Title: Soldering iron cycle timer temperature control
Post by: pcbsmoke on May 07, 2015, 12:26:21 am
Post by: pcbsmoke on May 07, 2015, 12:26:21 am
For people who are interested in soldering irons and temperature control, I have put together a circuit for controlling the temperature of a regular plug-in soldering iron in a different way than usual.
A good quality soldering iron with a temperature sensor has a controller that sends power to the unit in long or short intervals at full power. I got the idea that maybe I could do something similar with a regular plug-in soldering iron without a sensor.
Instead of using a dimmer to send a steady flow of power at constant rate I used a cycle timer to send power to the soldering iron at full power using pulses at precisely timed intervals.
It is only a test board but the results were very encouraging so I made a video and a blog post with all the details here:
YouTube video:
http://youtu.be/Mb3vZ_JC8EU (http://youtu.be/Mb3vZ_JC8EU)
Blog post with details:
https://pcbsmoke.wordpress.com/2015/05/ ... r-circuit/ (https://pcbsmoke.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/soldering-iron-temperature-control-plc-cycle-timer-circuit/)
Anyone who has some ideas or experience with this kind of circuit please post your comments.
A good quality soldering iron with a temperature sensor has a controller that sends power to the unit in long or short intervals at full power. I got the idea that maybe I could do something similar with a regular plug-in soldering iron without a sensor.
Instead of using a dimmer to send a steady flow of power at constant rate I used a cycle timer to send power to the soldering iron at full power using pulses at precisely timed intervals.
It is only a test board but the results were very encouraging so I made a video and a blog post with all the details here:
YouTube video:
http://youtu.be/Mb3vZ_JC8EU (http://youtu.be/Mb3vZ_JC8EU)
Blog post with details:
https://pcbsmoke.wordpress.com/2015/05/ ... r-circuit/ (https://pcbsmoke.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/soldering-iron-temperature-control-plc-cycle-timer-circuit/)
Anyone who has some ideas or experience with this kind of circuit please post your comments.
Title: Re: Soldering iron cycle timer temperature control
Post by: pcbsmoke on June 03, 2015, 03:18:05 am
Post by: pcbsmoke on June 03, 2015, 03:18:05 am
Some of the progress photos from this project a few weeks back.
[attachment=4]
[attachment=3]
I've made some more progress since then. I've managed to squeeze all the components into an enclosure and I've obtained a better delay timer circuit. This one closes a normally open relay contact during the delay countdown which works out to be a safety feature that overcame a weakness of the first delay timer.
[attachment=2]
[attachment=1]
[attachment=0]
I'll post a little more up to date photos and info soon.
[attachment=4]
[attachment=3]
I've made some more progress since then. I've managed to squeeze all the components into an enclosure and I've obtained a better delay timer circuit. This one closes a normally open relay contact during the delay countdown which works out to be a safety feature that overcame a weakness of the first delay timer.
[attachment=2]
[attachment=1]
[attachment=0]
I'll post a little more up to date photos and info soon.
Title: Re: Soldering iron cycle timer temperature control
Post by: pcbsmoke on June 05, 2015, 03:07:17 am
Post by: pcbsmoke on June 05, 2015, 03:07:17 am
YouTube video of the completed pulse timer controller here:
https://youtu.be/N_WAUPCBlnA (https://youtu.be/N_WAUPCBlnA)
Here are a few more photos of the unit during construction:
[attachment=3]
[attachment=2]
[attachment=1]
[attachment=0]
https://youtu.be/N_WAUPCBlnA (https://youtu.be/N_WAUPCBlnA)
Here are a few more photos of the unit during construction:
[attachment=3]
[attachment=2]
[attachment=1]
[attachment=0]