weller EC2002C soldering station
 

I was given this Weller soldering station. The display is not working. It
does flash 888 on it when first turned on. The tip does heat up, but I have
not determined if I can vary the heat or not. Also have an extra soldering
pencle that plugs in it. Changed them to see if the display would light,
but it didnot. Any hints on it ?

Also how do I open it up ? Screws under the 4 rubber feet ?

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Ralph Mowery wrote:
I was given this Weller soldering station. The display is not working. It
does flash 888 on it when first turned on. The tip does heat up, but I have
not determined if I can vary the heat or not. Also have an extra soldering
pencle that plugs in it. Changed them to see if the display would light,
but it didnot. Any hints on it ?

Also how do I open it up ? Screws under the 4 rubber feet ?



I have same model unit with same exact problem. Yest it does regulate
the temperature. I haven't figured out the display problem either and
the thermistor in the iron seems to "ohm out" properly. Let me know what
you find. I never could find schematics for it. I used it just today on
a PIC project. Shame to throw it out, but I would like to read the
temperature.

--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
"The RFI-EMI-GUY"©

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."

"Follow The Money" ;-P

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

I think something is getting hung during the self-test. It should
flash 888 for two seconds at start-up. The sensor is a platinum
RTD. Pretty fancy for a soldering iron! Too bad this model has
earned a reputation for being unreliable.

There's a "tech sheet" with trouble shooting info but I've never
found it online.

We had one of these irons at work and replaced it with a WTCP
station.



RFI-EMI-GUY wrote in
:

I have same model unit with same exact problem. Yest it does regulate
the temperature. I haven't figured out the display problem either and
the thermistor in the iron seems to "ohm out" properly. Let me know
what you find. I never could find schematics for it. I used it just
today on a PIC project. Shame to throw it out, but I would like to
read the temperature.

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

"RFI-EMI-GUY" wrote in message
...
I have same model unit with same exact problem. Yest it does regulate the
temperature. I haven't figured out the display problem either and the
thermistor in the iron seems to "ohm out" properly. Let me know what you
find. I never could find schematics for it. I used it just today on a PIC
project. Shame to throw it out, but I would like to read the temperature.

--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT

I found several schematics for different models. Never did find the one
that matches mine. I opened it up and it seems there is a ceramic board
with surface devices on it. Almost no user replicable parts. Atleast for
my skill level. I was hoping it would be the discrete parts. I can work
with them. Oh well, it was free and is a good soldering iron even without
the display. I do have a couple of spare parts for it also.

de KU4PT

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

I used to work for a company (ARCO Oil) that used a bunch of those. Weller
closely guarded their schematics and even now they will not release them.
We sent them in for repair but they charged about as much as to buy a new
one. Here is what I found over fixing a dozen or so.
1) The wire nuts came loose inside
2) Intermittent wires in the cable going to the soldering iron. Flex the
cable while ohming end to end.
3) The surface mount electrolytics go bad. These were MOST of the failures
and I ended up changing all of them in the rest of the 25 irons we
used over about 3 years.
4) The cheap temperature set wire wound pot gets worn out.

Most of the parts in this unit are consumer rated parts and are available.
Never had any problems with the ceramic boards in the units or with the
printed resistors on them. Had a couple of chips fail. It's an A to D with
a seven segment driver built in. They are available still.

Other than the above, they are really a darn good soldering iron and keep
the tip temperature regulated fairly closely.

I still have 2 of them so if you decide to throw them away, send them to me
and I can use them for parts to keep mine in repair. I will reimburse you
for your shipping.

I have more info If you need it.

Rich Klesstinez
3728 Crestline Rd
Fort Worth Tx 76107

Email:
(my name, lower case, no spaces) at charter (dot) net



"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
...

"RFI-EMI-GUY" wrote in message
...
I have same model unit with same exact problem. Yest it does regulate the
temperature. I haven't figured out the display problem either and the
thermistor in the iron seems to "ohm out" properly. Let me know what you
find. I never could find schematics for it. I used it just today on a PIC
project. Shame to throw it out, but I would like to read the temperature.

