.:madworm:.'s photos with the keyword: weller

YES! Finally! My old ERSA TIP260 soldering iron isn't bad at all. I've used it for the last 15 years or so. But it is fixed at 350°C and for some SMD RGB LEDs that is way too much.

The heating element and a sensor are in the very tip. Heat up time from ambient to 400°C is 4 seconds.

The socket.

The pencil is very light and the cord is flexible ;-)

Soldering the ATmega works great at 240°C with Sn60Pb40 solder. Using lower temperature keeps the tip shiny much longer compared to my old 350°C soldering iron. I like it.

The tip is wasted, so I cracked it open. Will be thrown out once I have a replacement.

Capacitive keys in the lid

Bodge capacitor at the bottom.

I don't know what's underneath the LCD.

The old RT3 lasted 3 years of moderate use. The brass cleaner may have sped up erosion.

I've had difficulty soldering properly with well-established settings for quite some time now. I had to set the temperature to 400°C to get just decent operation. I measured the temperature as well and it was fine. Looking at the tip closely revealed significant erosion, hence lack of physical contact with the PCB and miserable heat transfer. For the time being I chose to grind the little peaks away, fully knowing that the plating will deteriorate even faster, but at least I can get stuff done for now. I'll need a replacement pretty soon. After just 3 years of moderate usage, the plating is gone. I have a feeling most of the damage was caused by the brass shavings used to clean the tip. Now I'll have to fork out 40 something to buy a new one, as the heating element is inseparably fused to the tip. You cannot just replace the tip itself and keep the fully functional heater / sensor / pencil, you have to throw away perfectly good hardware, just because the tiny tip is EOL.