Magnastat soldering iron bits users in the UK , here?

[N_Cook]

I cannot find any major suppliers of these bits anymore in the UK,
despite the likes of RS selling magnastat irons.
I have a few hundred NOS , plated copper long cone bits, not Weller or
Cooper AFAIK, that take about 10 minutes to convert to magnastat ,
assuming you have the curie temp magnastat end caps from old bits
hanging around, easily removed when you know how.
If any interest I'll post more details, I'll not be around long enough
to have used up a few hundred

[Adrian Tuddenham]

N_Cook <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

> I cannot find any major suppliers of these bits anymore in the UK,
> despite the likes of RS selling magnastat irons.

Have the bits been removed from the RS catalogue recently? I bought
some about a year ago and they had a good selection listed then.

A lot of good stuff has dissapeared from RS in the last few years, but
most of it is still available from Farnell and their prices are
comparable. (e.g. A lot of the transistors from the ZTX range, good
quality 4mm plugs and sockets, plug-in DIL chips etc.)


--
~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

[N_Cook]

On 12/02/2014 20:57, Adrian Tuddenham wrote:
> N_Cook <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> I cannot find any major suppliers of these bits anymore in the UK,
>> despite the likes of RS selling magnastat irons.
>
> Have the bits been removed from the RS catalogue recently? I bought
> some about a year ago and they had a good selection listed then.
>
> A lot of good stuff has dissapeared from RS in the last few years, but
> most of it is still available from Farnell and their prices are
> comparable. (e.g. A lot of the transistors from the ZTX range, good
> quality 4mm plugs and sockets, plug-in DIL chips etc.)
>
>

It was about a year ago I checked on wwwRS and they carried the bits
then and also 24V heaters which I was actually checking for as the
heater on mine is perhaps 20 years old. Who wants to use 240V magnastat
irons in post_CMOS days, especially without stocking replacement bits,
they do stock those though.

[Chris Jones]

http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=416435
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=416691

[N_Cook]

I've never seen a "Frenchman" style before but the tip diameter and
general conicity? looks much the same as the popular long conical type

[Chris Jones]

As usual at least one of the pictures on the Farnell site is wrong, but
if you get the manufacture's part number and look it up elsewhere you
can see what shape it is. Those are the two kinds of Weller tips I use
regularly, one of them is fine and conical and the other is a big fat
one for large terminals. I do all my really fine soldering with a Metcal
these days.

Chris

[N_Cook]

I got the nice man at Hedge End, England RS counter to check and no 24V
bits or heaters. Just as well I checked my spares status, bits no
problem as I can make my own brand ones easily, but what I thought was a
spare element was a spare new switch.
So I'll have to look into determining what W/W resitor/s to unwind or
resistance wire, for 24V 50W, plus fire cement and strips of mica to
make one. I cannot see me moving over to Metcal

[N_Cook]

I dismantled a 240V soldering iron heater. All these years I thought it
would disintegrate into a pile of mica but now I see the secret, should
be no problem making one. How do you form mica into a tube, simple. You
part score mm apart lines into the material, then it will roll neatly.
This one accepts a magnastat tip so may even be reusable in itself with
the right resistance wire for 24V 50W instead of this one of 4,000 ohm .
Mica tube 6.7 and 5.8mm diameters as a former and 2 layers of wire with
an interlayer of 10x35mm scored sheet of mica rolled up, terminals just
clipped over the central core.

[Chris Jones]

I think the bloke at Hedge End might not be too good at searching.

Heaters are supposedly in stock:
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/soldering-iron-accessories/0661986/
Admittedy not cheap, but your time winding one might be worth more.

Tips are in stock also, e.g.:
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/soldering-iron-tips/0661447/

Chris

[N_Cook]

I'm not sure its that simple and what is a " hoof ", not at all obvious
the RS listings tally with Weller , especially the all important curie
temperature settings, probably a lot of farting about
then
"
This item is from our Extended Range This item is from our Extended Range

Orders for Extended Range items with a total value of less than
£100 are subject to a shipping & handling charge of £10
Delivery within 5-10 working days, subject to supplier's
availability. For quantity discounts call "

[Chris Jones]

The items I gave you links to say in stock for next day delivery in the
UK, and nothing about extended range, when I look at it. They are also
available from Farnell if you have something against RS.

If you want to know the curie temperature, that is given by the number
stamped on the back end of the tip. It is also the last digit of the
Weller part number, e.g. for a PTDD7 tip, the number is 7, which means
700F, or 370 deg C. Also, 7 is the right temperature for normal uses. 6
is too cold and 8 is too hot.

If you want to know what the shape looks like, type "PTDD7 Weller" into
google image search and you will get a lot of pictures of it. Likewise
for the other tip styles.

Anyway it sounds like you don't want the answer to your problem to be
simple, so feel free to make your own tips and heater, but don't
complain that you have to. I am certainly able to buy them, and have
them delivered tomorrow free of charge.
Chris