--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT

I found several schematics for different models. Never did find the one
that matches mine. I opened it up and it seems there is a ceramic board
with surface devices on it. Almost no user replicable parts. Atleast for
my skill level. I was hoping it would be the discrete parts. I can work
with them. Oh well, it was free and is a good soldering iron even without
the display. I do have a couple of spare parts for it also.

de KU4PT

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Rich Klestinez wrote:
I used to work for a company (ARCO Oil) that used a bunch of those. Weller
closely guarded their schematics and even now they will not release them.
We sent them in for repair but they charged about as much as to buy a new
one. Here is what I found over fixing a dozen or so.
1) The wire nuts came loose inside
2) Intermittent wires in the cable going to the soldering iron. Flex the
cable while ohming end to end.
3) The surface mount electrolytics go bad. These were MOST of the failures
and I ended up changing all of them in the rest of the 25 irons we
used over about 3 years.
4) The cheap temperature set wire wound pot gets worn out.

Most of the parts in this unit are consumer rated parts and are available.
Never had any problems with the ceramic boards in the units or with the
printed resistors on them. Had a couple of chips fail. It's an A to D with
a seven segment driver built in. They are available still.

Other than the above, they are really a darn good soldering iron and keep
the tip temperature regulated fairly closely.

I still have 2 of them so if you decide to throw them away, send them to me
and I can use them for parts to keep mine in repair. I will reimburse you
for your shipping.

I have more info If you need it.

Rich Klesstinez
3728 Crestline Rd
Fort Worth Tx 76107

Email:
(my name, lower case, no spaces) at charter (dot) net



"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
...
"RFI-EMI-GUY" wrote in message
...
I have same model unit with same exact problem. Yest it does regulate the
temperature. I haven't figured out the display problem either and the
thermistor in the iron seems to "ohm out" properly. Let me know what you
find. I never could find schematics for it. I used it just today on a PIC
project. Shame to throw it out, but I would like to read the temperature.

--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
I found several schematics for different models. Never did find the one
that matches mine. I opened it up and it seems there is a ceramic board
with surface devices on it. Almost no user replicable parts. Atleast for
my skill level. I was hoping it would be the discrete parts. I can work
with them. Oh well, it was free and is a good soldering iron even without
the display. I do have a couple of spare parts for it also.

de KU4PT





Rich;
Since the temperature control on mine seems to be working can I assume
the variable pot, the Iron cable and the Iron thermistor are OK? Mine
flashes "EEE" on turn on and then the display goes blank. There are a
number of leaded capacitors on the display board (Mine is actually an
older model 2002-A version). I will try "shotgunning" a;; of the
capacitors with new ones and keep you in mind for the disposal if I buy
a replacement.

--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
"The RFI-EMI-GUY"©

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."

"Follow The Money" ;-P

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Joe: The ones that I have. One board is with the distplays on it has a
couple of regular caps. The other board is ceramic and it had all surface
mount parts. The ceramic board is the one that seems to always give me the
problems. Anyway give it a try.
rich

"RFI-EMI-GUY" wrote in message
...
Rich Klestinez wrote:
I used to work for a company (ARCO Oil) that used a bunch of those.
Weller closely guarded their schematics and even now they will not
release them. We sent them in for repair but they charged about as much
as to buy a new one. Here is what I found over fixing a dozen or so.
1) The wire nuts came loose inside
2) Intermittent wires in the cable going to the soldering iron. Flex the
cable while ohming end to end.
3) The surface mount electrolytics go bad. These were MOST of the
failures and I ended up changing all of them in the rest of the
25 irons we used over about 3 years.
4) The cheap temperature set wire wound pot gets worn out.

Most of the parts in this unit are consumer rated parts and are
available. Never had any problems with the ceramic boards in the units or
with the printed resistors on them. Had a couple of chips fail. It's an
A to D with a seven segment driver built in. They are available still.

Other than the above, they are really a darn good soldering iron and keep
the tip temperature regulated fairly closely.

I still have 2 of them so if you decide to throw them away, send them to
me and I can use them for parts to keep mine in repair. I will reimburse
you for your shipping.

I have more info If you need it.

Rich Klesstinez
3728 Crestline Rd
Fort Worth Tx 76107

Email:
(my name, lower case, no spaces) at charter (dot) net



"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
...
"RFI-EMI-GUY" wrote in message
...
I have same model unit with same exact problem. Yest it does regulate
the temperature. I haven't figured out the display problem either and
the thermistor in the iron seems to "ohm out" properly. Let me know
what you find. I never could find schematics for it. I used it just
today on a PIC project. Shame to throw it out, but I would like to read
the temperature.

