"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