Cooper Welding Tools - Recent Questions, Troubleshooting & Support
Step by step procedures for soldering.
Most repair procedures on modern TVs require some kind of soldering. It is not a process which you can learn without spending some time getting the proper equipment and practicing until you can make a good solder joint in your sleep.<br /><br />First you need to understand that recently, within the last 5 years, the type of solder has been changed. Originally solder contained lead which can be dangerous, although I would wager that no one licks circuit boards! In order to make solder environmentally friendly more antimony has been added. This means that solder melts at a higher tempreture and does not adhere near as well. Flow is also compromised. Most solder joints now look like what we called cold solder joints in the past.<br /><br />To be able to solder correctly you will need a good iron or better yet a soldering station. You will also need to purchase some lead based solder and some solder with no lead. This is because you do not know at this point what circuit you will be working on.<br /><br />There are many vendors out there selling soldering equipment. <a href="http://www.mcminc.com/">http://www.mcminc.com</a> <a href="http://www.encompass.com/">http://www.encompass.com</a> <a href="http://www.digikey.com/">http://www.digikey.com</a> just to mention a few. <br /><br />The most versatile station would be a unit with an adjustable tempreture range. Then you can solder with lead based or non-lead solder. Lead based solder flows at about 750 degrees farenheith. The newer non-lead based solder flows at about 950 degrees farenheith. This means that you have to be extremely careful not to overheat components.<br /><br />If you cannot afford a variable tempreture unit you should probably purchase several pencil gun units. I would recommend getting a 25 watt, 35 watt and a 50 watt unit. Also get a good solder ****** and some solder wick. Do not get the cheap wick as it does not work after it corrodes due to the oxygen in the air. You will need the solder wick to remove any bad parts. <br /><br />When you are ready to solder let the iron or station heat up to the correct operating tempreture. Trying to solder too soon will give bad results. When the unit is hot and ready to go, place the tip (which should be conical) on the part to be soldered. Do not hurry it. Let it melt the solder and wait to see it flow before adding solder wick or removing the part.<br /><br />Reverse the procedure when soldering in a part. Do not have the iron in contact with the part any more than necessary as you may overheat the unti and damage it.<br /><br />If you follow these instructions you should be able to solder any board, part or device which needs it.<br /><br />Thanks for using FixYa and for the great rating.<br /><br />hardrocko<br />
I have two WU81 Weller
Perhaps this fuse should be a "T" type or delayed acting (antisurge fuse) . If the fuse has been replaced by an "F" fast acting fuse then this could explain why they are blowing.
2/14/2011 9:13:20 PM •
Cooper...
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Answered
on Feb 14, 2011
Tip for weller soldering station wtcp-s
The #7 indecate a operating temp. of 700°F
It is problay the thermostat contacts that needs burnishing, that should fix it so that you don't have to buy a new heater / thermostat. Their parts are expensive.
7/8/2009 4:38:55 AM •
Cooper...
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Answered
on Jul 08, 2009
WES 51 LED not flash to indicate ready
the iron has a temp probe inside the pencil, most likley the problem. also these have problems with the powersupply but usually it won't heat if its a power supply problem. best guess would be the sensor in the pencil
7/7/2009 4:34:55 PM •
Cooper...
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Answered
on Jul 07, 2009
Soldering iron troubleshooting
Bits: It's useful to have a small selection of manufacturer's bits (soldering iron tips) available with different diameters or shapes, which can be changed depending on the type of work in hand. You'll probably find that you become accustomed to, and work best with, a particular shape of tip. Often, tips are iron-coated to preserve their life, or they may be bright-plated instead. Copper tips are seldom seen these days.
4/20/2009 4:40:26 PM •
Cooper...
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Answered
on Apr 20, 2009
Soldering iron support
Anti-Static Protection: If you're interested in soldering a lot of static-sensitive parts (e.g. CMOS chips or MOSFET transistors), more advanced and expensive soldering iron stations use static-dissipative
materials in their construction to ensure that static does not build up on the iron itself. You may see these listed as "ESD safe" (electrostatic discharge proof). The cheapest irons won't necessarily be ESD-safe but never the less will still probably perform perfectly well in most hobby or educational applications if you take the usual anti-static precautions when handling the components. The tip would need to be well earthed (grounded) in these circumstances.
8/27/2008 12:31:42 PM •
Cooper...
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Answered
on Aug 27, 2008
Soldering iron tips
It is very tempting to start soldering components onto the circuit board straight away, but please take time to identify all the parts first. You are much less likely to make a mistake if you do this!
1. Components stuck onto paper Stick all the components onto a sheet of paper using sticky tape.
2. Identify each component and write its name or value beside it.
3. Add the code (R1, R2, C1 etc.) if necessary.
Many projects from books and magazines label the components with codes (R1, R2, C1, D1 etc.) and you should use the project's parts list to find these codes if they are given.
4. Resistor values can be found using the resistor colour code which is explained on our Resistors page. You can print out and make your own Resistor Colour Code Calculator to help you.
5. Capacitor values can be difficult to find because there are many types with different labelling systems! The various systems are explained on our Capacitors page.
8/27/2008 12:31:36 PM •
Cooper...
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Answered
on Aug 27, 2008
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