lektor January & February 2021 19a lot to me. And the standby function? It’s not ideal, but you
can live with it. In spite of these minor shortcomings I would
definitely buy the WE 1010 again as it is a quality soldering
station at this price point.
200572-to soldering small components.
To implement the standby function the station monitors how
much heat is supplied to the iron rather than using a motion
detector in the soldering iron. If the heat output remains steady
for a certain time (standby setting), the temperature is automat-
ically reduced to 180°C (Figure 5).
The tip temperature is automatically raised again if a lot of heat is
removed from the tip, such as by sliding it over
the wet sponge. A more direct method is to
briefly press one of the buttons on the
base station. For me the longer
standby times are better and
30 minutes is just right. Alternatively, you can switch the standby
mode off completely. So far I have not noticed any scaling of the
tips. Should this ever happen, the tips are inexpensive enough to
replace.
Conclusion
I am very satisfied with the WE 1010 as the successor to my old
Weller soldering station. The soldering iron lies comfortably
in the hand and the soldering is good. The adjustment options
on the base station are limited, but sufficient for normal use.
What I am missing is a better optical power-on indicator, as
you have to look at the display or search for the red line on the
power switch. Would an illuminated power switch or an extra
LED really have cost that much more? It would have been worth
Figure 5: If the soldering iron is not used for a certain period of time, the
station automatically switches to 180°C.Figure 4: I have already bought some extra soldering tips.
Questions or Comments?
Do you have questions or comments about this article?
Contact Elektor at [email protected].Contributors
Te x t : Harry Baggen
Photos: Patrick WieldersEditing: Eric Bogers
Layout: Giel Dolsrelated products
> Weller WE 1010 Digital Soldering Station (70 W)
http://www.elektor.com/