Excuse the error in my maths. More like 130W, not 300W 😂 Only $2 for 5pcs 2 Layer & 4Layer PCBs, Get SMT Coupon Here :➡ jlcpcb.com/cyt JLCPCB 3D Printing Service starts at $1& Get $30 for New Registers Here: bit.ly/3vcjo1z C245 Soldering Iron on Aliexpress: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DcgFoPN Picoscope 5000 Series: www.picotech.com/oscilloscope/5000/flexible-resolution-oscilloscope Support the Channel with Patreon: www.patreon.com/sdgelectronics
@sdgelectronics Is your power supply switching or linear? Maybe that might be a good look into type thing because linear might handle better than the stresses on a switching especially a chunky toroidial dcps they tend to take a licking & keep ticking without missing a beat.
At 1.37 can see that the voltage drops to 15V because the current is limited to 6A. Therefore, the maximum power used by the tips is 15x6=90 watts (not 130W).
The ring where you insert the tip can be unscrewed. Then there is a 1.5mm hex grub screw under the display cover. Unscrew it and you can slide out the PCB. The microcontroller has all the markings engraved away sadly. It is in a SOP-20 package. I took a few pictures of the PCB I could share. CH224K USB PD chip, NCE30P25S P-channel MOSFET and an SE8533 3.3V regulator. The PCB is marked V1.16-L245
btw Im going to dump try and dump the OS and rewrite it. Did you get any more information auf the uC or the programming protocoll? Looks like UART or some manufactor specific interface. There are four pins: GND - 2 pins without anything - 3.3V
@@heissklebepanzer I hope you succeed in doing that. Could use at least a PWM update. I sadly didn't get any further. I took some pictures of the PCB under my microscope and traced a few connections, but that was it
"all kinds of clicking noises".......so glad to hear that real life EE in a hurry is alive and well...😀....Happy New Year Steve, all the best for 2023.
Metcal always does better with the coin test is because RF delivers power into the surface of the tip where the temperature is falling. JBC has a resistive heater buried relatively deep inside the core of the tip. Heat has to conduct to the surface from within. I think the thermocouple in JBC is located closer to the heater than the surface of the tip. If it was closer to the surface, it would probably perform better.
2nd try without link to Banggood: Than you for your great videos 👍 I would be extremely grateful for the test of the new open source soldering iron PTS200 T13 100W 🙂
If the 245 cartridges are 2.5 ohm (?) and you supply 20V, peak current could reach 8A. Maximum power needed is then 160W. Due to the pulsing, the power supply has to be large and robust enough to be able to handle the on and off switching. I wonder if you only get the full potential from this with a custom power supply. Negates the portability thing if you can't use a standard PD charger (max 100W).
@@stalwartcomputers5182 PD 140W is 5A@28V. The PD charger will not supply more than 5A. And if it tries to apply 28V, that would mean 11A through a 2.5 ohm 245 cartridge. So the equation doesn't work with PD chargers. In the previous video, a viewer commented that he used 24V and 9A to drive a C245-966 tip. Seems to be the only option to use a (adjustable) DC supply, not a charger. Now where to find a small enough 20-24V 240W DC supply without building your own expensive one... There are at least older 20V laptop power supplies that could be reused. I have a Thinkpad 20V, 11.5A, 230W on my work PC.
Hello, the big JBC cartridge that you used in the coin test - is it from C245 range or from C470? I tried this iron with C470004 cartridge and it draws only about 2A at 20V. With C245 cartridges I tested up to 6A at 20V. No problem with that. I did not try to go higher with current.
After my ts100 died a few weeks ago im looking for a new, more powerfull but still cost effiective soldering iron. I have a 100W USB C PD charger and also a 20V 12A PSU if i ever need more than usbc power. Would you recommend this iron? Or should i instead go for a read soldering station? Im not planning to use it as a portable iron.