--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
I found several schematics for different models. Never did find the one
that matches mine. I opened it up and it seems there is a ceramic board
with surface devices on it. Almost no user replicable parts. Atleast
for my skill level. I was hoping it would be the discrete parts. I can
work with them. Oh well, it was free and is a good soldering iron even
without the display. I do have a couple of spare parts for it also.

de KU4PT





Rich;
Since the temperature control on mine seems to be working can I assume the
variable pot, the Iron cable and the Iron thermistor are OK? Mine flashes
"EEE" on turn on and then the display goes blank. There are a number of
leaded capacitors on the display board (Mine is actually an older model
2002-A version). I will try "shotgunning" a;; of the capacitors with new
ones and keep you in mind for the disposal if I buy a replacement.

--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
"The RFI-EMI-GUY"©

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."

"Follow The Money" ;-P

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

"Rich Klestinez" wrote in message
...
I used to work for a company (ARCO Oil) that used a bunch of those. Weller
closely guarded their schematics and even now they will not release them.
We sent them in for repair but they charged about as much as to buy a new
one. Here is what I found over fixing a dozen or so.
1) The wire nuts came loose inside
2) Intermittent wires in the cable going to the soldering iron. Flex the
cable while ohming end to end.
3) The surface mount electrolytics go bad. These were MOST of the
failures and I ended up changing all of them in the rest of the 25
irons we used over about 3 years.
4) The cheap temperature set wire wound pot gets worn out.

Most of the parts in this unit are consumer rated parts and are available.
Never had any problems with the ceramic boards in the units or with the
printed resistors on them. Had a couple of chips fail. It's an A to D
with a seven segment driver built in. They are available still.

Other than the above, they are really a darn good soldering iron and keep
the tip temperature regulated fairly closely.

I still have 2 of them so if you decide to throw them away, send them to
me and I can use them for parts to keep mine in repair. I will reimburse
you for your shipping.

I have more info If you need it.

Rich Klesstinez
3728 Crestline Rd
Fort Worth Tx 76107

Email:
(my name, lower case, no spaces) at charter (dot) net


Thanks for the reply. I will probably keep the soldering station. It seems
to work fine, just no display. Weller made another modle that seemed to be
the same unit without the display. I guess that if Weller did repair them,
they probably just changed out the controller board. Similar to what the
Commador computer people did. They had a flat repair rate. Don;t recall
exectally,but it was something like the board cost them $ 50 and they
charged about $ 70 to repair the computer. All they did was throw away the
old insides and replace them. Seems this way is cheeper than the labor to
repair them.

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Ralph Mowery wrote:
"Rich Klestinez" wrote in message
...
I used to work for a company (ARCO Oil) that used a bunch of those. Weller
closely guarded their schematics and even now they will not release them.
We sent them in for repair but they charged about as much as to buy a new
one. Here is what I found over fixing a dozen or so.
1) The wire nuts came loose inside
2) Intermittent wires in the cable going to the soldering iron. Flex the
cable while ohming end to end.
3) The surface mount electrolytics go bad. These were MOST of the
failures and I ended up changing all of them in the rest of the 25
irons we used over about 3 years.
4) The cheap temperature set wire wound pot gets worn out.

Most of the parts in this unit are consumer rated parts and are available.
Never had any problems with the ceramic boards in the units or with the
printed resistors on them. Had a couple of chips fail. It's an A to D
with a seven segment driver built in. They are available still.

Other than the above, they are really a darn good soldering iron and keep
the tip temperature regulated fairly closely.

I still have 2 of them so if you decide to throw them away, send them to
me and I can use them for parts to keep mine in repair. I will reimburse
you for your shipping.

I have more info If you need it.

Rich Klesstinez
3728 Crestline Rd
Fort Worth Tx 76107

Email:
(my name, lower case, no spaces) at charter (dot) net


Thanks for the reply. I will probably keep the soldering station. It seems
to work fine, just no display. Weller made another modle that seemed to be
the same unit without the display. I guess that if Weller did repair them,
they probably just changed out the controller board. Similar to what the
Commador computer people did. They had a flat repair rate. Don;t recall
exectally,but it was something like the board cost them $ 50 and vethey
charged about $ 70 to repair the computer. All they did was throw away the
old insides and replace them. Seems this way is cheeper than the labor to
repair them.
================================================
On the topic of Weller soldering irons , I would appreciate info on the
following :

At a fleamarket I acquired a Weller soldering iron with a DIL16
de-soldering pad (very handy to remove ICs with up to 16 pins.
However , the heater element (Weller part nr 24410 , 24V-50W) is
defective (open circuit)
By Googling I haven't been successful finding a US supplier for the
heater element.
Can someone on this NG please help with US supplier info ( in the hope
the cost of a replacement element will not make it necessary for me
having to talk to my bank manager).


