DIY Weller TCP Soldering Station

Short video, short on detail, long on waffle.

[@tim9778]

Hi. That 50 volt Weller iron was made for British Telecom. The plug you were admiring is a standard GPO jack plug, and plugs into a socket very similar to a standard quarter inch jack. The distribution frames and apparatus racks are equipped with these sockets for soldering irons etc. The little brass pip on the back of the plug is to connect an ESP( electrostatic protection) strap to a suitable earth/ anti static mat etc.

[@BrumAdam]

Nice little video and I agree about the new Mexican made tips - I use a TCP and luckily still have some NOS ones as well. I think your head went a bit funny when you came to the 'JD' bit 😂🤪

[@diabolicalartificer]

My head went a bit funny years ago, due to all the testing of noxious substances I've done over the years. I usually cut most of the waffle & head funnyness out.

[@f.k.burnham8491]

Andy, Be sure to add fuses to the power supply. Pr.i & Sec. And stuff spares inside it. in it. I was on a svc call 65 miles away & my fuse failed. :( Yes the newer tips are total crap. The old ones held up quite well. I even tried tinning the newer ones with silver solder to prolong life, but it didn't. I found the slightest nick in the OEM tip coating quickly caused the tips to erode away. Since my local supplier at the time was charging about $12.00 USD at the time, it really sucked. Found another supplier, and they were $1.99 USD from them. Exact same tip by Weller. Needless to say, I bought a handful at that price. I really like the 800 deg. F tips. They seem to solder quickly and not lift traces like the 600 deg. F ones.

[@diabolicalartificer]

Bugger! That's something else I forgot, a fuse. There's one in the plug, but still,thanks for spotting that.

[@f.k.burnham8491]

@@diabolicalartificer No problem Mate. It's not like I haven't had one of those transformers fail & the iron go up in flames... or anything like that,,,,, (Choke, cough...)

[@ianmorgan6104]

Nice little project Andy, aren’t soldering irons expensive? I suppose you get what you pay for like a lot of things! Looking forward to your next instalment of your 807 amp😀

[@diabolicalartificer]

Ta. Yes irons can be expensive especially for what they are, IE a heating coil onna stick. Working away on the 807 amp, it's getting complicated, video hopefully out soon.

[@tigerelectronics5966]

Wonderful little build :) Simple and reliablie! I am thinking about getting one of them irons too, because my current iron is abit embarrasing to show off to be honest, handle fell apart so I had to tape it back together but it works really well, it just doesn't look all that nice lol

[@diabolicalartificer]

A good iron is invaluable, I've struggled with crap iron's and screwed up PCB's, better to have a bloody hot iron, in quick out quick, a cowboy as they say in bank robber parlance.

[@tigerelectronics5966]

@@diabolicalartificer hehe, yup :) I dug out my beloved old Weller WHS 40 with a broken tip last night, the tip broke off inside the heater several years ago and I got annoyed and put it aside. I took my drill and a tap, and I drilled and was able to then pull the remains out. Now all I gotta do is put in a new tip, and then I'll have my beloved old iron back! I feel stupid for not doing this years ago when it happened, but I had a limited set of tools back then so perhaps that's why I never tried. Anyways, I think that'll be my project for today, make a new tip for it on the lathe :) Also I gotta stop being lazy and edit my videos :P

[@diabolicalartificer]

@@tigerelectronics5966 I use Shotcut, it's pretty easy to use. It also helps if you film in short segments,then it's just a matter of adding transitions and the odd bit of text.

[@tigerelectronics5966]

@@diabolicalartificer I'll check that out, filming in short sections sounds much easier than what I have been doing too, I'll give both a shot and see how it goes :) Currently been using Kdenlive, and it's a real hazzle....

[@t.w.experiments2122]

Im having a lot of problems with my ions. Iv been through lots of cheep Chinese ones they r shit. I’ve had a rs pro soldering station it lasted less than 6 months. All the soldering tips seem to be shit these days. I’m not happy with any ions I’ve had. I’m going to get a weller soon. I’ve already got a few old weller tips ! For the time being I’ve been trying to make my own elements and handles. To be fair it’s hard to get right without proper machining. I’ve made my own ceramic heating elements they work well. Im not going to give up till I make an ion that works reliably! ( or get the weller ) 😂🔥

[@diabolicalartificer]

Yep, had the same thing, mainly used Antex 25w irons but the tips don't last long. I now use the Weller TCP & was fortunate to be given some old tips. These old tips last a lot longer than the new ones from Mexico. you can pick up TCP irons and old tips on Ebay still for a reasonable price. My friend in Cuba built his own iron, it's like one of the big Weller 100w jobbies, uses a tfmr to get high current, copper wire is the tip. Big & heavy though. Helps to get decent solder too, see if you can buy a reel of some old 60/40. Good luck.