Too bad, I would complain to Weller and return them to the seller as defective (and not buy any more).
Could they be knockoffs? Does the old tip still function ok? Did you hear the iron switching on and off during operation?
Could they be knockoffs? Does the old tip still function ok? Did you hear the iron switching on and off during operation?
Old tips still work great. I like small-medium conical tips, currently using a chisel that seems enormous to me, but it’s probably just a ‘regular’ tip to everybody else…
Pta7? Perhaps. I was lucky enough, last time when I ordered some new tips, they gave me a bag containing 10 them, a life time of tips for me 🙂
That's the one. The 700F temperature has always worked just fine for me.
I've never liked a pure conical tip, because the point seems to run too cold.
Chisel tips don't have that problem, even the smallest 1/16" one.
You do need some surface area to transfer the heat.
When you have to solder rather big stuff, get the larger chisel tip, it rocks.
Digikey does seem to throw in a whole bag of parts on occasion, instead of just one part.
I've never liked a pure conical tip, because the point seems to run too cold.
Chisel tips don't have that problem, even the smallest 1/16" one.
You do need some surface area to transfer the heat.
When you have to solder rather big stuff, get the larger chisel tip, it rocks.
Digikey does seem to throw in a whole bag of parts on occasion, instead of just one part.
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Nothing personal, but about Weller........they are gone-costly. I mean for DIY.
Will of the people:
''The best cheap soldering stations-T12''-this is it. Hakko-Makko, Quicko-Muicko, KSGER-MSGER, Sequremall-Mequremall, original, non-original, japanese, chinese, american, martian etc........ no mater what, BUT always ''T12''. Never backward, always forward!
Will of the people:
''The best cheap soldering stations-T12''-this is it. Hakko-Makko, Quicko-Muicko, KSGER-MSGER, Sequremall-Mequremall, original, non-original, japanese, chinese, american, martian etc........ no mater what, BUT always ''T12''. Never backward, always forward!
About 15 years ago I got a Xytronic soldering station from a local factory that was closing down. It has accurate adjustable temp
control and you can still get replacement parts for it plus different bits. Its been in daily use since then with some of the original
bits. If it ever fails I'll get another Xytronic one, but I only hope the quality is still the same unlike with Weller it seems.
control and you can still get replacement parts for it plus different bits. Its been in daily use since then with some of the original
bits. If it ever fails I'll get another Xytronic one, but I only hope the quality is still the same unlike with Weller it seems.
We need to discuss the difference between copper tips and iron clad tips.
Solder alloys nicely with copper at the modest soldering temperatures. In practice this means solder dissolves copper soldering iron tips!
That is why there are iron clad copper tips. The iron coating prevents the tip from dissolving in the molten solder.
Before iron clad tips were popular you used to regularly file your copper tip to get a clean smooth interface surface. If you tried filing an iron clad tip it exposed the copper and the tip would be destroyed in a few more uses.
I seem to recall using iron clad tips they would eventually have the plating fail and the tips die after a few years of use. However there was often misuse involved where the plating got scratched and exposed the copper.
Soldering iron temperature really depends on the type of solder you are using. Soldering iron wattage should be based on the size of material you are heating. Higher wattage irons also require larger tip sizes. Smart variable temperature irons do allow a higher wattage iron to do smaller jobs within reason.
Of course how you clean your tip affects quality of the finished joints and life of the tips.
I am not perfect in soldering. I actually had a cold solder joint prevent a microphone line from working in one of my installations. I remember that failure well. It was in 1992.
Solder alloys nicely with copper at the modest soldering temperatures. In practice this means solder dissolves copper soldering iron tips!
That is why there are iron clad copper tips. The iron coating prevents the tip from dissolving in the molten solder.
Before iron clad tips were popular you used to regularly file your copper tip to get a clean smooth interface surface. If you tried filing an iron clad tip it exposed the copper and the tip would be destroyed in a few more uses.
