Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: TheBoy on 21 May 2014, 22:13:02

Title: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: TheBoy on 21 May 2014, 22:13:02
Suspect its stuck on, as overheats.

Is it part of element assembly, or a separate switch?
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Bigron on 21 May 2014, 22:47:46
Any help?

www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=44888

Ron.
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Matchless on 21 May 2014, 23:04:59
If you twiddle your tip daily as you are supposed to then it doesnt get stuck. Is your end glowing red?

The thermostat works by magnetics, it is attracted to the tip closing a switch. As the temp rises above the curie point the magnetic attraction is overcome by spring force and the contacts separate. The tip and thermostat on your iron are probably stuck together by rust or corrosion so the contacts are closed permanently.

These irons were common in the 70's but be careful using them on modern high speed / low voltage electronics, they create a massive emc pulse when switching and can destroy small geometry parts. We used to use them for finding holes in the emc protection of fibre receivers.
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Kevin Wood on 22 May 2014, 10:37:46
What he said ^.

You can get replacement switches and they are easy enough to change. Sometimes you can free them up by aforementioned tip-twiddling, though.

I wouldn't be without a Weller TCP.  :y
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Sir Tigger KC on 22 May 2014, 11:13:29
When I saw the title I thought TB's hair straighteners had packed up!  :D  ;D
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: aaronjb on 22 May 2014, 11:16:09
When I saw the title I thought TB's hair straighteners had packed up!  :D  ;D

I had to google to figure out if this was a pink or blue repair job, too.. ;D
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Stemo on 22 May 2014, 12:56:36
If you twiddle your tip daily as you are supposed to then it doesnt get stuck. Is your end glowing red?

OOOOOOO you are awful.........but I like you  :-*
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: biggriffin on 22 May 2014, 21:17:05
Mmm bet fathers got 1 or two of them in tut barn,unless the owls have poo'd all over them. :)
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: TheBoy on 22 May 2014, 21:31:05
I've replaced the bit, and it doesn't seem too corroded. It gets hot enough that both the bit and the end of the tube glow.

Is the switch obvious, wondering if the contacts have welded...
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Bigron on 22 May 2014, 22:05:22
TB, you might consider updating your iron. I used to use loads of that model when lecturing in Electronics at college, some years back, but marvellous though they were, they have been superseded by much superior electronically controlled irons, much more suited to the work that Matchless referred to.
However, if you insist on saving your present one, they are easy enough to dismantle.
When they were owned by Cooper Tools, spares were plentiful, but since 2010, I think, another large company joined with them and I no longer have dealing with them so don't know the spares position......

Ron.
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Andy H on 22 May 2014, 23:04:01
Is this the part?

Farnell - Weller TCP switch (http://uk.farnell.com/weller/0051020199/switch-assembly-tcps-tcp-tcp-3m/dp/417683)

£29.29 (+ tax & postage....)

(http://uk.farnell.com/productimages/farnell/standard/41768306-40.jpg)
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Kevin Wood on 23 May 2014, 11:21:01
Is this the part?

Farnell - Weller TCP switch (http://uk.farnell.com/weller/0051020199/switch-assembly-tcps-tcp-tcp-3m/dp/417683)

£29.29 (+ tax & postage....)

(http://uk.farnell.com/productimages/farnell/standard/41768306-40.jpg)

Yep, that looks familiar, but I'm sure there are cheaper sources. Ebay is worth a look.
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Kevin Wood on 23 May 2014, 11:45:53
Actually, I keep meaning to see if I can shoe-horn a triac into my irons to take the load off the switch. That may make it last better.
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Andy H on 23 May 2014, 13:02:43
Actually, I keep meaning to see if I can shoe-horn a triac into my irons to take the load off the switch. That may make it last better.
Zero point switching might even reduce (or eliminate) the spikes Bigron reported :y
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: TheBoy on 24 May 2014, 21:35:01
Is this the part?

Farnell - Weller TCP switch (http://uk.farnell.com/weller/0051020199/switch-assembly-tcps-tcp-tcp-3m/dp/417683)

£29.29 (+ tax & postage....)

