TS100 Soldering Iron Power Supply & Cable Mod - YouTube

[@maxruff7645]

Tip for sliding cables through tight sleeves or heatshrink, apply a squirt of IPA (Iso-Propyl-Alcohol). Fantastic for fitting tight clip on covers too. Evaporates leaving no residue. Best trick I've learnt in years!

[@AtlantaTerry]

91% alcohol is hard to find these days. Update: I finally found some.

[@fischer1672]

@@AtlantaTerry everything is hard to find these days

[@SHINdanny]

@@fischer1672 some women would say that it is easy to find hard these days

[@VictorNomura]

FYI, The countdown timer is how many seconds before the iron goes into sleep mode. It does not show time to heat up to set temp. Once you move or shake the iron, it resets. Leave it still on the table and it will count down.

[@choppergirl]

I converted three DELL laptop power supplies to have XT-60 connectors on the end. They are rated at 18.0v 2.6amp.. which is just above 4S max. Multimeter tells me they are putting out 18.9v unloaded. Once I can use on my DJI FPV goggles, one on my TS-100, and one on my Lipo charger. I was afraid it'd be a bit too much for the Goggles but they seem to cope with the extra voltage just above spec just fine. I also bought one of those 24v 17amp server power supplies bundled with the TS-100. It's nice because it comes out at 6S, which I can use to power up my quad on the bench.... or I can use it on the Lipo charger if I should need more amps with a balance board. So solder on an XT60 male on the end of your power bricki, and then solder up a stand alone TS100 cable with an XT60 female... and then you can use your power brick for multiple things. You could also solder up a XT60 male to aligator clips, then plug your TS100 cable into that if you ever have to power it off a car battery supply. I write on my XT-60's with a red and black sharpie... +/- symbols, and how much voltage it might put out so I don't mix things up... i.e 17v, 24v, etc. So you'll end up with all kinds of adapters and cables.. what to do with them? I found slide lock ziplock bags make a great way to store things and keep cables from getting tangled. Just stuff identical or similiar things in zip lock bags, and zip them and label them with a sharpie. fpv.air-war.org

[@chocolate_squiggle]

Well I don't even have a TS100 but I was just thinking the other day, if I do get one I'd like to use silicone cable for power. I think I have a bit lying around that came with some high powered telecoms equipment at work but I hadn't considered the strain relief, so I enjoyed watching this through. For me a serious bonus was an inadvertent multimeter tutorial. I've owned an Amprobe 37XR-A for about 10 years, it was my first meter. It has a couple of interesting features I haven't seen on many other meters. It took me many many years before I found a use for the inductance measurement in Henry's - the water level pressure sensor on my Fisher Paykel washing machine when it was playing up (a diaphragm pushes a ferrite bead through a copper winding if I remember right - it was a lightbulb moment seeing that). And the other which I've never used until today is the Logic setting. I was wondering why you didn't just use the continuity tester on your awesome old meter but I grabbed mine to try it and sure enough the Logic setting gives me IMMEDIATE continuity feedback whereas the actual continuity buzzer has an annoying lag, the manual actually states about 100ms. So although I still have to one day learn about its actual intended TTL/CMOS usage, I'm gonna call it and say I've finally found a use for all the settings on that meter :-) Geeze there are some whingers on here. Some people seem incapable of realising not everyone knows as much as they already do. Or in fact I'd wager the ones complaining are often the ones who 'know enough to be dangerous' because they already think they know it all. I avoid them at all costs. Thanks for the video.

[@RetroSalesAustralia]

chocolate squiggle Thank you 👍

[@chriswhitehead6095]

Q

[@sokoloft3]

Just want to say this mod is fantastic. I always recommend it to anyone who gets a TS100/Pinecil. The only thing I changed was I have a female jack so it isn't spliced into the charger itself. Its basically an extension cable and leaves the charger un-modified. Thanks for the video and idea!