TIA for any advice

Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

On Nov 1, 4:23*pm, Grumpy The Mule wrote:
We had one of these irons at work and replaced it with a WTCP
station.

I cannot say how much I love the WTCP's for being a rugged reliable
workhorse.

Tim N3QE

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

On Nov 4, 11:09�am, highlandham wrote:

================================================
On the topic of Weller soldering irons , I would appreciate info on the
following :

At a fleamarket I acquired a Weller soldering iron with a DIL16
de-soldering pad (very handy to remove ICs with up to 16 pins.
However , the heater element (Weller part nr 24410 , 24V-50W) is
defective (open circuit)
By Googling I haven't been successful finding a US supplier for the
heater element.
Can someone on this NG please help with US supplier info ( in the hope
the cost of a replacement element will not make it necessary for me
having to talk to my bank manager).

TIA for any advice

Frank � � GM0CSZ / KN6WH- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hello Frank

Do you have a model number for the iron? If so, what is it?

73 John KC0G

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Ralph Mowery wrote:

RFI-EMI-GUY wrote:
I have same model unit with same exact problem. Yest it does regulate the
temperature. I haven't figured out the display problem either and the
thermistor in the iron seems to "ohm out" properly. Let me know what you
find. I never could find schematics for it. I used it just today on a PIC
project. Shame to throw it out, but I would like to read the temperature.

--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT

I found several schematics for different models. Never did find the one
that matches mine. I opened it up and it seems there is a ceramic board
with surface devices on it. Almost no user replicable parts. Atleast for
my skill level. I was hoping it would be the discrete parts. I can work
with them. Oh well, it was free and is a good soldering iron even without
the display. I do have a couple of spare parts for it also.

de KU4PT

Hi Ralph,

In my surfing, I found this reverse-engineered service manual for the
EC2002: http://www.geocities.com/bswadener/t...er_EC-2002.pdf or
http://tinyurl.com/5ff6qx (PDF, 372 KB). It may be of use to you and
others.

vy 73,
Bryan WA7PRC

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Bryan wrote:
Ralph Mowery wrote:
RFI-EMI-GUY wrote:
I have same model unit with same exact problem. Yest it does regulate the
temperature. I haven't figured out the display problem either and the
thermistor in the iron seems to "ohm out" properly. Let me know what you
find. I never could find schematics for it. I used it just today on a PIC
project. Shame to throw it out, but I would like to read the temperature.

--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
I found several schematics for different models. Never did find the one
that matches mine. I opened it up and it seems there is a ceramic board
with surface devices on it. Almost no user replicable parts. Atleast for
my skill level. I was hoping it would be the discrete parts. I can work
with them. Oh well, it was free and is a good soldering iron even without
the display. I do have a couple of spare parts for it also.

de KU4PT

Hi Ralph,

In my surfing, I found this reverse-engineered service manual for the
EC2002: http://www.geocities.com/bswadener/t...er_EC-2002.pdf or
http://tinyurl.com/5ff6qx (PDF, 372 KB). It may be of use to you and
others.

vy 73,
Bryan WA7PRC


Thanks!

--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
"The RFI-EMI-GUY"©

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."

"Follow The Money" ;-P

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

"Bryan" wrote in message I found
several schematics for different models. Never did find the one
that matches mine. I opened it up and it seems there is a ceramic board
with surface devices on it. Almost no user replicable parts. Atleast
for my skill level. I was hoping it would be the discrete parts. I can
work with them. Oh well, it was free and is a good soldering iron even
without the display. I do have a couple of spare parts for it also.

de KU4PT

Hi Ralph,

In my surfing, I found this reverse-engineered service manual for the
EC2002: http://www.geocities.com/bswadener/t...er_EC-2002.pdf or
http://tinyurl.com/5ff6qx (PDF, 372 KB). It may be of use to you and
others.

vy 73,
Bryan WA7PRC
Thanks for sending that Bryan. It is too bad for me that is not the one I
have. From the outside it looks like it, but inside it is totally
differant. There seem to be several modles that look similar on the outside
but differant inside. The one I have has a C after the 2002.