I seem to recall using iron clad tips they would eventually have the plating fail and the tips die after a few years of use. However there was often misuse involved where the plating got scratched and exposed the copper.
Soldering iron temperature really depends on the type of solder you are using. Soldering iron wattage should be based on the size of material you are heating. Higher wattage irons also require larger tip sizes. Smart variable temperature irons do allow a higher wattage iron to do smaller jobs within reason.
Of course how you clean your tip affects quality of the finished joints and life of the tips.
I am not perfect in soldering. I actually had a cold solder joint prevent a microphone line from working in one of my installations. I remember that failure well. It was in 1992.
Both my iron tips from 1980 are fine. Both used to get left on overnight, when speedy studio repairs were more valuable than mere tips.
The first thing you do with any new tip or soldering setup is to calibrate its temp.
Getting myself a T12 machine with a selection of T12 tips from banggood was the best purchase in my life.
This was many many years ago. One day I left it on over night and the next morning the tip was gone.
This was back in 2019. I then realised just how lost I would be without my T12 setup. So I ordered a backup unit.
The backup unit had many nice functions my old unit did not i.e. auto sleep, auto wake, press to boost.
A friend got me an original T12 tip. I think he paid like 32$ for it. It works no better than the cheap bits I got off ali express.
I rarely us it cause its calibration values differ i.i. every time I want to change tips I have to re-calibrate the machine. I only have one orignal tip but tons of china tips. (The tip here is get all your tips from the same vendor)
The key factor other than temp calibration is to get the setup with the least distance from grip to tip. I see people buying gear without factoring this in.
Its like trying to use a pen by holding it at the tip. vs holding it as close to the nib.
The quality of my welds changed for the better with my T12 setup.
Im not looking at the more recent T series setups to see if I can reduce that grip to tip distance some more.
Getting myself a T12 machine with a selection of T12 tips from banggood was the best purchase in my life.
This was many many years ago. One day I left it on over night and the next morning the tip was gone.
This was back in 2019. I then realised just how lost I would be without my T12 setup. So I ordered a backup unit.
The backup unit had many nice functions my old unit did not i.e. auto sleep, auto wake, press to boost.
A friend got me an original T12 tip. I think he paid like 32$ for it. It works no better than the cheap bits I got off ali express.
I rarely us it cause its calibration values differ i.i. every time I want to change tips I have to re-calibrate the machine. I only have one orignal tip but tons of china tips. (The tip here is get all your tips from the same vendor)
The key factor other than temp calibration is to get the setup with the least distance from grip to tip. I see people buying gear without factoring this in.
Its like trying to use a pen by holding it at the tip. vs holding it as close to the nib.
The quality of my welds changed for the better with my T12 setup.
Im not looking at the more recent T series setups to see if I can reduce that grip to tip distance some more.
So, back in 1992 your employees got together and made sure that boss guy never got his hands on a soldering iron again, lest he make another mess..
Good for them..
John
I've used an SPG40 with a WLC100 station for +15 years, and only had to replace the ST3 tip because it was stored untinned at some point.
The ST3 was discontinued and can be difficult to find. If you need a replacement ST3 3.2mm or ST2 2.4mm tip, check the "AiCE TOOLS (AiCE Soldering) Store" on Aliexpress, parts ST-D32 and ST-D24. Using MG Chemicals 4880 63/37 solder, they work exactly like the originals. Buy your solder from a reputable reseller like Mouser or Digikey. I can't predict the service life of these tips, but it got the iron running.
The ST3 was discontinued and can be difficult to find. If you need a replacement ST3 3.2mm or ST2 2.4mm tip, check the "AiCE TOOLS (AiCE Soldering) Store" on Aliexpress, parts ST-D32 and ST-D24. Using MG Chemicals 4880 63/37 solder, they work exactly like the originals. Buy your solder from a reputable reseller like Mouser or Digikey. I can't predict the service life of these tips, but it got the iron running.