[@dazecm]

Ultimately you want to have 65 watts going through the iron for the best performance in terms of the power delivery needed to get heat from the tip into the materials you're soldering. You won't see wattage on power supplies but the calculation is to simply multiply the volts, in your case 20, by the amps, in your case 3.25 to get 65 watts.

[@wrstew1272]

Heat shrink on the plastic body is quicker and more effective than tape. Don't use loctite on plastic as it interacts with and ruins the plastic, if you feel that you need an adhesive use some form of glue or steal some of your wife's nail polish. From experience I speak, been here done that.

[@darattaqwa]

Wow wonderful video! paused the video to like and sub.. on the laptop charger cable what is that bulky part, always wondered what it was.... EDIT: you answered my question later in the video (Ferrite to smooth out DC)

[@motoerhead1990]

I wonder how you came up with the Idea of that Tattoo Cable. Its just bloody brilliant. Ordered my TS 100 yesterday and since I´m waiting I browsed youtube and found that vid. Really really cool idea mate. Stay save!

[@tomkenney5365]

Silicone cord is definitely the way to go. My TS100 feels like a cordless soldering iron, and with a 20v supply and Ralim firmware it has basically replaced my Aeyou 968 A+.

[@liveen]

the dotted line means switching power supply btw, which is smoothed by inductors and capacitors. The ferrite bead you have there will have SOME induction effect on the wire, but barely any. Mostly, those are used to reduce EMF, not really anything else. great for audio setups etc especially in noisy environments like a workshop with a lot of interference, but it won't really help at all for the TS100. If it doesnt bother you to have it there, though, it won't really hurt to be safe anyways.

[@davidprice2861]

A worthwhile modification, silicone is excellent choice for soldering irons..

[@exnj1819]

Nice vid and great idea, I'm going to make one of these using a silicone cable with male and female 5.5mm x 2.5mm connectors at each end so I don't have to butcher a laptop power supply.

[@sokoloft3]

Did you find a good supplier for the plug and jack? I can only find a 20 pack of both male and female ends.

[@michaelsworkshop9031]

That cable with the spring is very nice - I have bookmarked the link you provided for it! I have used these exact same ThinkPad 20v adapters to power tons of gear -- most recently a nice Dell 2000FP 4:3 LCD monitor with composite / s-video inputs on it. That soldering iron is definitely interesting - looking forward to seeing how it holds up over time.

[@RetroSalesAustralia]

Thanks. Yep I really liked the spring cable so I thought is was a perfect choice. It's still going strong and gets used daily now...

[@billluzius3778]

You could use a regular car cigarette lighter for the power source correct

[@bloodgain]

Nice recommendation for the tattoo gun cable. Your link is dead, but searching "silicone clip cord" on eBay or AliExpress comes up with plenty of good options under $10 that include the spring at the jack.

[@wrstew1272]

Saliva is a great lubricant for snug fitting heat shrink, heat removes when shrinking

[@AtlantaTerry]

Yeah, BUT saliva can leave a residue AND it is very slightly acid. Back in the day photographers used to lick their flashbulbs prior to inserting them into a flashgun. Over time, the saliva corroded the contacts in the flashgun. Terry Thomas Photos / Atlanta

[@AtlantaTerry]

A better choice for a lubricant is 91% alcohol and it will evaporate.

[@aterack833]

I like to use the ferrite cores that have the clip together cases to hide my wire connections, sometimes without the ferrite even if frequencies don’t matter

[@mohammad45h]

Hello thanks..you are beralians and sun stare beautiful.....very nice....iam in iran mechanic and mgatronic....سپاس وهزاران لایک 🙏🙏🙏👌👌👌💝💝💝😘😘😘منتظر معرفی سیستم های بیشتری ازشما هستم...

[@liveen]

Little piece of information that probably won't matter TOO much, but twisting the strands after stripping the wires is actually not something that helps after the job. It helps with soldering, but lessens contact area and decreases the strength of the joint. Could become relevant for something that moves around alot, but I doubt it will be too bad in this case anyway, especially with the double strain relief you've ended up with. But still good to try to not keep that habit too strong

[@travislee5044]

What is the part number of the laptop power supply that you used?