(http://uk.farnell.com/productimages/farnell/standard/41768306-40.jpg)
Mine doesn't look like that...
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: TheBoy on 24 May 2014, 21:37:10
A good belt on the ground has (temporarily, I suspect) fixed the problem.
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: CaptainZok on 24 May 2014, 21:51:29
Bet you used to slap tellies and call em fixed too. ;D
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: TheBoy on 24 May 2014, 21:53:10
Bet you used to slap tellies and call em fixed too. ;D
Is that not the correct repair technique? ;D
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: CaptainZok on 24 May 2014, 21:56:31
Bet you used to slap tellies and call em fixed too. ;D
Is that not the correct repair technique? ;D
Did you have the same ex-rumbellows tutor as us then?
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: TheBoy on 24 May 2014, 22:06:03
Bet you used to slap tellies and call em fixed too. ;D
Is that not the correct repair technique? ;D
Did you have the same ex-rumbellows tutor as us then?
I had a very good one TBH, hence even a stupid kid like me walked out with distinctions in all exams :).  Obviously, all based on G11 and TX10 era chassis, so not much use now ;D
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: CaptainZok on 24 May 2014, 22:10:30
Did my practical fault finding exam on the Fergy TX. OC resistor or a shorted cap was about all the faults they could afford to put on so it was pretty simple to fault find.
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Andy H on 25 May 2014, 09:00:40
Is this the part?

Farnell - Weller TCP switch (http://uk.farnell.com/weller/0051020199/switch-assembly-tcps-tcp-tcp-3m/dp/417683)

£29.29 (+ tax & postage....)

(http://uk.farnell.com/productimages/farnell/standard/41768306-40.jpg)
Mine doesn't look like that...

Going by Weller Magnastat Datasheet (http://www.transwarp.ch/datasheets/30215.1.pdf) the TCP-Z uses zero point switching.

Does your iron have a circuit board in the power supply? or are the electronics part of the thermostat?

I wouldn't be surprised if the thermostat was OK but a 20 year old capacitor has failed on the circuit board.
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Kevin Wood on 25 May 2014, 09:11:23
Well spotted. Forgot it was a TCP-Z we're talking about. I'm guessing it still has a mechanical switch in the iron, though, and given that a sharp tap fixed it...
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: TheBoy on 25 May 2014, 09:20:04
Switch is in iron, circuit board longer than in pic. In use, you can feel it switch.
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: Kevin Wood on 25 May 2014, 09:24:22
Switch is in iron, circuit board longer than in pic. In use, you can feel it switch.

Guess it just has a zero volt switching triac circuit in the handle. Exactly what I want to do to mine, in fact.
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: TheBoy on 25 May 2014, 09:26:22
Switch is in iron, circuit board longer than in pic. In use, you can feel it switch.

Guess it just has a zero volt switching triac circuit in the handle. Exactly what I want to do to mine, in fact.
I couldn't see what it was without lifting it off, but there was a 3 pin solid state device on the board in the handle, so could well be :y
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: chrisgixer on 25 May 2014, 09:37:24
A good belt on the ground has (temporarily, I suspect) fixed the problem.

 I have an image of TB swinging the poor article by its power lead, for a damn good thrashing ;D
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: chrisgixer on 25 May 2014, 09:38:46
Mum bus must have a use of some sort, surely?
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: TheBoy on 25 May 2014, 10:07:01
Mum bus must have a use of some sort, surely?
How can that fix my soldering iron?  :-\

Have you been on STEMO's meds?
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: chrisgixer on 25 May 2014, 10:11:02
Mum bus must have a use of some sort, surely?
How can that fix my soldering iron?  :-\

Have you been on STEMO's meds?

Well you could beat it with your soldering iron? ;D
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: TheBoy on 25 May 2014, 10:20:35
Soldering iron and cars, thanks, you've reminded my, I need to pull my finger out and add in an MP3 input into the NCDC203 before I go away...   ...French radio is took hard for an E graded French O Level person to grasp ;D
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: chrisgixer on 25 May 2014, 10:32:31
Yes you need to hurry up with that little job. :y
Title: Re: Weller TCP-Z irons
Post by: TheBoy on 25 May 2014, 20:10:07
Yes you need to hurry up with that little job. :y
I have less than a week to sort out ::). Might have to be a temporary job seeing as my iron is a bit suspect ;D