Weller soldering iron died in the middle of building an amp :(

[bg4533]

Less than a month ago I picked up a Weller WLC100 soldering station and started into the DIY world. Last week I recieved all of the parts needed to build my first amps and started out. The first amp was a success and the Weller worked great compared to my old RS iron. Today I started building another amp for portable use. The soldering iron worked fine a few hours ago, but when I tried to use it a few minutes ago it produced no heat. I tested the base station with my multimeter and it seems fine, so it appears to just be a problem with the iron. It sucks because I am in the middle of building this amp and the iron only has 1-2 hours of use on it...

Does anyone know how Weller is with warranties? I bought the iron from MPJA.com and may try to send it back to them, but I threw away all of the packaging, so I am not sure they will take it back. How often do soldering irons die? Is the WLC100 crap or did I just get a dud?

 

[iq160plus]

Unfortunately its just bad luck, I think.

Wellers have NEVER failed me on a regualr basis. I'll get literally hindreds of hours from the iron element. Tips need replacement after many hours, depending on how clean you keep them, and how long they just SIT there. I would plug and iron in for 4-8 hrs a day, and so the tips would fail about once a month.

Are you absolutely sure that the ELEMENT is firmly screwed into the handle? With high heat on irons, corrosion builds up VERY quickly if it had a bad connection, especially if its a 35Watt or higher element. I liked 45W for nearly everything, and quickly used, only damage 1 component in 25 yrs.

Wellers are great, just bad luck. IMHO

 

[Vladco]

Check posts on diyaudio.com . If I remember right some one tell what quality of weller went down in the last ten years. It was big thread about weller vs hakko.
Vlad

 

[beamrider]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vladco Check posts on diyaudio.com . If I remember right some one tell what quality of weller went down in the last ten years. It was big thread about weller vs hakko. Vlad

10 years? Right about the time Weller was swallowed up by CooperTools, as was Wiss, Xcelite, Crescent, and a bunch of others. None of those brands are worth 10% of what they used to be.

 

[fureshi]

sounds like it's time to get yourself a nice metcal! i used one at work and fell in love with it.

 

[enzoferrari650]

i hope this doesnt happen to my weller.

 

[MD1032]

I second the idea about the heating element not being screwed in. My dad's Weller is very tempermental in this manner.

 

[bg4533]

This iron doesn't appear to have anything important that screws in. The AC cord goes into the handle and appears to travel up the handle as 2 white wires into the big silver part of the iron. The silver part contains some sort of packed white, powdery substance. From there the tip just sits in the silver part and is held in by a screw that puts pressure on it sideways. I am guessing this iron wasn't designed with user servicability in mind...