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 ?

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

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.

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

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.

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.

"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

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 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

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