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

In article ,
"Ralph Mowery" wrote:

Thanks for sending that Bryan. It is too bad for me that is not the one I
have. From the outside it looks like it, but inside it is totally
differant. There seem to be several modles that look similar on the outside
but differant inside. The one I have has a C after the 2002.

Ralph-

Take a look at
http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/weller/
where the EC2002 and EC2002m are listed. Perhaps one of these will be
closer to yours.

Fred
K4DII

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Tim Shoppa wrote:
On Nov 1, 4:23 pm, Grumpy The Mule wrote:
We had one of these irons at work and replaced it with a WTCP
station.

I cannot say how much I love the WTCP's for being a rugged reliable
workhorse.

Tim N3QE
I went through two WTCP's. They worked ok, but eventually got
intermittent and would not stay hot. I now have a WES51/PES51 setup.
No more changing tips to change temperature, just dial it in. No led
display, but the dial is calibrated close enough. Also the soldering
pencil is lighter and less bulky than the WTCP was. Still I did like
the WTCP's all in one construction over the two piece (power supply and
iron stand) of the 'ES51. The Coper group has destroyed Weller. I
collect old Weller guns whenever I find them, the new ones SUCK.

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Howdy,

I've managed several labs where we had dozens of WTCP stations
in daily use.

The only problem I found with WTCP is the connector between the
base and the cord. I usually remove the connector and hardwire
the cord at the base. It causes the intermittent operation that
you've decribed.

I couldn't agree with you more concerning the damage Cooper
did to the Weller brand. Since they moved production to Mexico
the quality control is nonexistant. Some of the design changes
which I believe were intended as cost reductions were ill advised
too. The old Weller soldering guns are indestructable.

At home I have a Pace soldering/desoldering station and a Metcal
SMT station. I've no complaints other than the price.

At work we have a Hakko soldering/deslodering station and it's a
real work horse. We also have a Metcal SMT station which is a bit
fussy but it has been though hell and back. We just bought a couple
Pace ST70 soldering stations for general purpose work. I think we will
buy a few more, they're great.

It's too bad that Wahl quit selling Sterling soldering irons in
the US. It's an odd little iron but I love it. Thirty years old
and it's still the first iron I reach for in my shop. The original
tip is perfect! I called Wahl about buying a second iron and no one
there knew what I was talking about. The most clever feature is an
aluminum washer between the tip and body of the iron. The difference
in coefficient of expansion keeps the tip from seizing. It says made
in England on the body. Google was no help... sigh.


73,
Grumpy


ken scharf wrote in
:

Tim N3QE
I went through two WTCP's. They worked ok, but eventually got
intermittent and would not stay hot. I now have a WES51/PES51 setup.
No more changing tips to change temperature, just dial it in. No led
display, but the dial is calibrated close enough. Also the soldering
pencil is lighter and less bulky than the WTCP was. Still I did like
the WTCP's all in one construction over the two piece (power supply and
iron stand) of the 'ES51. The Coper group has destroyed Weller. I
collect old Weller guns whenever I find them, the new ones SUCK.

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

"Grumpy The Mule" wrote in message
...

I couldn't agree with you more concerning the damage Cooper
did to the Weller brand. Since they moved production to Mexico
the quality control is nonexistant. Some of the design changes
which I believe were intended as cost reductions were ill advised
too. The old Weller soldering guns are indestructable.


I have the Weller guns in 3 differant wattage ranges. I think this is one
of each that they made. The 8200 I have is over 40 years old. The middle
wattage gun is one that does not have the hollow nuts that screw into the
end of the rods comming out of the gun. It is labled intermittent duty
where the other 2 do not have this lable. It seems to be lighter than the
smaller rated gun also. I don't use them much any more except to put the
connectors on the PL-259.
I really like the guns for the bigger stuff the pencles will not work. I
even used the 8200 on some of the older and larger PC boards.

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Grumpy The Mule wrote:

I've managed several labs where we had dozens of WTCP stations in daily
use.

The only problem I found with WTCP is the connector between the base
and the cord. I usually remove the connector and hardwire the cord at
the base. It causes the intermittent operation that you've decribed.

I couldn't agree with you more concerning the damage Cooper did to the
Weller brand. Since they moved production to Mexico the quality
control is nonexistant. Some of the design changes which I believe
were intended as cost reductions were ill advised too. The old Weller
soldering guns are indestructable.