Wow Steve, I love your channel and this is the most interesting subject yet. An old 35W Metcal is my go-to, but the allure of cheap JBC clone tips is just too tempting. With the release of the Pinecil short (and lower resistance) tips, I expected the matter of "best" portable to be settled for a while, but this no-name has me wondering. When you say you rigged-up a USB cable to your power supply, would you mind sharing the specifics? I would assume it's not much more complicated than applying DC voltage to the 2 thickest wires in the cable, but I don't have any USB-C devices I'm willing to risk losing to an experiment. If you have time, how about a head-to-head between this device and the Pinecil v2 with short tips? I mean the total experience, not just thermal performance.
How is the "80w" generic 908s (old-style tips) irons compares to the T12 irons? Been looking for a cheap, but meaningful upgrade over my current 908s iron.
Why would it burn up though? A T3A puts in 200W at 24V into a cartridge and works fine. Unless the overshoot is really high I don't see how a higher current would be straining the cartridge. Interesting test nonetheless!
I know maybe you can’t do this but do you think you will be testing the new genuine JBC cordless soldering iron/station? It does cost basically £500 so I doubt it’s something you need or would even use or spend that much money on
I got a similar c210 version, works fine with original tips, also I got a sunshine one that comes with a stand which is c245 and they do c210 version, it uses 15v usb c adaptor but couldn’t get it work with 15v powerbank, it comes on but turns off after a few seconds
Just got this thing in my hands today. Promising little machine. I will have to grab a genuine JBC tip and see how it goes. Might be my new go-to portable iron. I like the case and the form-factor, I like that the business end of it fits all the JBC stands and whatnot. It heats up nice and quick. There's definitely some things I don't care for: - Turning the heat off means leaving a preset at 0º and going to that, otherwise there's no way to manually turn it off. The center button should be on/off, not the stupid preset/no preset option. - It shows the power as a meaningless percent instead of an actual watt value (I assume there's an extra calculation in the code to get from watts to percent, so why not just leave it at watts? If we knew what it was a percent *of*, at least we could undo the math in our heads?). - I also wish there was a way to get regular DC into it. I don't get the appeal of PD on a portable soldering iron. It means I either need a dedicated power bank, or I need a 120V outlet and then a PD power supply. Give me a DC barrel jack that I can just feed DC voltage into from any battery/source, with the added bonus of using flexible small-gauge silicone wire instead of a big stiff USB-C cable for no reason... I'd like to take it apart to see if I can solder some wires directly to the board somewhere and bypass the USB-C plug, but it looks like that means peeling off the display cover and then who knows if I'll get it back on properly. But hey for the price I could just order another one...
Oh, I guess the percent is probably the PWM/duty cycle that the controller is feeding to the tip. Yeah, that means they aren't doing the math for power at all, so it's a percentage of whatever the theoretical maximum power it can send to the tip is based on Ohm's law. For a genuine JBC tip at 20V I guess it would be percentage of 160W in an ideal world.
@@swissfreek anyway to know what is the maximum power each JBC tip can withstand? Because I'm planning on getting some blade style tips for reballing, and I might end up getting a T245 handle from aixun and use it with my ksger, or if that combination doesn't work, I'll end up getting an Aixun T3A station. Thoughts?
@@gpudoctor my googling says they’re good for 130W. No idea how the ksger station works, but I’m assuming it’s not particularly intelligent code, just a PWM controller with a PID loop to hit a target temperature (which I suspect is the same for this iron as well). So if you feed it 24v it’ll push full power through the tip if it needs to, which in theory is ~230W and way more than it is rated to. I doubt it has any code/circuitry that caps the current to keep it under a certain power. The T3A may be smarter, but who knows. It’s the game you play with this cheap Chinese stuff.
I got some JBC tips. It was *alright* with the knock-off tip that came with it. With JBC tips it’s pretty fantastic. I like the way it fits in my hand, and I bought some USB-C connectors so I could wire an XT60 directly to it with some nice thing silicon wire. Now I can power it straight from a 4S LiPo (which I have in abundance) and it’s got plenty of power (theoretically ~120W on a fresh pack). The 20V limit means it’s difficult to feed it full voltage from a LiPo (4S is too little, 5S is too much), and most DCDC converters can’t handle that much current at that voltage. But 20V would overdrive the tip anyway, and 4S is just about perfect. So I’m happy. Need to 3D print some sort of case and stand with a tip-puller for it.
