Old Weller 100/140 Watt Soldering Gun

[eccerr0r]

Re: Old Weller 100/140 Watt Soldering Gun

I do own more than one gun, I have a hazard fraught one that I melted due to experimenting with homemade tips and not fully adhering to the duty cycle. Not sure if it was the tip or the duty cycle however -- alas it still sorta works.

The Weller one seems much more robust with respect to duty cycle but yes it too warms up, but not as bad as the hazard fraught one.

If one were to PWM or probably better to just phase/wave control the AC, need some kind of feedback loop, thermocouple on the tip somehow?

[stj]

Re: Old Weller 100/140 Watt Soldering Gun

i was thinking about feedback - a few possible ways to do it but it would look messy
kprobe bead on the back of the tip with thermal cement was the simplest.
the other thing i was wondering was using a thermal imager circuit from a non-contact thermometer!!
point it at the tip area and read the heat colour!

[DrewPhillips]

Re: Old Weller 100/140 Watt Soldering Gun

Someone gave me two of these 100/140w weller soldering guns. Yes, I know it runs current right through the tip, but might be nice to really get some heat into some big wires that need to be soldered.

So, worth a place on the bench, or chuck it?

Definitely worth a place on your bench. I have one of these and it has worked well for many heavy soldering jobs. Perhaps one of the more unusual uses was for a repair job I did on a guitar amp long ago. Chassis was low and long, and the PCB took up most of the room inside. Soldered external leads came in to the board from all 4 sides, which would have necessitated disconnecting at least half of them to gain access to the solder side.

I made up a long tip for my Weller gun using 12 gauge copper wire, hammering a thin spot in the middle of the wire and bending it double there. Using a mirror, dismounting the board and tipping it up a bit, and reaching under with the makeshift tip bowed to one side, made quick work of replacing an axial-leaded capacitor.