Anyone ever used this?

[RuudNL]

The good thing is that it is "LEAD FERR" ;D

 

[pucho812]

At work we have weller  irons and the constant lead free solder turns the tips something aweful, either that or weller makes sh*t tips. At any rate they have a similar thing called tip activator. It makes them work well again, but briefly so you have to use it frequently.

At home I never have those issues with my hako.

 

[Andy Peters]

At work we have weller  irons and the constant lead free solder turns the tips something aweful, either that or weller makes sh*t tips. At any rate they have a similar thing called tip activator. It makes them work well again, but briefly so you have to use it frequently.

We use lead-free solder exclusively (two different Kester formulations), and have done so for over ten years, and the Metcal tips are fine. The trick, of course, with any soldering tool is to maintain it. That means: don't let the iron sit there turned on and unused for hours. When you're done, tin the tip before letting it cool. When starting work, wipe the old solder off the tip and then re-tin it.

It's also worth noting that it's not the solder itself that "turns the tips something aweful (sic)," but rather the flux. The flux isn't completely heating and melting, so it remains on the tip. That's a sure sign that your tip is not maintaining temperature, and/or you're using the wrong flux. Lead-free solder does require a somewhat higher tip temperature than lead-based solders. So you say "weller irons at work," but Weller has a range of tools from El Cheapo to Expensive, and if you're using anything other than the Expensive you'll have temperature-control problems.

 

[pucho812]

I know what you mean.... 

 

[Tubetec]

I have to say I really hate lead free solder ,the higher melting point means more stress on the components ,more chance of oxidation of the joint ,and overall greater failure rates .Its a no brainer that the big electronics corporations agreed to using it though ,not to save the planet, but to boost profits due to early failure of equipment ,which in the end means they sell more new stuff .
Lead isnt the only nasty in electronics ,polychlorinated biphenyls ,gallium arsenide the list goes on and on ,end of the day the weee directive means all the electronic junk gets shipped somewhere else to be disposed of .Insurance costs nowadays means most of the stuff we take for granted couldnt even be produced here anyway,we have to rely on chinese slavery to do the dirty work .
The lead/tin solders  with small amounts of copper added for me were the best ,solder tips lasted way longer ,you got lovely shiny joints ,this modern lead free stuff is more like oxidised slag .Flux that turns to varnish I gently scrape away and ocassionally use a bit of fine steel wool to clean the tip.

 

[pucho812]

well what about a tip that caved in? Seriously had a brand new weller tip for no reason just cave in on itself creating a hole vs a tip.  No pressure used on it, nothing out of the ordinary as far as use or temperature, the tip literally just caved in on itself. I suspect it was a manufacturing defect from the same batch as it happened twice with tips purchased at the same time.

 

[Tubetec]

Ever try multicore savbit alloy ? contains a small percentage of copper and keeps tips in great shape.Quality control ,a thing of the past Id say .

 

[Andy Peters]

I have to say I really hate lead free solder ,the higher melting point means more stress on the components ,more chance of oxidation of the joint ,and overall greater failure rates .

When you consider that the vast majority of electronics assembly is done by machines using reflow techniques, concerns about hand-solderability are not even considered.

As for your other concerns, as I said above, at the day job we have years of experience using a lead-free process and we don't have that sort of history as you describe. Are you speaking from personal experience or anecdote from a friend of a friend?

Its a no brainer that the big electronics corporations agreed to using it though ,not to save the planet, but to boost profits due to early failure of equipment ,which in the end means they sell more new stuff

I would argue that hardware in general is pretty damn reliable. So good, in fact, that vendors discontinue software support for working products in the field, which leads to much gnashing of teeth ("Why can't you support XXX in Windows 10? It's still perfectly good!") and I agree with the teeth-gnashers.

-a

 

[Andy Peters]

well what about a tip that caved in? Seriously had a brand new weller tip for no reason just cave in on itself creating a hole vs a tip.  No pressure used on it, nothing out of the ordinary as far as use or temperature, the tip literally just caved in on itself. I suspect it was a manufacturing defect from the same batch as it happened twice with tips purchased at the same time.

Maybe it's time to stop using Weller products?

 

[Tubetec]

Its repairs to sound equipment I do,mainly guitar amps, theres very little point in going near a lead soldered board with lead free ,it will just turn to crud. Dwell time on the work piece and tip temprature are higher with lead free ,and it tends not to flow as well as the old style stuff . Of course components are cheaper and more reliable than ever before.
Is there really any point in engineering something to last a lifetime nowadays,the way technology changes means no matter if it works or not ,a few years down the road it goes into the bin either way . The really sad thing about this wastefullness is we in the west foment and fund civil wars in far away places to get our hands on the resources, and the electronics are tossed long before the components have reached end of life

 

[pucho812]

Maybe it's time to stop using Weller products?

Ya think?

 

[gyraf]

Naa. Been using my wtcp for 36 years now, works well. Had to replace thermostat switch once, and cable three times.

Avoid scratching the iron coating on the tips, or it will develop cavities rather quickly with leadfree flux.

 

[ln76d]

The good thing is that it is "LEAD FERR" ;D

It had to be "LEAD FEAR"

At work we have weller  irons and the constant lead free solder turns the tips something aweful, either that or weller makes sh*t tips. At any rate they have a similar thing called tip activator. It makes them work well again, but briefly so you have to use it frequently.

At home I never have those issues with my hako.

I can confirm that there's something wrong with newer production Weller tips.
For my both WHS40 i had to make complaint for three or four standard screwdriver type. I get cash back.
After few hours  there was a half of tip end. With long life two-three months.
Previously i had one tip for two years (i use soldering iron very often).

 

[ln76d]

Naa. Been using my wtcp for 36 years now, works well. Had to replace thermostat switch once, and cable three times.

Avoid scratching the iron coating on the tips, or it will develop cavities rather quickly with leadfree flux.

Jakob - what cables you are using? Standard shop available or something different?
One of mine have really short cable, so need to look for something to replace.

 

[gyraf]

The recent years I have been using a rather long (4m) RG58 3.5mm dia shielded cable, this works really well, and is rugged in daily (ab)use..

Jakob E.

 

[ln76d]

Great idea!

Thanks!

I didn't think about cable with shield - RG58 is pretty rigid - original cable in my is a fluffy shoelace, always problematic.

 

[fazer]

Puncho which Hakko do u own?  After my hakko extractor I want a hakko  iron now .  I'm not sure the $100 iron is the same quality . Any recommendations?

 

[Kingston]

Naa. Been using my wtcp for 36 years now, works well. Had to replace thermostat switch once, and cable three times.

Avoid scratching the iron coating on the tips, or it will develop cavities rather quickly with leadfree flux.

I got mine used 15 years a go and have had to replace the cable once. But the tips seem to last forever. Especially temperature/tip #7. Like Andy points out this is due to correct use.

Never done lead free, but the temperature control of this ancient beast just keeps on giving.