[@Dave001968]

maybe a 3 core cable would work better? Use the 3rd core to connect the earth. The supplied one is too short & adds a lot of spring tension.

[@timjackson3954]

I did that. The 3rd wire also keeps the 5525 plug from falling out in use, but it meant I had to modify the PSU (I used an XP-Power 24V 65W) to pass through the mains earth connection. The smallest silicone 3-core I could find was 0.75mm², which is a bit clumsy, but OK. I also had to solder over the centre-pin rivet in the plug to get a reliable contact. I used some spiral-wrap to relieve the cable stresses, anchored to the earth wire. Whatever, it works, I use it a lot, with a full set of bits. Great little iron once these things were done.

[@brantwinter]

Does this power supply leak AC to the tip like most Y-capacitor coupled switching power supplies discussed in relation to the TS100 ?

[@MrBanzoid]

Big chisel tips are good for drag soldering SMD ICs.

[@FlyerTuck]

What other devices are there I can find that size connector from?

[@ales_abreu]

Oops friend! I wanted to take just one question here about the TS100. Mine is apparently working, only one detail is making me intrigued, when I turn it on and press the heat button, there are times when it keeps going back to the start screen and lowers the temperature even before reaching the point configured as default, 300 °C, this happens in the first few minutes after it normalizes. But if I disconnect from the source and reconnect it happens again. Could you tell if this is normal or the source is not feeding correctly? I was using a 17v 5a source.

[@wokbok43]

Hello there. I have a power supply its 19.5V and 4.62 A output......will the higher amps kill my soldering iron ? Thanks ..great informative video this one. Thumbs up !

[@Nick1011]

You could use a 100 amp 19.5 volt supply if you wanted. Amps are just how much it can supply, it does not mean it will use it all. What you don’t want is not enough amps.

[@theodiscusgaming3909]

A good way to think about this is, current is pulled, not pushed. The 4.62A is just how much can be pulled from the supply, and the soldering iron will just pull how much it wants under 4.62 amps.

[@dez5504]

Good idea but looks like it would be heavy at the back of the iron

[@BlocksPlayTV]

15V 4A should work almost as good right?

[@DoctorThe113]

It would work. But even with your 60 watt adapter, the ts100 won't draw 60 watts of power because of lower voltage. With 15 volts it would draw prolly 20 to 30 watts. So lower thermal recovery and slower heat up time.

[@AtlantaTerry]

No. You really need 24 volts for the iron to work best.

[@purebloodsunite7489]

it will work but it's only 28w power.

[@smokemirrors1531]

Good thinking with the lead - i went through this myself about the time you made this but struggled getting the cable. Note: There is another version - TS80 (which is less power) which uses the type-C connector which is a much better connector than the micro-USB on the TS-100 and loses the power jack completely

[@AtlantaTerry]

What? I thought the USB ports were only for data, not power.

[@smokemirrors1531]

@@AtlantaTerry check out the ts-80

[@theodiscusgaming3909]

@@AtlantaTerry The USB port on the TS100 is for data. The one on the TS80 is a power port.

[@ultragreenishere3249]

Great video, definitely making something similar when I get the iron. What size/type connector inserts into the Ts100?

[@jm036]

Standard DC barrel jack, 5.5m/2.5mm.

[@almirbajsini]

Im thinking of buying a iron, witch do you recomand ts100 or quicko with hakko tips.

[@Brian-uq6jm]

I have both TS100 and Quicko 952. If you just solder on your bench, the Quicko is a much better choice. Firstly, it's ESD safe. Secondly you don't have to meddle with cable or anything, it comes with silicone cable by default. Lastly and very importantly, my quicko's iron handle has much better ergonomics than TS100, I hold must closer to the tip which gives me more control, the TS100 is quite a bit more awkward to hold. That said, if you need to solder on the go, definitely go for TS100. One caveat about TS100. My TS100 is over two years old, the OLED screen has failed. Ordering a replacement screen from Miniware cost me US$10. They charge US$5 for a screen which is ridiculous. My T12 station is also more than 2 years old, never had a single problem with it. So if you're going with TS100 and that's your only iron, you'd better have spare replacement screens on hand cuz I've heard a lot of people's screens have failed. My TS100 has always been on original firmware if you wonder if it's 3rd party firmware that sped up the wear.

