Weller magnastat soldering iron problem

Now that's funny. Preppers are a special type of stupid because they think THEY are the ones that will survive the (hoped for) apocalypse. Wait until your neighbors figure out you're the only one with food. Good luck with that. Or you "bug out" like you planned, get to your secret hidey hole stocked with survival stuff. Then you find out how much of your survival stuff requires gasoline, or electricity or manufactured stuff (like ammunition) to work.

No, I grew up in Los Angeles, all of my stock pile of OEM spare parts was acquired at surplus stores, swapmeets, garage and estate sales And the occasion "Score!" on eBay the Free Cycle mailing lists or Craig's list.

Melamine, when exposed to heat, breaks down into its original components. T hey are: cyanamide & formaldehyde. The one is a respiratory irritant and su spected carcinogen, the other highly toxic and a definite carcinogen. Magic Erasers are largely made of Melamine, you might consider slicing one of th ose for the purposes. But, DO remember what happens to them when heated.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

One day a few years ago when I was waiting for parts for my last working We ller station and using my road kit soldering iron, I ordered two of these o n ebay:

These have been pretty much all I've been using since. Except for a needle point iron (EC4000) for very fine work or for anti-static considerations, I've retired the Wellers. These cheap irons are 60W heads and adjustable, although turning them all the way up is way too hot.

These never break. Never. Not the heaters nor the wire. I don't have to wo rry about changing the expensive heaters or therm sensors in the Wellers an ymore, or have them go cold/hot during a job because the of another intermi ttent wire break. There are two cons to these. The first is that the tips are not the greatest, but they're good enough and you get 5 included. The second is that the iron is not regulated. This has never been a problem a s the unit's ceramic heater gets the heat to the tip quite quickly. I also use a tiny schmear of neverseize at the tip collar where it contacts the b arrel.

I bought these to keep strictly for emergency backup to the Wellers, but no w I use them every day and bought another for my road kit.

I don't understand John. Is there some special ordering code for defective Weller equipment?

My first Weller was the soldering gun in 1968. Still have it, it still works. Shortly after getting hired at TRW in 1973, I was introduced to the TCP magnastat series. I've owned and used them up until 2001 when I bought the WES51 style. I have a pair of the DS600 desoldering stations.

In all this time, other than tips, I've had to replace the cord on a TCP twice (two different units) and a heating element once. I haven't had any problems with the desoldering stations, nor have I had any problems with the WES stations that are now

I have no answers Jeff, only my personal experience. Maybe I'm just tough on soldering equipment.

I've had many Weller heaters and sensors fail over the years as well as bre aks in the wires, and was spending more to keep these things running than I was my truck (okay, hyperbole but still..), and I don't think I ever visit ed a repair shop that didn't have a Weller pencil handle with tape folding the wire back over itself to keep it in contact.

The last straw was the handle for the EC4000 that quit after about a year w ith minimal bench usage. I forgot what I paid for that but it wasn't cheap .

I replaced it again because there are times when I need an exceptionally fi ne tip but I use it maybe two or three times a year at most to preserve it.

Otherwise, it's the cheap Chinese ebay 60W pencils that I've been using eve ry day, most of the day. Not one has crapped out in almost three years, an d even if one did, I have another $8 one brand new on the wall still in it' s little baggie. I spent less for these than the shipping cost of getting W eller parts to my shop.

You know what else I've gone cheap on? Shaving razors. I now buy Trac II generic blades:

If I replaced the blade once per week, I get two years for $15. Since I re place them once every two weeks, I get four years for $15 (that's just $4 p er year), and I can't tell much difference between the generics and the Gil lette.

Good point. The patent mumbled something about it being safe because the soldering iron is at a lower temperature than the breakdown

Solder melts at various temperatures depending on composition.

Weller irons are running for a tip temperature, but I'll check. I have a Hakko FG-100 buried somewhere.

Anyway, there seems to be a sufficient margin between the tip temperature and where melamine breaks down.

It was meant to be a compliment. The alternative is that you are a junk collector, pack rat, or hoarder.

It's really a philosophical issue that distinguishes preppers from survivalists. A prepper believe that the way to survive the Trump administration is to run away to the hills when the SHTF. A survivalists stocks up, fortifies his house, and prepares to fight off everybody. I don't think spare parts for your electronic devices will help in either case.

Yep. It's kinda like Y2K on steroids. I sold quite a few computahs to those panicked by threat of a Y2K computer meltdown which didn't happen. I'm sure various entrepreneurs notices and decided to perpetuate the fears to generate some business.

Ditto, and in the same city (as you well know). At one time, I was dragging home car loads of junk from the TRW flea market or JJ Glass. Most of that has been recycles as I lacked the time to fix the stuff, and the space to store it as its value depreciated. I also found it less fashionable to be surrounded by electronic boat anchors. My lab is still very much 1970-1980 vintage test equipment, which is well worth keeping. But, if I buy any replacements, it will be something much newer.

Incidentally, when I buy something on eBay, if I want to work, I buy three. One to use, and two for spare parts:

Civilization started when man made fire. I've got five gross of Bic lighters packed in cosmoline in my basement. I'm good.

Ever hit C&H, L&R or Everett's in Pasadena?

Remember Durk Pearson in the skimpy leather shorts?

Olden tymes...

Civilization started when man made fire and then offered to rent the use of his camp fire to anyone who could pay the price. Commerce was invented when the fire man started selling camp fire use licenses and charging royalties for the resale of the fire he had invented.

Good idea. It might be useful for self immolation if things go awry. Cosmoline is petroleum based and quite flammable at high temperatures. It just melts, drips, and runs at temperatures below the ignition point, and then the whole thing erupts in flames once above the ignition point. I found out the hard way when trying to "melt" the stuff off a military surplus Jeep engine.

C&H yes. I don't recall L&R or Everett's. Pasadena was not on my beaten path. Also, I escaped from Smog Angeles in about 1973.

Nope. In my spare time, I hung around Santa Monica where skimp leather shorts were just one of the many de rigueur uniforms.

Ah yes, Cutthroat and Highprice. And of course JJ Glass, and previously Palley's.

Those weren't shorts, it was more like a thong.

Personally, I liked the dwarf running around more.

And Law was invented when the lincensee attacked the licenser with his spiky club when the licensee's fire ceased operation after the first rainstorm.

The BOX is covered with cosmoline!

L&R was further to the east, and was owned by Pappy Dow of Dow Radio fame. Dow went belly up maybe 10 years ago, but it had a good run. We did our heavy shopping in 1962-4.

C&H closed maybe 10 years ago. The sign is still there, but it was some sort of fitness club last time I looked.

He went to all the TRW swap meets and was quite a striking figure. I don't think we bought much there, but it was fun to look at.

Depends on what you wanted, I guess. We were building a tape recorder at the time and needed weird stuff.

Never heard of Glass, but we went to Palley's quite a bit.

I don't remember a dwarf...

I have experienced all the failures mentioned with Weller pencils and soldering stations. Except for points, I've had zero failures with Tenma soldering stations.

Some old vinyl cables ooze as they get stiff, so that's a plasticizer. With any luck, it's an obsolete plasticizer. Unless the cord is special, destroy it. Occasionally, though, the outer sheath is bad, but the inner wires are rubber-insulated (I try to keep those, they're limp and make good test lead material). Real rubber-insulated wire is just barely still available.