Nice follow-up video. What is the point of these USB soldering irons vs. a soldering station? I see no benefit, you still have a cable to the handpiece, the handpiece is propably heavier and larger and the price benefit is diminished when you need a bench power supply to use it to the same performance as a soldering station.
I’m a service tech and I have a tool backpack I take with me everywhere. Having a small, portable, lightweight iron that I can use to solder a wire to a lug or replace a basic through hole part on the fly is fantastic. I keep a metcal with me for jobs where I really need it but if I don’t have to haul an extra piece of gear in or out of a location and I can get jobs done with everything in my backpack, it saves me time and hassle. Currently using a TS-100 for this purpose and it almost always gets the job done. Unfortunately, I’ve broken the crappy plastic case 3 times and they’re no longer available, so I’m looking at this guy as a potential replacement.
@@sdgelectronics 100% the portability is the thing for me. I fly RC planes and quads, and having one of these styles of iron (this, the Pinecil, the TS100, or my personal favorite, the Weller RT Soldering Pen), means taking a "real" soldering iron to the field to be able to do good work if you need to. The fact that they don't cost a fortune is nice, but not a deal-maker. I'll gladly buy legit JBC/Hakko/Weller tips for these at $30 apiece. That's where the quality difference is really noticeable. And if one of those companies made an iron like this to fit their tips that didn't feel like it was half-finished, I'd gladly pay a good deal of money for it, as well.
The pinecil also can go up to 120 watts with its 6 ohm tips using a power supply that supports usb pd 3.1 epr at 28v. But 28v pd 3.1 chargers cost 3x more than the pinecil itself. Same like as this l245, the genuine tip would likely cost the same as the iron itself. 😅
There’s also only 8 of the short tips for the pinecil. The collection of JBC tips is massive, something for everyone. Same with Weller, but the soldering pen that runs those isn’t made by a big company and doesn’t have a nice case for, plus the high power Weller tips and the normal ones have different form factors at the plug.
This channel tested the Pinecil and TS100: ua-cam.com/video/-TosWhPsru4/v-deo.html Both of them are, well, pathetic. Their tips are no match for proper JBC tips. The irons themselves seem fine, but something about the design of the tips causes them to respond to thermal loading extremely slowly, and the iron never puts out more than 11 watts.
I don't think you are driving 300W though, your supply might be 300W capable but not at 20V. 6A limit means I'm guessing it's a 50V max supply, but the supply can't give 300W at arbitrary voltages because it's still got a current limit. The cartridge is in the end still only getting its expected 120W
Thanks for the follow-up. Doesn't a power supply already have a capacitor bank? BTW, I'm wondering if you will try to design a DIY RF power supply compatible with Metcal cartridges?
If a power supply has to much capacitance after its final regulation stage it can't be properly regulated, since the capacitors can deliver way more than a set current limit. Also it would hold a higher voltage when turning down the voltage, which can cause problems.
I've looked at a few of these type of irons lately, being that I solder out on site fairly regularly, and like the look of them. However they all seem to be not quite the finished article. What would you say the benefits are of these over a gas powered Portasol iron that I've been using for years?
It will be a big upgrade in performance over a gas iron, from what I’ve heard. A TS80p is probably the best option for portable soldering. BC2 tip is the one I’d use (hoof shape).
@@unclejohn5012 That and the fact that the gas exhaust has to go somewhere, so aside from the tip being hot there's also an exhaust of hot air going somewhere else, in the case of the one I had, off to the side, which can damage things around where you are soldering.
I see that there is a 48V 5A specification for USB-C; but that only give 240W of usable power. If it was me I’d have taken it up to 74.5V so that you can still stay out of the LVD requirements So can’t see how they would get to 300W? the max current you can put through a good USB pin is 5A, so two pins 10A so you would still need a 30V power supply.
