RE: Hacking a Chinese Soldering Iron

DAB — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 19:20:32 GMT

Great post John.

A good lesson on how to turn junk into a better device.

I agree with mark, you could add something like an LM317 to set up a maximum current limit to help with the top end.

DAB

RE: Hacking a Chinese Soldering Iron

dougw — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 12:35:58 GMT

I have a similar iron - not exactly the same, but the price was similar. It seemed to be working fine until I noticed part of the handle was melting and the whole cartridge becoming unstable. [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-f44d79ce-b521-4da3-bcc5-04b31bc5a1aa/contentimage_5F00_4027.png:16:16] Everything except one plastic ferule was fine. In my case the price was too good to be true. Lesson learned....(maybe) [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-f44d79ce-b521-4da3-bcc5-04b31bc5a1aa/contentimage_5F00_403.png:16:16]

Removing the offending plastic is very tough - that stuff is like concrete when cold and very sticky when hot. And of course I can't simply 3D print a replacement [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-f44d79ce-b521-4da3-bcc5-04b31bc5a1aa/contentimage_5F00_2.png:16:16]

RE: Hacking a Chinese Soldering Iron

mcb1 — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 06:03:22 GMT

Nice hack.

In theory you should be able to change R2 (series resistance) to limit that 500 deg runaway.

Mark