I wouldn't be without my TCP, and spares are still available. Cooper
Tools in the UK give excellent customer support (though that's the
people, not the product).

At home I have a Pace soldering/desoldering station and a Metcal SMT
station. I've no complaints other than the price.

At work we have a Hakko soldering/deslodering station and it's a real
work horse. We also have a Metcal SMT station which is a bit fussy but
it has been though hell and back. We just bought a couple Pace ST70
soldering stations for general purpose work. I think we will buy a few
more, they're great.

Also take a look at the JBC range of soldering stations. They are beyond
my amateur budget but professional friends rave about them - they seem
to do everything the Metcal range can (and more) without the complex and
expensive RF heating. There's a video presentation at:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=v2hLFmHTQvo

It's too bad that Wahl quit selling Sterling soldering irons in the US.
It's an odd little iron but I love it. Thirty years old and it's still
the first iron I reach for in my shop. The original tip is perfect! I
called Wahl about buying a second iron and no one there knew what I was
talking about. The most clever feature is an aluminum washer between
the tip and body of the iron. The difference in coefficient of
expansion keeps the tip from seizing. It says made in England on the
body. Google was no help... sigh.

If you can post a photograph on a website, someone here in the UK may be
able to identify it.


--

73 from Ian GM3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Howdy,

Thank you for the suggestion. I have posted an image of the
iron at www.dwave.net/~twomules/sterling_iron.jpg

The manufacturer's name is Sterling and it's marked made in
England. The handle is tri-lobular in cross section. In the
handle there is a thermostat which is adjusted by means ofan
allen key and there is a neon bulb indicating the heater status.

I'd like to know if it's still being manufactured.


73,
Grumpy


Ian White GM3SEK wrote in
:

SNIP
If you can post a photograph on a website, someone here in the UK may be
able to identify it.

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Grumpy The Mule wrote:
Howdy,

Thank you for the suggestion. I have posted an image of the
iron at www.dwave.net/~twomules/sterling_iron.jpg

The manufacturer's name is Sterling and it's marked made in
England. The handle is tri-lobular in cross section. In the
handle there is a thermostat which is adjusted by means ofan
allen key and there is a neon bulb indicating the heater status.

I'd like to know if it's still being manufactured.


I used to have one of those, but it didn't last as well as yours did so
it's long gone... along with all memory of the name!

Cross-posted to the good people at uk.d-i-y, some of whom have a
bottomless memory about old tools.




--

73 from Ian GM3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Ian White GM3SEK wrote:
Grumpy The Mule wrote:
Howdy,

Thank you for the suggestion. I have posted an image of the
iron at www.dwave.net/~twomules/sterling_iron.jpg

The manufacturer's name is Sterling and it's marked made in
England. The handle is tri-lobular in cross section. In the
handle there is a thermostat which is adjusted by means ofan
allen key and there is a neon bulb indicating the heater status.

I'd like to know if it's still being manufactured.


I used to have one of those, but it didn't last as well as yours did so
it's long gone... along with all memory of the name!

Cross-posted to the good people at uk.d-i-y, some of whom have a
bottomless memory about old tools.

Oh boy, do they ever! Thirteen replies already, all heavily laden with
soldering iron nostalgia... this thread will run and run.

One of them was even the right answer. From Jeff Layman:

It's an Oryx 50.

Yes, that's the one I used to have.

The name should be on the opposite side to that shown in the photo. Has
interchangeable tips, is thermostically controlled, and the temperature
is ajustable (up to 400°C), by mans of a hex key (1/16"?) set in a
small plastic handle. I've had mine over 40 years, and it's still
going strong.

Mine doesn't have "Made in England" - just "Model 50; 220-240v. 50w". I
guess the MiE was for the US market, as the iron was made in 24, 50,
115, and 210/250v versions.


A bit of further Googling reveals that the Oryx tradename is still in
use, apparently owned by an Irish company named Portasol which now
specialises in gas-fueled irons (www.portasol.com).



--

73 from Ian GM3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Howdy,


Thanks Ian! Sounds like I'm out of luck on buying
a new Oryx 50. The writing on the handle is nearly
worn off. Now I can see why the people at Wahl didn't
know what I was talking about. I had it all wrong.

DOH! I Should have looked carefully at the stand!
It plainly reads ORYX and below that Reading England.
The name is moulded into the black plastic base but
not painted or ink stamped. I just never noticed it
before.

