In article ,
Jim Adney wrote:

On 16 Aug 2004 17:30:48 -0700 (Ian) wrote:

My weller soldering station failed yesterday for the first time in
years. I am not getting any heat. I would get the heater is out but is
there a way to confirm what the problem is so I can try and track down
some parts.

Things to check:

Make sure that you're getting 24VAC out of the base. Some of these
have a fuse inside.

Make sure there are no broken wires in the cord (very common.)

Looking at the soldering pencil apart on my desk, which part is the
heater and which part is the temperautre switch? I am guessing that
the barrel is the heater element but I am really not sure.

The heater is in the barrel, while the switch is back inside the
handle. You should be able to figure out the source of the problem
with an Ohmmeter.

These are excellent units, well worth fixing.

A common problem is that the contacts in the switch get oxidized. It's
possible to take the switch apart and clean the contacts with very fine
emery paper or crocus cloth.

The operation of the temperature control is by means of the Curie
effect. The heater switch is held closed by magnetism until the
temperature reaches the set point (determined by the alloy that the tip
insert is made from -- the number on the base multiplied by a hundred is
the setpoint). At the set point, the tip insert becomes non-magnetic,
and a spring pops the contacts open. When the tip cools down, the
magnetism returns, and the switch is pulled closed again.

Isaac