Yep, sadly realised too late that I had accidentally assumed the max of 300W on my PSU because it couldn't deliver any more current. It's rated for a higher voltage than this
@@sdgelectronics That is fair, they make it fairly confusing between the poorly translated feature notes, the fact that they have smart/dumb power modes, as well as a custom resistance for their heater cartridges, it's a lot to dissect, so thanks all the same.
One thing that I do with underpowered soldering irons is to just use a regular lighter and hold a flame to tip of the iron to pre-heat-soak everything, and then the iron can usually do well to keep hot from there. You can even heat your tip nearly red hot when your work is a large patch of copper, etc.. to jumpstart that heat transfer. A little preheating your tip with the lighter can make all the difference.
It's a shame that this thing won't take direct DC like the Pinecil/TS100/Sequre irons will. Would be way easier to deliver the power that it needs with a bench power supply or LiPo battery. I've been waiting for someone to make this sort of thing for JBC tips like they've done for T12/T15 (Sequre SI012) and Weller (RT Soldering Pen) tips. Just feels like they missed the mark on a few things. If only Pine64 would make a version of their iron that's compatible with this tip design. I like the Pinecil but other than the D24 tip they just don't make the tip styles that I like to use.
Recently they released a new version with letter P suffix that includes a dc input jack but it quite a small connector 3.0x1.35 mm size. For that is it be able to handle a genuine JCB cartridges or not I’m not sure.
You probably had trouble with the cable rating in your previous video. USB C cables have a chip on the connector that "speaks" with the devices and let them know their max current capabilities. Also, I'm puzzled about you saying (in your previous video) that reducing the voltage would get you a lower chance of shutting down; lower voltage means higher current, and you were already hitting your current limits. Rather, the higher the voltage, the lower the voltage drop, and the better the chance of surviving such a drop. Also, normally these soldering irons have a setting for low voltage threshold where you can control at which point should they shut down if voltage drops too low. You could have fiddled with that as well.
Excuse me for my dumb question but why exactly does the genuine cartridge heat up with a 300w Power supply at 20v but not with a USB C PD Charger at 20v?
Excuse the error in my maths. More like 130W, not 300W 😂
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@sdgelectronics
Is your power supply switching or linear?
Maybe that might be a good look into type thing because linear might handle better than the stresses on a switching especially a chunky toroidial dcps they tend to take a licking & keep ticking without missing a beat.
At 1.37 can see that the voltage drops to 15V because the current is limited to 6A. Therefore, the maximum power used by the tips is 15x6=90 watts (not 130W).
The ring where you insert the tip can be unscrewed. Then there is a 1.5mm hex grub screw under the display cover. Unscrew it and you can slide out the PCB.
The microcontroller has all the markings engraved away sadly. It is in a SOP-20 package.
I took a few pictures of the PCB I could share.
CH224K USB PD chip, NCE30P25S P-channel MOSFET and an SE8533 3.3V regulator. The PCB is marked V1.16-L245
I can't slide it off, it seems like the buttons hang at the screen. Do you have an idea?
@@heissklebepanzer Are you pushing from the soldering tip end?
Did it wrong way lol. In the Ende I did. push the tip and it worked :-)
btw Im going to dump try and dump the OS and rewrite it. Did you get any more information auf the uC or the programming protocoll? Looks like UART or some manufactor specific interface. There are four pins: GND - 2 pins without anything - 3.3V
@@heissklebepanzer I hope you succeed in doing that. Could use at least a PWM update.
I sadly didn't get any further. I took some pictures of the PCB under my microscope and traced a few connections, but that was it
If the bench is outputting a max of 6A at 20V aren't you applying a max of 120W instead of the 300W you referenced in the video?
Yep, my error...
"all kinds of clicking noises".......so glad to hear that real life EE in a hurry is alive and well...😀....Happy New Year Steve, all the best for 2023.
There is a newer version L245P with a DC barrel jack supporting 24V input so it is basically the same as the JBC power supply voltage.
Same here been sick with it for 4 weeks just starting to feel better.