Wahl is still selling their battery powered soldering
iron. I used to own one of those until the nicad's
went bad. They're in Sterling Ill.


73,
Grumpy

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Grumpy The Mule wrote:
Howdy,


Thanks Ian! Sounds like I'm out of luck on buying
a new Oryx 50. The writing on the handle is nearly
worn off. Now I can see why the people at Wahl didn't
know what I was talking about. I had it all wrong.

DOH! I Should have looked carefully at the stand!
It plainly reads ORYX and below that Reading England.
The name is moulded into the black plastic base but
not painted or ink stamped. I just never noticed it
before.

Wahl is still selling their battery powered soldering
iron. I used to own one of those until the nicad's
went bad. They're in Sterling Ill.

Ah, too bad. Here's another picture of the genuine article:

Someone in the USA would like to identify this old British made
soldering iron:

As others have said - Oryx
Photo of mine (with stand - sponge missing) at:-
http://www.diy.110mb.com/oryx.jpg



--

73 from Ian GM3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Wahl is still selling their battery powered soldering
iron. I used to own one of those until the nicad's
went bad. They're in Sterling Ill.

I have had one since 79' and is on it's 5th set of batteries. I replaced
the last set with 3ah NiMH and they never seem to go down now and has a
permanent place in my field case.

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

On Oct 31, 5:47*pm, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:
I was given this Weller soldering station. *The display is not working. *It
does flash 888 on it when first turned on. *The tip does heat up, but I have
not determined if I can vary the heat or not. *Also have an extra soldering
pencle that plugs in it. *Changed them to see if the display would light,
but it didnot. *Any hints on it ?

They gave it to you because Weller stuff is junk. I have seen more
Weller soldering stations fail then I care to remember over the years.
Don't spend a lot of time on it. Break down and buy a Hexacon station.
We have four here. They have worked flawlessly for over ten years with
heavy use.

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Wahl is still selling their battery powered soldering
iron. I used to own one of those until the nicad's
went bad. They're in Sterling Ill.
=======================================
I am using a Wahl battery powered soldering iron since the 1980s
However the battery charger is rather crude ;just a transformer with an
embedded diode.
I have changed the charging circuit by using a 12V transformer
,rectifier and an LM317 and a switch enabling charging at 300 mA (when
soldering iron is in use)and 10 mA (permanently) when iron is not in use.

Frank KN6WH (GM0CSZ temporarily in California)

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

On Oct 31, 5:47 pm, Ralph Mowery wrote:
I was given this Weller soldering station. The display is not working. It
does flash 888 on it when first turned on. The tip does heat up, but I
have
not determined if I can vary the heat or not. Also have an extra
soldering
pencle that plugs in it. Changed them to see if the display would light,
but it did not. Any hints on it ?

Telstar Electronics wrote:
They gave it to you because Weller stuff is junk. I have seen more
Weller soldering stations fail then I care to remember over the years.
Don't spend a lot of time on it. Break down and buy a Hexacon station.
We have four here. They have worked flawlessly for over ten years with
heavy use.

No... they gave it to him because it didn't cost much and was defective. At
my current place of employ, we have many Weller EC-series soldering stations
and over the 6 years I've been there, I've seen only a couple of failures.
In 30+ years in radio/electronics, I haven't seen many failures of these
units. I recently bought a new WES50 for myself and am very satisfied.
Tips are widely available and inexpensive.

Bryan WA7PRC

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Grumpy The Mule wrote:
Howdy,

I've managed several labs where we had dozens of WTCP stations
in daily use.

The only problem I found with WTCP is the connector between the
base and the cord. I usually remove the connector and hardwire
the cord at the base. It causes the intermittent operation that
you've decribed.

I couldn't agree with you more concerning the damage Cooper
did to the Weller brand. Since they moved production to Mexico
the quality control is nonexistant. Some of the design changes
which I believe were intended as cost reductions were ill advised
too. The old Weller soldering guns are indestructable.

At home I have a Pace soldering/desoldering station and a Metcal
SMT station. I've no complaints other than the price.

At work we have a Hakko soldering/deslodering station and it's a
real work horse. We also have a Metcal SMT station which is a bit
fussy but it has been though hell and back. We just bought a couple
Pace ST70 soldering stations for general purpose work. I think we will
buy a few more, they're great.