[@hakimdurand8427]

Dang im years late. Where can I get that tattoo cable

[@AtlantaTerry]

eBay

[@sokoloft3]

www.ebay.com/itm/301992413890

[@CichlidVibes]

when your plug connector is heavier than you soldering iron :-D

[@VictorGonzalez-fw3nl]

Hi 🙋‍♂️, one cuestión 🧐 how’s work to 12 volts ?

[@AtlantaTerry]

12 volts will work but your soldering iron will not get very hot. You can find used laptop power supplies from eBay sellers for about US $10.

[@meanxmeanx1763]

Thanks for that video. I did the same thing : wonderful ! The balance is indeed much better.

[@OMikeG]

Why not leave plug intact and just add a female to the end of the new silicone wire?

[@mediavormgever]

Pulsating DC? that sounds interesting.

[@Tomkatoz74118]

Great vid mate - thanks! The link for the silicon cable appears to be dead. Any chance you can update it? Thanks again.

[@johnd942]

Very useful exercise and demo.

[@WhiteError37]

Was busting my balls trying to find a 7.4mm to dc for my dell laptop charger when I remembered I had an old hp laptop charger and sure enough they use a DC jack so no need for an adapter cable, may however get an extension cable if I can't get on with the laptop lead but its pretty thin and a straight connector so I’m pleased with that find. Update: I undershot the size of the DC connector and the hp jack was too small, Now im rocking a Dell charger with a 7.4mm to 5.5 DC jack

[@ksingleton101]

I'm sure someone has mentioned already that a bit of soap on the rubber coated wires will help with installation. (8:10)

[@AtlantaTerry]

Silicone is not rubber. 91% alcohol works as well and then evaporates.

[@labpartners3490]

Could I use a tattoo power supply since they’re adjustable? Having it on my desk and the ability to unplug from it would keep things neat. Also, would a guitar cord work? Thanks for making this video :)

[@theodiscusgaming3909]

You could do that, just make sure it can deliver 12-24V DC.

[@mrmidnight32]

Expected to see a nice clean video. But this was a total hack job. This looked like a day 1 soldering class student

[@goldentrowel1968]

Doesnt the iron come with its own power cord ?

[@AtlantaTerry]

No. It is probably easier for the manufacturer to have end users supply their own battery or mains power. Otherwise, they would be saddled with supporting many different kinds of specs worldwide. Some sellers DO supply cords and (of course) make a markup profit. I just put the word out via Craigslist that I wanted laptop power supplies that people wanted to get rid of. One guy gave me a boxful of all kinds!

[@KG4JYS]

looks like that silicone tattoo cable is no longer available. I can find a bunch of slightly similar cables but they're more money and don't have the nice strain relief. Pity.

[@RetroSalesAustralia]

Aaron Kelly This one will work www.ebay.com.au/itm/Power-Cable-Clip-Cord-for-Tattoo-Machines-Red-170cm-Z6E9/122408757058?_mwBanner=1&ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F0%2F0%2F0%3Fmpre%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.com.au%252Fulk%252Fitm%252F122408757058%26rvr_id%3D0%26rvr_ts%3D27eece071700a4d129107035ffecf81f&ul_noapp=true&pageci=54f21302-110d-46d2-a761-de68f23659af&epid=1580504055

[@jayward7536]

Mine wont flash firmware doesnt even come.up on computer shows up as stm storage and cant do anything with it

[@deo11]

To clarify the DC Barrel connector dimensions: - Male connector: 5.5mm outer diameter, 2.4mm inner diameter - Female connector: 6mm inner diameter, coaxial pin with diameter 2.1mm When searching for a connector online, the dimensions referenced are: 5.5mm and 2.1mm (whether you're looking for male or female parts)

[@paulabraham2550]

No, unfortunately 2.1 and 2.5 mm connectors are different though awfully hard to tell apart. You might get away with using a 2.1 male in a 2.5 female but it probably wouldn't be very satisfied^h^h^hactory.

