Hi,
I have been using a WESD51 solder station for almost 1.5 years, it served me well so far but recently it developed an issue, and I’m wondering if someone could provide me idea on how to fix it.
I was de-soldering/soldering some stuffs from a big PCB with full ground plane on both sides (2 Oz copper boards), I turned up the temperature to 370 degC so that I barely managed to de-solder stuffs from the ground pads. After an hour or so working in that condition, the iron stopped heating. I shut it down, waited some hours, and turn it back on – it works again, but only on light loads, I mean, it can run normally at 340 degC (the temperature I typically use for normal stuff) but if I turn it up to 370 degC and tried to de-solder from the dual side ground plane again, it stops heating after few minutes.
I replaced the soldering iron tip and issue remains. I followed the operation manual and check the few voltages they listed, and they seem in spec. I checked the gate PIN of the Triac with a scope and the control signal seems work fine.
Appreciate if anyone could provide me some tips on how to solve it (I do have a backup soldering iron from China, so I can still replace components at the WESD51 if required).
Thanks and regards.
I have been using a WESD51 solder station for almost 1.5 years, it served me well so far but recently it developed an issue, and I’m wondering if someone could provide me idea on how to fix it.
I was de-soldering/soldering some stuffs from a big PCB with full ground plane on both sides (2 Oz copper boards), I turned up the temperature to 370 degC so that I barely managed to de-solder stuffs from the ground pads. After an hour or so working in that condition, the iron stopped heating. I shut it down, waited some hours, and turn it back on – it works again, but only on light loads, I mean, it can run normally at 340 degC (the temperature I typically use for normal stuff) but if I turn it up to 370 degC and tried to de-solder from the dual side ground plane again, it stops heating after few minutes.
I replaced the soldering iron tip and issue remains. I followed the operation manual and check the few voltages they listed, and they seem in spec. I checked the gate PIN of the Triac with a scope and the control signal seems work fine.
Appreciate if anyone could provide me some tips on how to solve it (I do have a backup soldering iron from China, so I can still replace components at the WESD51 if required).
Thanks and regards.
Thanks very much for your help, you're spot on with the issue. The problem is resolved after I resoldered the analog parts of the PCB 😀.
I didn't notice that before, but once I started looking, I'm very surprised by the poor quality solder joints of the through hole components on the PCB. Despite the WESD51 being an entry level model, given the Weller brand name, I was expecting much better quality control than that 😡.
cwtim01,
Don't be too surprised...I bought a 100 watt Weller iron that was
supposed to be heavy duty, for stained glass window soldering.
I left it in the holder on the bench for something or other and when I returned it had melted in half. Just lucky I caught it before it
burned down the house.
Don't be too surprised...I bought a 100 watt Weller iron that was
supposed to be heavy duty, for stained glass window soldering.
I left it in the holder on the bench for something or other and when I returned it had melted in half. Just lucky I caught it before it
burned down the house.
Makes me wonder if Weller is still a good choice if I want to upgrade to a rework station later 🙄
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