It's too bad that Wahl quit selling Sterling soldering irons in
the US. It's an odd little iron but I love it. Thirty years old
and it's still the first iron I reach for in my shop. The original
tip is perfect! I called Wahl about buying a second iron and no one
there knew what I was talking about. The most clever feature is an
aluminum washer between the tip and body of the iron. The difference
in coefficient of expansion keeps the tip from seizing. It says made
in England on the body. Google was no help... sigh.


73,
Grumpy

I remember the Wahl 'iso tip' battery irons. Nice portable tool for
field repairs (but useless for field day PL-259 assembly!). Only
problems were battery and tip replacement. The tips would eventually
fall apart as the ceramic insulation surrounding the heating element
cracked.

As for field day, once I figured out how to quickly assemble PL259's
onto RG8U, I got drafted by the radio club to handle this duty at field
day. (Strip back about 4" of outer insulation, tin the braid with a HOT
soldering gun (I used the BIG Weller gun), file down the excess solder,
cut down the braid with a tubing cuter or a razer saw, remove the center
insulation, cut the center conductor to size and tin it, then slip the
coupling ring over the coax and screw on the connector, then solder it
home (with the BIG Weller gun again!). Took about 4 minutes per connector.


ken scharf wrote in
:

Tim N3QE
I went through two WTCP's. They worked ok, but eventually got
intermittent and would not stay hot. I now have a WES51/PES51 setup.
No more changing tips to change temperature, just dial it in. No led
display, but the dial is calibrated close enough. Also the soldering
pencil is lighter and less bulky than the WTCP was. Still I did like
the WTCP's all in one construction over the two piece (power supply and
iron stand) of the 'ES51. The Coper group has destroyed Weller. I
collect old Weller guns whenever I find them, the new ones SUCK.

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

Howdy,


I kept the iso-tip iron in my briefcase. It heats fast
and I don't regret having bought it. When the batteries
went bad I no longer had a use for it. So it ended up
somewhere... can't remember where. The ceramic fell out
of the tips on me too. I think the engineers at Wahl
should have talked to someone at Cotronics.

I got tired of tightening the tips on the guns and bought
an 80W "pencil." A studly iron, suitable for soldering
sheets of copper and bus bars. For me the next step up
from this is a torch. It's only 80W so at first blush
I expected a higher wattage gun to work better but there's
a lot more thermal mass in the iron. The copper tip is
a slug about 1/2" dia and 1-1/4" lg. It makes fast work
of PL259's.

I like the tubing cutter technique if the coax has enough
braid. Some of the junky stuff I just flood the connector
with solder through the connector's holes and mostly it
works. I've tried wrapping the scant braid with fine wire
first which may help. Buying or scrounging good quality
coax with decent braid coverage is the best answer.

I thought the crimper for PL259's (on RG8 size coax) was
a great idea but after reading some reviews and looking
at the photos of cracks in the connector I'm not so sure.
I thought of buying a set of dies and fixing them to a
hefty arbor press I have in the garage. Though soldering
has proved reliable and I like reliable.


73,
Grumpy





ken scharf wrote in
:


I remember the Wahl 'iso tip' battery irons. Nice portable tool for
field repairs (but useless for field day PL-259 assembly!). Only
problems were battery and tip replacement. The tips would eventually
fall apart as the ceramic insulation surrounding the heating element
cracked.

As for field day, once I figured out how to quickly assemble PL259's
onto RG8U, I got drafted by the radio club to handle this duty at
field day. (Strip back about 4" of outer insulation, tin the braid
with a HOT soldering gun (I used the BIG Weller gun), file down the
excess solder, cut down the braid with a tubing cuter or a razer saw,
remove the center insulation, cut the center conductor to size and tin
it, then slip the coupling ring over the coax and screw on the
connector, then solder it home (with the BIG Weller gun again!). Took
about 4 minutes per connector.

weller EC2002C soldering station
 

I thought the crimper for PL259's (on RG8 size coax) was
a great idea but after reading some reviews and looking
at the photos of cracks in the connector I'm not so sure.
I thought of buying a set of dies and fixing them to a
hefty arbor press I have in the garage. Though soldering
has proved reliable and I like reliable.
=================================
Perhaps it is useful to mention PL259 connectors with a braid fixing
arrangement identical to the one of an N-connector .
That leaves the tech to only solder the centre pin.
They are more expensive (abt US$4.50 ea) but imho it's worth the
expenditure.

Frank KN6WH