Irony problem

Hi, There is no general way to accurately convert watts to temperature. If you have a way to control the voltage to your solder iron and a way to measure tip temperature you could run an experiment and map the voltage and current against the measured temperature of the tip. This would still only be approximate as putting the iron in the holder would add insulation and the temperature would climb from the free air temp. This test however would give you some feel for how the watt input to your specific iron relates to its temperature. The only way to accurately control the temp of the tip is with some sort of feedback system where the actual temperature of the tip is monitored and fed back to the controller so that the current can be increased or decreased as needed. We recently had an extensive discussion on solder irons on the forum. You might try a search of the forum for "Solder Iron" and see if there are any answer there.

John

John Wiltrout wrote:

 

The only way to accurately control the temp of the tip is with some sort of feedback system where the actual temperature of the tip is monitored and fed back to the controller so that the current can be increased or decreased as needed.

I'd like to add this to John W's comment: the amount of power you need to maintain tip temperature depends strongly on what you're doing with the iron.  If the tip isn't touching anything, or is touching a small amount of metal, it won't need much power to maintain tip temperature.  However, if you touch a large amount of metal, particularly if it's connected to a power or ground plane, it takes a lot of power to heat up that metal.  Copper conducts heat very quickly, and thermal relief pads only help so much.  So a temperature-controlled iron needs an accurate way to measure tip temperature.

Thanks a lot for your feedbacks but my turn now.

I thought of using a thermistor to read the temprature just at the tip of measurment.The the thermistor and the controller for temprature are under the same hood but isolated from each other. I wanted one to go high temprature to do various jobs. Also, this not a one man project but for others to build their own stuff. I'm notusing it to mesure heat when on stand so dosen't matter.

The priciple is that when I turn the dimmer(to increase temp.) the iron responds to the amp/current flow and dissipates a amount of heat. It is seen by the thermistor and displayed on a 3-digit disply. Grateful for any more answers.

$24.95 for something that is SAFE and has everything someone needs is good value.

While I applaud innovation and subscribe to not always paying top dollar, that seems a very minor amount for something that will last you 20+ years.

If your personal circumstances don't allow it, what about contributions for birthday/xmas.

That's what my kids did when they wanted something they couldn't afford outright.

Seriously though spending money on good tools is never a mistake, they will last you a lifetime.

mark

$24.95 for something that is SAFE and has everything someone needs is good value.

While I applaud innovation and subscribe to not always paying top dollar, that seems a very minor amount for something that will last you 20+ years.

If your personal circumstances don't allow it, what about contributions for birthday/xmas.

That's what my kids did when they wanted something they couldn't afford outright.

Seriously though spending money on good tools is never a mistake, they will last you a lifetime.

mark

Just wanted to make a DIY one, not like inaffordable.

plus I wanted a way to read the temp on screen and building something to that is impossible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(partly possible)

I'm afraid a good controllable soldering Iron station costs quite a bit $24 is quite good actually.

As Mark says these are tools that last 20-30 years with good maintenance so been a cheapskate just aint worth it !