Weller WES51 soldering station problem?

  • Thread starter Bill Christens-Barry
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Bill Christens-Barry

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Hi. I have a Weller WES51 soldering station, an adjustable
temperature unit with a pencil iron (p/n PES51).

Last time I used it several months ago, it worked fine.
Usually, the light on front would stay green until the tip
reached the dialed in temperature, at which point the light
would start blinking green.

Now, when I turn it on I don't get any heat at the tip, and
the indicator light in front stays red. I'm trying to figure
out why.

The unit comes with a magnetic pencil-like thing that can be
placeed near a spot on front of the main unit. This spot is
labelled "ESD", so I guess this has something to do with
electrostatic discharge. When I put the probe there, the
indicator light first begins to blink in red, and then
starts blinking green. I still don't get any heat.

What's this all about? Is it a sign that the iron itself has
failed? Is there an easy fix short of getting a new iron?

And can anyone point me to an online (or hardcopy) version
of the manual?

Thanks.

Bill Christens-Barry

--
Wm A Christens-Barry, PhD
Equipoise Imaging, LLC
equipoise@rcn.com
http://www.eqpi.net/eqpi/
 
Bill Christens-Barry wrote:
Hi. I have a Weller WES51 soldering station, an adjustable
temperature unit with a pencil iron (p/n PES51).

Last time I used it several months ago, it worked fine.
Usually, the light on front would stay green until the tip
reached the dialed in temperature, at which point the light
would start blinking green.

Now, when I turn it on I don't get any heat at the tip, and
the indicator light in front stays red. I'm trying to figure
out why.

The unit comes with a magnetic pencil-like thing that can be
placeed near a spot on front of the main unit. This spot is
labelled "ESD", so I guess this has something to do with
electrostatic discharge. When I put the probe there, the
indicator light first begins to blink in red, and then
starts blinking green. I still don't get any heat.

What's this all about? Is it a sign that the iron itself has
failed? Is there an easy fix short of getting a new iron?

And can anyone point me to an online (or hardcopy) version
of the manual?

Thanks.

Bill Christens-Barry

--
Wm A Christens-Barry, PhD
Equipoise Imaging, LLC
equipoise@rcn.com
http://www.eqpi.net/eqpi/
Click to expand...
It sounds like an open circuit hearing element of wiring to the
heater.

Do you have an ohm meter to check the heater resistance?
--
John Popelish
 
In article <40749545.81E9FF61@rica.net>,
John Popelish <jpopelish@rica.net> wrote:

Bill Christens-Barry wrote:

Hi. I have a Weller WES51 soldering station, an adjustable
temperature unit with a pencil iron (p/n PES51).

Last time I used it several months ago, it worked fine.
Usually, the light on front would stay green until the tip
reached the dialed in temperature, at which point the light
would start blinking green.

Now, when I turn it on I don't get any heat at the tip, and
the indicator light in front stays red. I'm trying to figure
out why.
..
Click to expand...
snip
..
It sounds like an open circuit hearing element of wiring to the
heater.

Do you have an ohm meter to check the heater resistance?
Click to expand...
John,

Thanks for the good idea. I'll try to check this, although I
don't know which pair of the 5 probe leads are the actual
heater. Also, I don't know what the resistance should be.
Any data would be helpful, especially a contact for Weller.

Bill Christens-Barry

--
Wm A Christens-Barry, PhD
Equipoise Imaging, LLC
equipoise@rcn.com
http://www.eqpi.net/eqpi/
 
Bill Christens-Barry wrote:
In article <40749545.81E9FF61@rica.net>,
John Popelish <jpopelish@rica.net> wrote:

Bill Christens-Barry wrote:

Hi. I have a Weller WES51 soldering station, an adjustable
temperature unit with a pencil iron (p/n PES51).

Last time I used it several months ago, it worked fine.
Usually, the light on front would stay green until the tip
reached the dialed in temperature, at which point the light
would start blinking green.

Now, when I turn it on I don't get any heat at the tip, and
the indicator light in front stays red. I'm trying to figure
out why.
.
snip
.

It sounds like an open circuit hearing element of wiring to the
heater.

Do you have an ohm meter to check the heater resistance?

John,

Thanks for the good idea. I'll try to check this, although I
don't know which pair of the 5 probe leads are the actual
heater. Also, I don't know what the resistance should be.
Any data would be helpful, especially a contact for Weller.

Bill Christens-Barry

--
Wm A Christens-Barry, PhD
Equipoise Imaging, LLC
equipoise@rcn.com
http://www.eqpi.net/eqpi/
Click to expand...
If the heater is powered by something near 24 volts, the resistance is
in the single digits. If powered by 120 Vac, then the resistance is
in the hundreds of ohms. The thermistor pair should be in the kohms.
One wire should be a short to the tip (safety ground). If you can get
the case open, it should be pretty obvious which pins on the socket
connect to what.

--
John Popelish
 
Bill Christens-Barry <equipoise@rcn.com> wrote in message news:<equipoise-7AAD30.17065207042004@news.verizon.net>...
Hi. I have a Weller WES51 soldering station, an adjustable
temperature unit with a pencil iron (p/n PES51).

Last time I used it several months ago, it worked fine.
Usually, the light on front would stay green until the tip
reached the dialed in temperature, at which point the light
would start blinking green.

Now, when I turn it on I don't get any heat at the tip, and
the indicator light in front stays red. I'm trying to figure
out why.

The unit comes with a magnetic pencil-like thing that can be
placeed near a spot on front of the main unit. This spot is
labelled "ESD", so I guess this has something to do with
electrostatic discharge. When I put the probe there, the
indicator light first begins to blink in red, and then
starts blinking green. I still don't get any heat.

What's this all about? Is it a sign that the iron itself has
failed? Is there an easy fix short of getting a new iron?

And can anyone point me to an online (or hardcopy) version
of the manual?

Thanks.

Bill Christens-Barry
Click to expand...
On the wes50 at least the pencil like magnet is used to set and lock
the maximum temperature setting of the iron. It has nothing to do with
esd, must be a magnetically sensitive device back behind that area.

I cant find the manual or the magnet stick for my weller.

Weller will probably send a manual if you write or email them and
request one.
 
In article <4075C78E.3515D34E@rica.net>,
John Popelish <jpopelish@rica.net> wrote:

If the heater is powered by something near 24 volts, the resistance is
in the single digits. If powered by 120 Vac, then the resistance is
in the hundreds of ohms. The thermistor pair should be in the kohms.
One wire should be a short to the tip (safety ground). If you can get
the case open, it should be pretty obvious which pins on the socket
connect to what.
Click to expand...
Thanks, John. This is just the kind of help I was hoping for

--
Wm A Christens-Barry, PhD
Equipoise Imaging, LLC
equipoise@rcn.com
http://www.eqpi.net/eqpi/
 
In article
<8e8f59d4.0404081424.1b1838f7@posting.google.com>,
cornytheclown@hotmail.com (cornytheclown) wrote:

On the wes50 at least the pencil like magnet is used to set and lock
the maximum temperature setting of the iron. It has nothing to do with
esd, must be a magnetically sensitive device back behind that area.

I cant find the manual or the magnet stick for my weller.

Weller will probably send a manual if you write or email them and
request one.
Click to expand...
Great - thanks for your help. Maybe I'm just locked @ 0
degrees.

--
Wm A Christens-Barry, PhD
Equipoise Imaging, LLC
equipoise@rcn.com
http://www.eqpi.net/eqpi/
 
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