from a heater short)
to a 6/10 amp fuse on the transformer primary
(and an MOV across primary on some models).

Greg
w9gb