Metcal always does better with the coin test is because RF delivers power into the surface of the tip where the temperature is falling.
JBC has a resistive heater buried relatively deep inside the core of the tip. Heat has to conduct to the surface from within.
I think the thermocouple in JBC is located closer to the heater than the surface of the tip. If it was closer to the surface, it would probably perform better.
20 volts and 6 amperes does make for 120 watts and not 300...? Did I miss something?
No, just a mistake on my side
@@sdgelectronics pfew!
@@sdgelectronics Thought you were moving into marketing for a moment then!
2nd try without link to Banggood:
Than you for your great videos 👍
I would be extremely grateful for the test of the new open source soldering iron PTS200 T13 100W 🙂
If the 245 cartridges are 2.5 ohm (?) and you supply 20V, peak current could reach 8A. Maximum power needed is then 160W. Due to the pulsing, the power supply has to be large and robust enough to be able to handle the on and off switching. I wonder if you only get the full potential from this with a custom power supply. Negates the portability thing if you can't use a standard PD charger (max 100W).
Yes, 160W is more realistic. 300W was an error.
@@sdgelectronics
Also those the clicking noises you mentioned were most likely the PSU switching into constant current mode.
@@cannesahs I think it's mainly transformer noise, but constant current limits too as it switches taps. Sounded like my old 24V Antex system
Maybe a macbook 140W PD usb C socket might be a viable option
@@stalwartcomputers5182 PD 140W is 5A@28V. The PD charger will not supply more than 5A. And if it tries to apply 28V, that would mean 11A through a 2.5 ohm 245 cartridge. So the equation doesn't work with PD chargers. In the previous video, a viewer commented that he used 24V and 9A to drive a C245-966 tip. Seems to be the only option to use a (adjustable) DC supply, not a charger. Now where to find a small enough 20-24V 240W DC supply without building your own expensive one... There are at least older 20V laptop power supplies that could be reused. I have a Thinkpad 20V, 11.5A, 230W on my work PC.
Nice video Steve, hope your health stays fine. I've had exactly the same Bug. Thanks for sharing.
Hello, the big JBC cartridge that you used in the coin test - is it from C245 range or from C470? I tried this iron with C470004 cartridge and it draws only about 2A at 20V. With C245 cartridges I tested up to 6A at 20V. No problem with that. I did not try to go higher with current.
After my ts100 died a few weeks ago im looking for a new, more powerfull but still cost effiective soldering iron.
I have a 100W USB C PD charger and also a 20V 12A PSU if i ever need more than usbc power.
Would you recommend this iron? Or should i instead go for a read soldering station? Im not planning to use it as a portable iron.
Is there a hidden screw under the display cover perhaps to let you gain access?
Wow Steve, I love your channel and this is the most interesting subject yet. An old 35W Metcal is my go-to, but the allure of cheap JBC clone tips is just too tempting. With the release of the Pinecil short (and lower resistance) tips, I expected the matter of "best" portable to be settled for a while, but this no-name has me wondering.
When you say you rigged-up a USB cable to your power supply, would you mind sharing the specifics? I would assume it's not much more complicated than applying DC voltage to the 2 thickest wires in the cable, but I don't have any USB-C devices I'm willing to risk losing to an experiment.
If you have time, how about a head-to-head between this device and the Pinecil v2 with short tips? I mean the total experience, not just thermal performance.
Yes its just applying voltage to the appropriate pins on the USBC.. Its not a risk to the device if its rated for the voltage.
Тоже интересно сравнение с Pinecil v2
Steve already reviewed the Pinecil. It and the TS100 both do very poorly on the coin test. ua-cam.com/video/-TosWhPsru4/v-deo.html
How is the "80w" generic 908s (old-style tips) irons compares to the T12 irons? Been looking for a cheap, but meaningful upgrade over my current 908s iron.
Why would it burn up though? A T3A puts in 200W at 24V into a cartridge and works fine. Unless the overshoot is really high I don't see how a higher current would be straining the cartridge.
Interesting test nonetheless!
Thank you for the update!!
