Solder Station, New or Repair. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: snipersquad100
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 01:57:51 pm
content: The 24v transformer in my cheap Chinese WEP solder/rework station has gone up in smoke, i'm looking at £50 plus to repair it. Do you think I should put the money towards a new station instead of repairing it?.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 02:13:38 pm
content: Buy a new transformer. It might cost less than 50 pounds to get one of proper VA value:Farnell's transformers 2x12v / 1x24v 60VA or more :http://goo.gl/wsWv9Same but toroidals :http://goo.gl/SLPmM

author: dark_hawk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 04:37:17 pm
content: What caused the transformer to go up in smokes if you don't mind me asking?Bad quality or something you did?

author: snipersquad100
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 05:00:24 pm
content: I did put a new iron in it I got off ebay but im not sure if it was the right one, It looked exactly the same. But im sure if I put the wrong iron in it the circuit board would go not the transformer. I tested the transformer and it was the secondary winding that failed, I rewound the secondary with the same gauge wire but only got 18.5 volts, cant wind any more no room left on the coil.

author: dark_hawk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 05:47:36 pm
content: I have a cheap Chinese rework station which works fine, the iron and hot air have accurate temperature control.I wanted to change with iron with a better quality one and ordered some heating elements to replace the one already in place, but they didn't work and would've blown the transformer if I didn't hear the transformer hum and disconnect it fast enough.What I learned is that there are 4 types of heating elements that work with Chinese made soldering/rework station.There are Atten specific heating elements which I wouldn't go into since every model has it's corresponding heating element that won't work with other generic or other Attens.There are the Hakko A1321 which are the heating element of the Hakko 900M/900L/907/908/913/914 and some Chinese made stations. These Have 3.5-5.5 ohm across the heating core wires and 49-55 ohm across the sensor wires. These (as I have learned the hard way) does not work with the generic stations and would cause the transformer to have a high hum which I think will cause it blow.The third kind is the A1322 which is essentially the Chinese replacement for the A1321 and is works with most Chinese made stations. Those have a 0.9-1.5 ohm resistance across the heating core wires and 12-15 ohm resistance across the sensor wires.And lastly there is the A1323 which is essentially the same as the A1322 but with stainless steel body instead of ceramic.I think what happened is that your station required a A1322 and the iron you got from ebay had a A1321 core. Measure the resistance of the sensor wires to make sure.

author: snipersquad100
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 06:00:46 pm
content: will do, thanks for replying, I put the results here tomorrow.