[@azza2507]

Great Mod

[@RetroSalesAustralia]

Thanks... a bit of a long video in the end, but I got there in the end. :)

[@Mazinga]

It is so ridiculous that they don’t provide a power supply for this product...

[@sbelljr]

Mine came with a nice 19v power supply.. I guess it depends on the vendor. It was actually in a larger box alongside the Ts100 box.

[@88Nikoli]

Why ?

[@kevincrossland1898]

Some come bundled with 19.5v supplies, some come with 12v ones, not found any with a 24v supply

[@Mazinga]

Yeah. I ordered one with a power supply but no 24V, so I had to buy one myself.

[@kevincrossland1898]

@@Mazinga i'm going to use a 19.5V one from my old laptop, might try and mod it to 24V at some point though

[@tazztone]

why don't u just use a lighter for the heat shrink?

[@bravefastrabbit770]

Hey man what happened to you? Not a single vid for like 2 years. Ngl, I always stop n think whenever an aussie has disappeared in the past 2 years.

[@RetroSalesAustralia]

I’m still here, just have two kids now so life is much different. I don’t have the spare time to make videos anymore, especially in the evenings. I might try and make a few soon. Any topics you’d like covered?

[@Heathmcdonald]

Loctite eats plastic, unless its loctite specifically for plastic

[@N269]

No disrespect, but gotta luv the fact you're using a 240v iron to make the change, instead of the TS100.... just sayin' 🤐

[@RetroSalesAustralia]

Haha yeah. It’s chicken and egg situation. I had to make the cable before I could properly use it.

[@mariobeans]

why not a 24 volt supply?

[@RetroSalesAustralia]

mariobeans I didn’t have one. Use a 24v if you have it. The little iron will be a beast

[@rubendario3768]

Too much trouble for as ordering tip please

[@tonytrilex2555]

use a Hakko tip

[@NINEWALKING]

Thanks for the idea for the cable. Now sorry. It's a knife tip. Not a chisel tip. Even designation tells you K. Loctite on tape and plastic? Really? Both ends longer plus lead? Miss judged lengths. Not cutting off heat shrink end when it's not straight . Not using anything to help you place heat shrink above thight places. Not placing a heat shrinking on both leads. Every cut sloped. Weak contact's of the wires. That's not how you use crimp inside a jack. That one is meant to crimp both leads on the isolation and provide stress relief when cable is pulled out of the jack. It is not meant for soldering. Not using any for flux. Using knife tip for this is least of the offences here. What have I watched I am still asking my self. At least start with I do this for Fun and I am not a professional. That way new to soldering people will know that's way it works for you and that is fine but it ain't way to do it right. I really do not want to troll you. I want to motivate you to learn how to do it proper so you can help other's to learn proper way as well. Million ways to do it many good and proper ways sure but this isn't one. It just functions and is not directly dangerous way but it us not going to last and if you use loctite it will fall apart. Want to fill in hexagonal thing into a round shape? Use other type of the filler. Even hot glue will do. Thanks for the idea where to snatch nice silicone cable though.

[@davet2667]

If you're going to critisise, could you at least learn to spell?

[@NINEWALKING]

Dave T apparently not, sorry the grammar police officer. Learning people how to do something comes with responsibility. He did few bad mistakes. Still didn’t wanted troll or check his grammar. But I have had to point out the facts. Ask any professional and they will concur.

[@donmichaelcorbin4417]

@@NINEWALKING i8

[@theodiscusgaming3909]

There is no 'right way' to do things, as long as it works, it's good enough. The only thing I would have done differently is instead of cutting off the connector on the power supply, it's better to get a matching connector and solder it on the other side of the cable. This way, it is possible to use the power supply for other applications if required.

