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I finally got a Metcal

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scotthh:

My tips came today. I got a 125 and a 126. Together they cost me $20.50 delivered from a guy on ebay--his listing said to email him for a quote on 2 or more tips--so I did. I did a quick test, and it fires up in a couple of seconds, it's way hotter than my Radio Shack iron. I'm looking forward to using it, the handpiece is amazingly light and very small relative to the Radio Shack unit. Maybe I can become a half-decent solderer now... Do I need any particular type of solder?

Thanks

MaximRecoil:


--- Quote from: scotthh on March 24, 2008, 02:27:06 pm ---My tips came today. I got a 125 and a 126. Together they cost me $20.50 delivered from a guy on ebay--his listing said to email him for a quote on 2 or more tips--so I did. I did a quick test, and it fires up in a couple of seconds, it's way hotter than my Radio Shack iron. I'm looking forward to using it, the handpiece is amazingly light and very small relative to the Radio Shack unit. Maybe I can become a half-decent solderer now... Do I need any particular type of solder?

Thanks

--- End quote ---

That's great that your machine works. As far as solder goes, I use 63/37 (60/40 is okay too) "no clean" core solder. Something like Kester 245 is good, or even Kester 44 (technically not "no clean" but the flux residue is said to be non-corrosive should you decide to not clean it).

We used Alpha Metals SMT Core Plus (63/37, .015" for surface-mount soldering and .025" for through-hole soldering) at work, which is also "no clean". I still have about a half a pound of that here (good stuff).

Don't get something with a corrosive flux unless you are planning to be diligent about cleaning the residue after soldering. I wouldn't recommend solid core (no flux core) solder wire either, unless using separate flux is your thing.

Level42:

Does any of the Metcal owners here know if they're switchable on mains voltage (110/230 V) or maybe even auto-ranging ?




MaximRecoil:


--- Quote from: Level42 on September 26, 2008, 06:48:05 am ---Does any of the Metcal owners here know if they're switchable on mains voltage (110/230 V) or maybe even auto-ranging ?

--- End quote ---

My Metcal (Soldering System model number STSS-002, Power Unit model number RFG-30) is stated to only be for 115 VAC / 60 Hz.  I don't know if switchable or dedicated 230 VAC versions exist or not. 

MaximRecoil:


--- Quote from: Level42 on September 28, 2008, 02:41:53 am ---I also see units for 99 bucks buy it now but shipping is almost 60 bucks to here. Is that main unit heavy ?

Good tip about the stand, I wouldn't have thought about that.

Do you happen to know if they are switchable between 115 VAC/230VAC ?

Thanks !

--- End quote ---

Mine is not switchable. It is for 115 VAC only. I don't know if they made switchable or 230 VAC versions or not.

The power unit is heavier than it looks, due to the fact that the case is made from fairly thick aluminum and it has a finned heat sink on the back; plus it is heavily shielded internally (the power unit is essentially an RF generator, which requires shielding). I don't have a scale here to weigh it, but I'd estimate it to be about 10 pounds.

And yeah, you want to make sure that at the very least, you get a handpiece and a handpiece stand included, because those items tend to be expensive when bought separately. And get a "true" Metcal. I don't consider the recent economy line (SP200 series) to be true Metcals. They use a different handpiece and different tip cartridges, and more conventional heating technology. Up until fairly recently there was only 1 type of Metcal; what I consider to be "true" Metcals. Then they introduced the economy versions which confused matters. So what you are looking for is either the older STSS line or the newer MX-500 line.

For the STSS series, they used the STSS designation for the model number of the complete system (power unit, handpiece, and stand). Within the system, each component had its own model number. For example, the older STSS systems had an RFG-30 power unit, and the newer ones had a PS2E-01 power unit. Those two power units looked the same, the main difference being that the PS2E-01 had an auto shutoff after 30 minutes of non-use feature, to save the tip cartridge in case you forget to shut it off.

With the MX-500 series (which tends to sell for a lot more on eBay even though the only difference is a curvier case and an extra output port), they use the MX-500 designation for both the system and the power unit (they append some extra numbers after "MX-500" to differentiate between the two).

Both the STSS and the MX-500 use the same handpiece (RM3E) and tip cartridges (STTC-XXX). With the tip cartridges, the STTC-0XX tips are 600 degrees and the STTC-1XX tips are 700 degrees. My preferred tip cartridge is the STTC-126; that is what I used for pretty much everything at the PCB factory, from tiny surface-mount components to larger through-hole components (with Metcals, small tips can do disproportionally large jobs with ease due to their phenomenal recovery time—consider that they go from dead-cold to operating temperature in under 10 seconds and you will get an idea of their recovery time); and it is what I use at home for everything. There are also STTC-8XX tips which are 800 degrees.  The last two numbers always designate the style of tip; so for example, the STTC-026, STTC-126, and STTC-826 are all the same style, the only difference being the temperature.

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