I know maybe you can’t do this but do you think you will be testing the new genuine JBC cordless soldering iron/station?
It does cost basically £500 so I doubt it’s something you need or would even use or spend that much money on
I got a similar c210 version, works fine with original tips, also I got a sunshine one that comes with a stand which is c245 and they do c210 version, it uses 15v usb c adaptor but couldn’t get it work with 15v powerbank, it comes on but turns off after a few seconds
how does the sun work? I heard that it is not very good in quality and heats up for a long time, say it yes or no?
@@evgeniychaliy6596 the Sun is always hot and will never cook down but I don’t understand your point
Just got this thing in my hands today. Promising little machine. I will have to grab a genuine JBC tip and see how it goes. Might be my new go-to portable iron. I like the case and the form-factor, I like that the business end of it fits all the JBC stands and whatnot. It heats up nice and quick.
There's definitely some things I don't care for:
- Turning the heat off means leaving a preset at 0º and going to that, otherwise there's no way to manually turn it off. The center button should be on/off, not the stupid preset/no preset option.
- It shows the power as a meaningless percent instead of an actual watt value (I assume there's an extra calculation in the code to get from watts to percent, so why not just leave it at watts? If we knew what it was a percent *of*, at least we could undo the math in our heads?).
- I also wish there was a way to get regular DC into it. I don't get the appeal of PD on a portable soldering iron. It means I either need a dedicated power bank, or I need a 120V outlet and then a PD power supply. Give me a DC barrel jack that I can just feed DC voltage into from any battery/source, with the added bonus of using flexible small-gauge silicone wire instead of a big stiff USB-C cable for no reason...
I'd like to take it apart to see if I can solder some wires directly to the board somewhere and bypass the USB-C plug, but it looks like that means peeling off the display cover and then who knows if I'll get it back on properly. But hey for the price I could just order another one...
Oh, I guess the percent is probably the PWM/duty cycle that the controller is feeding to the tip. Yeah, that means they aren't doing the math for power at all, so it's a percentage of whatever the theoretical maximum power it can send to the tip is based on Ohm's law. For a genuine JBC tip at 20V I guess it would be percentage of 160W in an ideal world.
@@swissfreek anyway to know what is the maximum power each JBC tip can withstand? Because I'm planning on getting some blade style tips for reballing, and I might end up getting a T245 handle from aixun and use it with my ksger, or if that combination doesn't work, I'll end up getting an Aixun T3A station. Thoughts?
@@gpudoctor my googling says they’re good for 130W. No idea how the ksger station works, but I’m assuming it’s not particularly intelligent code, just a PWM controller with a PID loop to hit a target temperature (which I suspect is the same for this iron as well). So if you feed it 24v it’ll push full power through the tip if it needs to, which in theory is ~230W and way more than it is rated to. I doubt it has any code/circuitry that caps the current to keep it under a certain power. The T3A may be smarter, but who knows. It’s the game you play with this cheap Chinese stuff.
I got some JBC tips. It was *alright* with the knock-off tip that came with it. With JBC tips it’s pretty fantastic. I like the way it fits in my hand, and I bought some USB-C connectors so I could wire an XT60 directly to it with some nice thing silicon wire. Now I can power it straight from a 4S LiPo (which I have in abundance) and it’s got plenty of power (theoretically ~120W on a fresh pack). The 20V limit means it’s difficult to feed it full voltage from a LiPo (4S is too little, 5S is too much), and most DCDC converters can’t handle that much current at that voltage. But 20V would overdrive the tip anyway, and 4S is just about perfect. So I’m happy. Need to 3D print some sort of case and stand with a tip-puller for it.
@@swissfreeknot sure about this model of iron. But original jbc 245 cartridge is fed with 23,5 volt
Your link in the description to the T420D is not valid anymore...
Nice follow-up video. What is the point of these USB soldering irons vs. a soldering station? I see no benefit, you still have a cable to the handpiece, the handpiece is propably heavier and larger and the price benefit is diminished when you need a bench power supply to use it to the same performance as a soldering station.
