is it possible to bodge a JBC clone solder station to run T18 style iron - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Gazz_292
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 06, 2025, 05:27:36 am
content: i can imagine the answer is 'don't be so bloody stupid' but i'm going to ask anyway.I have a vacuum desolder station (CSI 701) that uses the 4 wire style heater and separate thermistor (the iron is a T18 style), the desolder gun is the typical ones used on yihua, wep and other chinese clone of clone desolder stations, again a 4 wire jobbie (well 6 with the vac pump switch.. no 7, there's a ground too)So it uses 2 wires for the heater, 2 for the thermistor, just this element has a hole in the middle for the nozzle to suck the solder through,I also have a Geeboon HC24 solder station with the 3 iron switcher, this runs the JBC style cartridge (heater and tip combined) irons, and the hakko style T12 cartridge irons... and these use a 3 wire system (1's earth i believe, so it's 2 wires for heating and sensing as there's a couple of thermocouples in series with the heater coil.I want to get rid of the desolder station as i no longer use the iron, and it's taking up valuable space, but keep the gun from it,i have a vacuum pump (electric brake booster pump from a car... this will be mounted under the desk)) so i just need a way to heat the desolder gun now... and i'd really like to do that with the Geeboon HC24.Would anyone know if it's possible to somehow make up a sort of bodge box that can make a JBC / Hakko style clone solder station work with the older separate heater and thermistor style irons?I believe the T12 is a hakko thing, now they have moved onto the 2/3 wire cartridge irons i wonder if they make a box that allows people to use older irons with newer stations.i know i should just make / buy a cheap basic T18 style power unit to run the heater of the desolder gun, but if i can avoid another box on my equipment shelf and use the existing solder station that'll make things a lot neater and easier...the Geeboon HC24 has more than enough power for this 60W (i think) desolder guns heater,The vacuum pump will of course be powered by it's own 12v psu, so if i need to have a separate unit to heat the gun that means yet another psu in that, as i doubt 12v will heat the 24v heater in the desolder gun very fast (it already takes 5 minutes to warm up on 24v):Or, are there such things as JBC / hakko cartridge type desolder GUNS, or a heating element with a hole in the middle that uses the same 2/3 wire heater and thermistors in series arrangement??i know about the thing that is basically a large T12 wedge tip cartridge, with a hole drilled through it at an angle, and a nozzle and solder catcher canister attached, then a vac line, plus a switch, all mounted to a T12 handle,i really don't like that idea at all, as i really like the pistol style desolder gun i have.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 06, 2025, 09:06:06 pm
content: The wiring diagram is here:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/geeboon-tc20a-240w-tc20b-380w-jbc-clone/msg5943550/#msg5943550

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2025, 12:23:24 pm
content: One of the reasons I bought a C245 clone was that there are plenty of schematics and source code available for these controllers. So as long as your cartridge has a thermocouple and it heating range is within what the controller hardware can handle, it can be made to work.