Would you like to Roadtest the New Weller WXsmart Soldering Platform?

RE: Would you like to Roadtest the New Weller WXsmart Soldering Platform?

saadtiwana_int — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 13:24:54 GMT

Wow. This is the nicest soldering station that I've seen..ever! (I've had the privilege to use some very nice stations from Hakko, Ersa, Metcal and Weller in the past decade). Looks like a new generation altogether!

RE: Would you like to Roadtest the New Weller WXsmart Soldering Platform?

dramoz — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 18:10:35 GMT

I would love to test this setup. And I guess some folks around here as well. Especially the WXAir for reworking. The traceability sound pretty handy, which is probably the major feature here.
I hope the road test comes with all toys (some extra different tips, temperature calibration, and a desoldering iron (or tweezers) - perhaps a preheating plate ;)

RE: Would you like to Roadtest the New Weller WXsmart Soldering Platform?

badjasper — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 03:41:11 GMT

With a project that I'm currently developing, I'm going to be doing a TON of soldering. Currently I'm using a soldering station that I ordered off the "Slow boat from China". In the back of my head I keep hearing "You get what you pay for" so, as I get deeper into my project, I'm sure it's not going to keep up. I know Weller are the big boys on the block when it comes to soldering but, I'd like to see how well a "Smart" station will hold up to the inevitable torture I'd be subjecting it to. [emoticon:5ce50ea3f9eb49809e861e8733750338][emoticon:5ce50ea3f9eb49809e861e8733750338][emoticon:5ce50ea3f9eb49809e861e8733750338][emoticon:5ce50ea3f9eb49809e861e8733750338]

RE: Would you like to Roadtest the New Weller WXsmart Soldering Platform?

dougw — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 20:01:53 GMT

We use Weller and Metcal equipment at work and it is notoriously difficult to keep even these fairly high end systems in good shape for soldering. Not because the equipment is bad - more like careless treatment of equipment. The tips in particular don't seem to last as long as expected. I'm curious if this new breed will make things easier or better.

RE: Would you like to Roadtest the New Weller WXsmart Soldering Platform?

Fred27 — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 18:39:55 GMT

A soldering station is something that most E14 members would be capable of road testing - and making good use of afterwards. This Weller kit looks great but the "smart" side of things is a bit odd. I get that for a commercial applications some traceability might be useful, but for most users it sounds like a feature that wouldn't be used.

RE: Would you like to Roadtest the New Weller WXsmart Soldering Platform?

Drm15426 — Sun, 25 Sep 2022 12:49:17 GMT

I would like to see more information on this product. Been putting of getting a solder station because nothing really sticks out. This seems like it could be a game changer! I will happily stick by Weller

RE: Would you like to Roadtest the New Weller WXsmart Soldering Platform?

misaz — Sun, 25 Sep 2022 09:48:06 GMT

I also want to try some smart soldering station. My most smart soldering station has dual-color LCD and adjustable temperature with unknown tolerance and performance is also discuttable [emoticon:6d505171faa4497c85c5ca27290c555d]. Last time when I was soldering PCB as part of my project Duratool Cabinet Storage Box Upgrade I definietely found boundaries of my current soldering iron when soldering GND pins connected to large plane. All GND joints looked very ugly. I "resolved" it by reducing resolution of posted photos [emoticon:6d505171faa4497c85c5ca27290c555d] . This unit will perform much better I hope.

Video briefly show many new interesting features, but do not describe they at details. Currently I cant imagine how can IoT improve user experience of solder station but who knows? Weller most probably find some use-cases for this technology in soldering station!

I registered on Weller website and It gave me more details (but still not full documentation, user manual, etc.) and it looks that they target certification-required markets like automotive and aerospace. It looks that this soldering station can report details from sensors from tips about soldering, temperature profiles, unique ID of solder tip used, etc. It shows them in realtime on display and also can log them to company enterprise systems (ERP is explicitely mentioned) for logging and tracebility reports and certificates. I originaly thought that it is soldering station only but according to additional video available under login it also has hot-air desoldering module.

For me it looks like like very cool product and I definitely want to test it. Good part is that this type of product does not require time-expensive programming, so I can join this RoadTest even school started and my free time is reduced.

RE: Would you like to Roadtest the New Weller WXsmart Soldering Platform?

neuromodulator — Sun, 25 Sep 2022 01:43:30 GMT

I'm not familiar with "smart" soldering stations so this looks very interesting. Although not seen on the video it also appears to supports heat gun and desoldering gun addons as well.

RE: Would you like to Roadtest the New Weller WXsmart Soldering Platform?

dougw — Sun, 25 Sep 2022 01:32:39 GMT

Wow, clearly a high end product with all the best features of a great soldering station plus all the "smart" features you might want in a comprehensive soldering management system. I hope the reviews comment on system efficiencies and workflows of this instrument even though the average hobbyist might not use those aspects of the system.

RE: Would you like to Roadtest the New Weller WXsmart Soldering Platform?

robogary — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 23:31:10 GMT

I have never-ever seen a soldering station with cyber security. I'm also a dumb solderer and interested what a smart soldering station could do for my projects.

RE: Would you like to Roadtest the New Weller WXsmart Soldering Platform?

ralphjy — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 21:36:59 GMT

Interesting product. I like the fast heat up and the auto-calibration of the tip temperature. Plus it has two stations. Not sure I need all the features, but it solves most of the issues I have with my current Weller irons.

Here's a nice trade show video that discusses the new system:

Weller WXsmart next generation soldering solution