Portable use is the only reason for these in my opinion. Some people like them for the low cost though
I’m a service tech and I have a tool backpack I take with me everywhere. Having a small, portable, lightweight iron that I can use to solder a wire to a lug or replace a basic through hole part on the fly is fantastic. I keep a metcal with me for jobs where I really need it but if I don’t have to haul an extra piece of gear in or out of a location and I can get jobs done with everything in my backpack, it saves me time and hassle. Currently using a TS-100 for this purpose and it almost always gets the job done. Unfortunately, I’ve broken the crappy plastic case 3 times and they’re no longer available, so I’m looking at this guy as a potential replacement.
@@sdgelectronics 100% the portability is the thing for me. I fly RC planes and quads, and having one of these styles of iron (this, the Pinecil, the TS100, or my personal favorite, the Weller RT Soldering Pen), means taking a "real" soldering iron to the field to be able to do good work if you need to. The fact that they don't cost a fortune is nice, but not a deal-maker. I'll gladly buy legit JBC/Hakko/Weller tips for these at $30 apiece. That's where the quality difference is really noticeable. And if one of those companies made an iron like this to fit their tips that didn't feel like it was half-finished, I'd gladly pay a good deal of money for it, as well.
What does HM Treasury think about you smearing one of their 2 pence pieces with solder? 😉 Happy New Year to you too.
is this 300W some PMPO reading? :D
Pretty much! :D
How to change language to english. Also is it possible to update firmware? In differet videos different versions from 1.1 yours to 1.3
The pinecil also can go up to 120 watts with its 6 ohm tips using a power supply that supports usb pd 3.1 epr at 28v. But 28v pd 3.1 chargers cost 3x more than the pinecil itself. Same like as this l245, the genuine tip would likely cost the same as the iron itself. 😅
There’s also only 8 of the short tips for the pinecil. The collection of JBC tips is massive, something for everyone. Same with Weller, but the soldering pen that runs those isn’t made by a big company and doesn’t have a nice case for, plus the high power Weller tips and the normal ones have different form factors at the plug.
The USB controller is rated for 21V or 28V absolute max, it would be a bit of a risk to run at 28V..
This channel tested the Pinecil and TS100: ua-cam.com/video/-TosWhPsru4/v-deo.html
Both of them are, well, pathetic. Their tips are no match for proper JBC tips. The irons themselves seem fine, but something about the design of the tips causes them to respond to thermal loading extremely slowly, and the iron never puts out more than 11 watts.
I don't think you are driving 300W though, your supply might be 300W capable but not at 20V. 6A limit means I'm guessing it's a 50V max supply, but the supply can't give 300W at arbitrary voltages because it's still got a current limit. The cartridge is in the end still only getting its expected 120W
Yes, sorry I realised too late after releasing the video!
Happy new year!
Nice iron, if you can power it across the full range. 👍👍
Thanks for the follow-up. Doesn't a power supply already have a capacitor bank? BTW, I'm wondering if you will try to design a DIY RF power supply compatible with Metcal cartridges?
If a power supply has to much capacitance after its final regulation stage it can't be properly regulated, since the capacitors can deliver way more than a set current limit.
Also it would hold a higher voltage when turning down the voltage, which can cause problems.
There are already DIY RF supplies if you google.
@@jaro6985 Thanks, I've seen them but I'm not sure how well they work or if they are properly designed. I think Steve would do it right.
@@acoustic61 he doesn't have time to do this, you can read the 500+ posts discussing the DIY models that already exist.
Hello, how to buy? Thank you!
I see there's another USB-C PD powered iron on aliexpress that uses 115 JBC tips.
Are they the same? If not, any chance will you review it?
We've been messing with a few types 245,210 & 115 and the 210 & 115 are fairly decent little machines tbh especially for potable irons
I've looked at a few of these type of irons lately, being that I solder out on site fairly regularly, and like the look of them. However they all seem to be not quite the finished article. What would you say the benefits are of these over a gas powered Portasol iron that I've been using for years?
Temp regulation in my opinion would be the biggest.
