heating element defect, reparing 80w hakko knockoff soldering station - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: techted
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 13, 2020, 12:03:32 pm
content: Hello. I'm new here, so please forgive me if this is the wrong place to ask.Recently the heating element on my soldering station (XyTronic 1600) broke.The soldering iron looks like one of those generic hakko knockoffs which dave reviewed in the past.I thought it would be simple enough to buy a new heating element, at worst a new iron for 5$ or something.Unfortunately the replacement heating elements that sell cheap chinese crap are only specified for 24v 60w.The station is 32v 80w.The replacement parts that are available locally are only whole irons which go for around 30$ at which point I could almost buy a used station or new chinese crap.Is there a way to make those 24v heating elements usable on my model?

author: tunk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2020, 01:10:36 pm
content: 32V 80W -> 12.8ohm24V 60W -> 9.6ohm: @32V -> 107WIt could possibly work if the temperature sensor is the same:Remember, it's not run at full wattage all the time.Also, open it and see if it's possible to adjust it to 24V.YMMV, done at your own risk.

author: techted
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 13, 2020, 03:03:13 pm
content: Well.I should have mentioned I already got the new heating element in the mail and tested it. It does not work unfortunately.It led the soldering tip to glow!I tested it again afterwards by setting the temperature as low as possible and the iron still heats up, so it looks like the station and heating element is still fine.Guess I'll have to open it up and see if there is indeed some way to adjust the voltage. Thanks

author: techted
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 13, 2020, 03:04:38 pm
content: I'll make a picture of the insides and test resisance of the element

author: mcinque
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 14, 2020, 07:45:22 pm
content: There are cheap spare heaters for that model. Askhttps://ndn.com.pl

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 14, 2020, 08:10:24 pm
content: Quote from: techted on November 13, 2020, 03:03:13 pmThere are two types of heaters. One with resistive temperature sensor, another with thermocouple. And they are not interchangeable of course. It's not an uncontrolled firestick for supply voltage to affect temperature in any way. Temperature is regulated by a closed loop system, if soldering station thinks that temperature is low due to incorrect temperature sensor, of course it will apply voltage to the heater continuously. I guess you will screw up completely innocent soldering station for nothing.

author: techted
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 15, 2020, 09:23:08 am
content: Quote from: mcinque on November 14, 2020, 07:45:22 pmThanks for all the replies.Should I just email them directly? On the website they only offer the irons as a whole.

author: techted
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 15, 2020, 09:38:12 am
content: Quote from: wraper on November 14, 2020, 08:10:24 pmYes. Especially with my unfortunately very limited knowledge and understanding of electronics... But maybe this information is of interest for anyone regardless.I just opened the thing up and there are two trimpots. Construction looks very solid.Without knowing exactly what they do, I guess it's a very bad idea to change anything about them.The new heating element looks almost the same as the old one. Also the wire isolation has the same color. Only difference is this weird fabric isolation.The printing on the PCB says "h" for the red wire and the measured resistance is 4 ohm. So pretty far off from the suspected 9 ohm. Maybe the claims for 60w in the listing were wrong...For the blue wire it says "s" - probably sensor I guess - and it's 40ohm.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 15, 2020, 09:45:59 am
content: Quote from: techted on November 15, 2020, 09:38:12 amIf you try adjusting those, you will simply screw up temperature calibration. It will not alter supply voltage in any way. It uses transformer and thus supply voltage is not adjustable.

author: techted
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 15, 2020, 10:05:14 am
content: Quote from: wraper on November 15, 2020, 09:45:59 amYeah. I thought so. Just wondering why it says 24v on the the red and black cable that goes to the transformer. But still nothing for a novice like me.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 15, 2020, 10:09:43 am
content: Quote from: techted on November 15, 2020, 10:05:14 amYou can simply measure actual voltage.

author: techted
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 18, 2020, 04:45:40 pm
content: Just borrowed the iron from someone who has the same soldering station.Apparently it's an (older?) revision.It has a 6 pin connector instead of 5 pin, so I can't test it on my actual stationNotice that the heating element has "24v 60w" imprintedI also measured resistance and it measured around the same as the element I got.Really no clue what to do anymore...The site suggested asks 20$ for a replacement

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2020, 12:39:35 am
content: its Chinese, that 32V/80W might be "aspirational"

author: techted
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 19, 2020, 05:50:45 am
content: Quote from: Rasz on November 19, 2020, 12:39:35 amIt's taiwanese. Also reflected in the rather high build quality. it surprises me because there is also a 60w version of the station. So I would think that they are not lying about the wattage