[@NINEWALKING]

@@theodiscusgaming3909 och there is. There is if you want to make something that lasts and perform at it's best. There is a reason why things get done milspec way or NASA way. There is a reason why people like Leo Fender has learned his working force how to do it proper way to handwire his amplifiers and those all still work and if anything ask only for cleaning, elco refresh and tube refresh. Those you can't prevent anyways. Sure there is a human factor involved and some amps might have an issue but with the proper specifications and doing it the proper way you minimize possible issues. Sure for your self you can say it works it is fine but you are addressing the whole world and people learn from it. Doing it wrong or half assed will learn lot of people to accept bad work. Just a little bit more attention and the knowledge and in same amount if time one can do it so it lasts and performs at is maximum potential. As a teacher you own to your students to learn it proper way and teach it as well. Look where "if it works it is good enough" has brought the human kind. No wonder we got flat earthers and people that die not believing some sicknesses are real. In few more decade or in best case scenario in the few generations we are going to reach the state described in the movie Idiocracy. Sure it is not only KZbinrs fault but doing it wrong is adding to it for sure. And I see it in so many KZbinrs and in so many different categories. Sure some fan boy will comment about the grammar and haters gonna hate. I do not mind it that much. I do speak 3 foreign languages and the English is one of them. Not my native language and not a native language in the country where I live. Not a great excuse specially saying above that perfection is something to strive for but then again I am not teaching people English language either. And for this to be understood I thnk that I am comprehensive enoughand thatis a fact. If you want to learn how to do it properly, ask me or someone who is doing stuff for decade's professionally or I can point you to the KZbinrs who have the in depth knowledge to. You are responsible and you got a perfect chance to preach the right way and how to strive for perfection. Giving up that fight is giving up on creativity and the knowledge. Good luck.

[@horiamorariu]

Half hour tutorial to soldering 2 wires... fantastic waste of time.

[@flash608]

32 minutes of changing a cable plug? Seriously? And you call it mod? I was waiting for some kind of real mod like powering TS-100 from a power bank or something.

[@RetroSalesAustralia]

It turned into a long one hey! I do actually power the TS100 from a 20V laptop power supply, so it kind of was a "mod" but I do hear you loud n clear and appreciate the comment. I'm working on new videos so hopefully you can find one more interesting in my back catalog or in an upcoming one. Thanks for your honest feedback.

[@workingdb]

I personally think this is a great video and appreciate the clear description. It's a cool and functional mod, thanks for the walkthough.

[@charliejackson4451]

Sounds like someone is triggered and needs a safe space with a warm bottle of milk to calm down. Mod = modification, which is what happened in this video. Good video and neat modification for some that are just getting into soldering and annoyed with the right angle plug.

[@MylesC1234]

I am a hobbyist and found this video very nice and helped me out quite a bit.

[@88Nikoli]

What do you solder with that horrible bloody chisel tip ? You should just file the side of the conical tip with a bit of a flat and re tin it , for a perfect tip no wonder it takes so long to heat up with that monstrous tip acting as a heatsink ! Why you even make a half hour video making a lead where a photo would do with a link for the tattoo machine cable ( not a gun , doesn't shoot ) as anyone with a soldering iron knows how to do this !

[@AlienRelics]

You'll file through the iron plating and it will eat out the copper core.

[@chocolate_squiggle]

Hmmm.... heatsink..... could that possibly mean it HELPS with large solder joints?

[@AlienRelics]

@@AnOliviaShapedGremlin Lead-free, or lead-tin solder? Add flux.

[@AlienRelics]

If your soldering iron takes forever to heat up 2 or 3 grams more of copper in the tip, you have a horrible soldering iron. Try soldering a PL259 with a conical tip. Good luck.

[@sokoloft3]

Going to do this for my pinecil. Found a good listing here for the wire: www.ebay.com/itm/301992413890 However I cannot find a good listing for the jack. I want both a female and a male end. I can only find a pack of 20, 10 male 10 female. $13 shipped though and I don't have a use for the 18 other connectors. Might just order a male and take a jack out of a laptop I have. Though it's still sort of functional.