It will be a big upgrade in performance over a gas iron, from what I’ve heard.
A TS80p is probably the best option for portable soldering. BC2 tip is the one I’d use (hoof shape).
@@unclejohn5012 That and the fact that the gas exhaust has to go somewhere, so aside from the tip being hot there's also an exhaust of hot air going somewhere else, in the case of the one I had, off to the side, which can damage things around where you are soldering.
I see that there is a 48V 5A specification for USB-C; but that only give 240W of usable power. If it was me I’d have taken it up to 74.5V so that you can still stay out of the LVD requirements
So can’t see how they would get to 300W? the max current you can put through a good USB pin is 5A, so two pins 10A so you would still need a 30V power supply.
300W was wrong anyway. I mistook my power supply hitting limit as it being 300W, but of course I was not at the maximum output voltage.
@@sdgelectronics Still a great video as it gave me something to think about.
Where on earth are you getting 0.3kW from? These are clearly rated 65W in the pages.. so 0.065kW.
300W from a 20V supply would be 15A
Yep, sadly realised too late that I had accidentally assumed the max of 300W on my PSU because it couldn't deliver any more current. It's rated for a higher voltage than this
@@sdgelectronics That is fair, they make it fairly confusing between the poorly translated feature notes, the fact that they have smart/dumb power modes, as well as a custom resistance for their heater cartridges, it's a lot to dissect, so thanks all the same.
One thing that I do with underpowered soldering irons is to just use a regular lighter and hold a flame to tip of the iron to pre-heat-soak everything, and then the iron can usually do well to keep hot from there. You can even heat your tip nearly red hot when your work is a large patch of copper, etc.. to jumpstart that heat transfer. A little preheating your tip with the lighter can make all the difference.
It asks for more amperage and the source does not give it to it.
considering that it's rated for 65w I'm worried about something catching fire in it
Hi. Can you please share digital version of manual/brochure that comes with this soldering iron (photo or scan)? 🙏Would really appreciate
Anyone able to take a photo of the inside of this thing? I'm looking to make an open source mod for a Pinecil V2 to take these tips
theres a photo buried in eevblog.......id have a hard time finding it again though
Firmware update?
It's a shame that this thing won't take direct DC like the Pinecil/TS100/Sequre irons will. Would be way easier to deliver the power that it needs with a bench power supply or LiPo battery.
I've been waiting for someone to make this sort of thing for JBC tips like they've done for T12/T15 (Sequre SI012) and Weller (RT Soldering Pen) tips. Just feels like they missed the mark on a few things. If only Pine64 would make a version of their iron that's compatible with this tip design. I like the Pinecil but other than the D24 tip they just don't make the tip styles that I like to use.
Recently they released a new version with letter P suffix that includes a dc input jack but it quite a small connector 3.0x1.35 mm size. For that is it be able to handle a genuine JCB cartridges or not I’m not sure.
You probably had trouble with the cable rating in your previous video. USB C cables have a chip on the connector that "speaks" with the devices and let them know their max current capabilities. Also, I'm puzzled about you saying (in your previous video) that reducing the voltage would get you a lower chance of shutting down; lower voltage means higher current, and you were already hitting your current limits. Rather, the higher the voltage, the lower the voltage drop, and the better the chance of surviving such a drop. Also, normally these soldering irons have a setting for low voltage threshold where you can control at which point should they shut down if voltage drops too low. You could have fiddled with that as well.
Yeah as the other guy says, it’s an ohmic load, and P = V^2 / R. Power is the dependant variable.
Yeah, I failed to realize that the power figure is an average for a pulsing charge.
Excuse me for my dumb question but why exactly does the genuine cartridge heat up with a 300w Power supply at 20v but not with a USB C PD Charger at 20v?
No wonder the USB cut off, 5A is all USB-C is supposed to deliver.
Yea I was thinking that as well, at 20 Volts the max i 5 Amps giving you 100 watts.
130w.... USB C 20 Volts only do 100 watts....
@3:18 Poor 2 pence and the rise of inflation