Regarding T12 clone mini station safety - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: cozm
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 10, 2020, 01:51:03 pm
content: Hello, I'm total noob to electronics and I ordered Quicko T12 943 station for electric guitar modding/repair and some other simple repair jobs(like fixing headphones, changing broken sensors/switches in computer mouse, etc).Now I've been reading all these threads about T12 clone stations and grounding them etc and mostly they just made me more confused. It's still unclear to me what type of power supply I need and what other procedures do I need to make the station/iron to not be a safety hazard for myself. I'm not really that worried about damaging the components I'm working on I just want the station to be safe to use for me and my environment (no dangerous shocks or explosions).I've been looking at these two power supplies since I don't have too much to spend which is why I originally ordered the station from china(but now already starting to regret it), other one is three prong and other one is two prong, but only can output 60W/2.5A.https://www.tme.eu/fi/en/details/gst60a24-p1j/desktop-power-supplies/mean-well/https://www.tme.eu/fi/en/details/cld-8024-t2-e/desktop-power-supplies/cellevia-power/Would either of these power supplies be adequate for safe use of the station or do they both compromise safety? Note that I'm not worried if the iron will heat up slightly slower with the 60W psu or some other similar drawbacks.If neither of those are adequete then what kind of psu I need to look for, three prong psu matching the station specs(24V/3-5A/72W)? And what other procedures do I need to do to make the iron safe enough for my situation?P.S. The reason why I ordered the mini version was because I read it speculated that it could be safer to power the station from external psu because of the design of the internal powers, as long as the psu was high quality. I also had extra laptop adapters, but it turns out they weren't exactly compatible either since the closest one was two prong psu with 5,5x2,5mm plug :/

author: Ysjoelfir
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2020, 02:14:59 pm
content: Safety wise the meanwell would be nice, but it's only 2.5A, the T12 is specced at 3A. So you would want to have at least that current available from the PSU.

author: cozm
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 10, 2020, 02:19:08 pm
content: Right, so you are saying that it can be a safety concern if the psu doesn't have enough current and also that three prong psu is what I'm really looking for? I don't mind if the iron will heat up slower if that's the only issue. Too bad I can't find any similiar meanwell with 2,1mm plug :/ only 2,5mm.Do you know if I need to make some other steps to make the station safe to use as I described in my original post.Thanks for quick reply btw =)

author: Ysjoelfir
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2020, 02:38:32 pm
content: It's not realy a safet concern, at least not with a good quality PSU like a meanwell. That is also the main reason I would decide for that over the two prong plug one - It's a known manufacturer that builds reasonable good quality parts.But: If you connect a PSU with not enough current it may not start or even get damaged (the better the PSU the more you go towards "not starting" and away from "being damaged").The plugs aren't a real issue. Just buy an apropriate plug in addition to the PSU and connect that. You will have much more PSUs to choose from.Despite that I WOULD definitely pick a three prong plug type power supply as those usually ground the secondary to the mains, which adds a layer of safety.Other than that I personally don't know about any major safety risks concerning the small T12 Irons. Mine works pretty nice in the car

author: jman43195
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 16, 2020, 06:23:22 pm
content: I have the full size Ksger one (the OEM of these) and it's great! However, I've seen the inside of the Quecoo mini ones and they're not that good. I recommend that you either find the official Ksger mini, or spend the $50 to get the full size one. Also, I've seen the Quicko/Quecoo mini ones usually with a pretty bad rating. Might be ok, but the real one is worth the money.