@@fasnuf What is YOUR problem with this soldering station...? I bet you never had one, but keen on having an opinion about it. Weller makes several soldering stations (this is not a soldering iron, it's a soldering station), if this is not good enough for you, you can find others which fits your requirements better. So instead of posting this whining nonsense, you can go and buy a better one if you REALLY consider this one a bad and poor quality. My experience so far is very good, it works as expected, and I use it almost daily, so as opposed to you, I REALLY know something about these things.
This soldering station costs more than 100 EUR. Weller should at least take care to do proper isolation. It's a shame that a customer(!) has to add isolation to improve security and losing warranty. Heat shrinking connectors is not rocket since. Also having a switch with a "power on" light would not hurt either. Even my nearly 40 year old Weller "Magnastat" has this. These details indicate that even for this price the manufactures tries to save cost wherever possible.
I'm delighted that you got fan mail from Weller about this. I have a new WE1010 that is serving me well, replacing a 39-year-old Weller EC2000 that I bought used and extensively modified; I get to keep my collection of ET tips. I'm thinking of adding a power-on LED as you describe, and also a 2-amp fuse right at the power inlet (in North America we don't have fuses in our power plugs).
Regarding the fuse and the idiotic experiment that Aussie did, well, the solution is simple. Don't plug in ANY equipment made for 120V into a 230V mains. A fuse is not a protection against idiotic and pointless experiments. I think that Aussie guy, if he is any good in electrical engineering at all, very well knew what would happen. There is no need for more fuse in my opinion. There is a fuse inside the soldering station on the secondary side of the transformer and also there is a thermal fuse on the primary side, and that's enough of protection. I also live in a country without fuse in my power plugs, but there are fuses on groups of plugs, and that's perfectly fine. Of course, if you want to add an extra fuse just do it. It won't do any harm.
@@AdaptingCamera A thermal fuse on the primary side? That's what the Australian fellow denied or didn't find. Tell me more. Is it inside the transformer? Agreed, plugging a 120V device into 230V power is simply not one of the hazards of daily life that one should expect to be protected against.
@@michael.a.covington Sorry, my memory failed, but now watching my video once again, I see there is no thermal protection on the primary side. Anyway, personally I also don't think it's needed. The fuse on the secondary side will protect the transformer in case you short circuit the secondary side because of a mistake. On the primary side, if you short circuit then your household fuse should trip. Of course, a fuse on the primary side might also provide som protection against stupidity, but the best protection is not to be stupid and not to connect to mains which it is not designed for. That's all.
I'm a 65 yr old novice at soldering and purchased this as my first real device.I mainly work on guitars.I was struggling with the cheap model I have and hope this will help me improve.When I'm more experienced perhaps I'll try your mod.👍
@Kev Mac it's never too late to start having fun with electronics, even though I had fun for over 50 years now, as I started when I was in my early teens and I am also 65 this year.
Thank you for this clear and easy to understand Video. I just purchased this Model of Soldering Iron and will Make this Modification upon its arrival! Thank you, again, for your video. Well Done!
I don't see the need to heat-shrink connectors that aren't going to be moved around or messed with. BTW cool mod here with the LED. I came across this by accident, looking for a troubleshooting vid to see what caused the LCD display to blank out on me right in the middle of a job. I JUST got a new genuine solder pencil a couple weeks ago, so not happy about that. The 1010NA was my workhorse for a few years. The fuse looks fine hmm.
Thanks for this, I have done exactly your mod and I love it. This lack of an active "on" indicator was a terrible design choice, and yes I've left my iron on all night numerous times as a result. Now I have no excuses. My previous Weller WTCPN Soldering Station TC202 lasted me 40 years! and was a great design. The "on" switch was also the indicator light and I loved the integrated pencil and sponge holder Sadly my 1010's WEP 70 pencil also has design a flaw, as it has become loose where the metal barrel meets the handle. I've had it two years, this issue started after 6 months. This problem shows up particularly when using desoldering braid (when even a little bit of lateral force needs to be applied). Disappointing from Weller.
I am glad you liked my mod. Regarding the pencil, I like that a lot more than my old one, which was considerably thicker, heavier and had stiffer wires. I also love the possibility the independent pencil stand, which allows moving around the pencil without the need to move the whole station. My pencil attachment seems to be fine, but I always hated those de-soldering braids, so I always used them as little as possible. They also need very high heat to be efficient, otherwise they require too high pressure, and no pencil is actually designed for the side pressure you need to apply. My old pencil had many cracks and I had to glue it many times, using super glue. To be honest, I don't think it is possible to design such small pencils for use with braids, if I would have that need, I'd use a larger soldering iron for that sort of use. This is more for wire and IC soldering on PCB, and for use with de-soldering suction pumps, which does not require longitudinal pressure.
I was inclined to agree with the gentleman below who made the "if the display is on, [the unit] is on.." remark. However, after seeing the results and remembering my returning to the bench hours or days later and seeing the unit still on, I think I will try the mod!
Of course, I agree with him as well, I am not stupid. If the display is on the soldering station is on. That's stating the obvious, but this fix, or the need of control lamp is about something else. It is, as you also experienced, so easy to miss the display because it is grey on grey(ish), so it melts into the normal environment and it becomes totally invisible as it gets darker and darker in the room. Anyway, it is normal praxis in the industry to have indicator light EVEN if something is obviously on. I bet you that ALL professional model Weller stations have backlit displays or/and power on indicator light as well. Yes, they cost considerably more, but come on... a simple LED + a resistor costs what...? 5-10 cents? If the WE 1010 would have cost 10 $ more and had a LED, I would have bought it anyway and wouldn't think about that they should have left out the LED and saved the costs, I think nobody would think much about that. I cant understand anyone actually defending the absence of a LED, that's just pure and simple, bad engineering design without significant cost benefit.
@@SPECIALIZED95711 I don't know what you mean. Of course a soldering station is on for many hours. That's very much the normal situation for anyone using just about any soldering station, not just this one. From your comments it sound like you don't have one and don't really know what you are discussing. Also, nobody talked about leaving it on for days, but there is really no risks involved in doing that, except for the increased electricity bills and unnecessary power consumption. The soldering station actually goes to sleep mode after a while, which you would know if you had one.
I think the led will make it easier to spot when we're leaving the bench tired out. And maybe keep a lot of wear and tear off of the heating element. I'm going to try it.
Weller could have put a lighted on/off switch. The green light is pretty cool. I agree with you putting heat shrink on the connections, but I don't see where anything inside would be touching.
I congratulate you Mr. very good video, I just bought the Weller We1010 and the truth is that it does not have a visualization Weller passed them but no way, now I continue to put a led light thanks to your video, then I send you the video of how it turned out, thank you very much Mr. greetings from Mexico Mexicali, 🤝🎩
Nicely done! I did something similar to my WD-1 station after discovering that I'd left it on again for about the tenth time. Mine was a bit more invasive; I drilled a hole above the power switch and installed a neon panel indicator light. The whole no-power-on-indicator-lamp thing had annoyed me for years, and that time just happened to be the straw that broke the camel's back in my case. They make good irons; would it cost them that much more to use a lighted power switch or include a pilot light in the damned things? To the gentleman below who commented that 'if the display is on the iron is on', mine sits on a shelf above my bench. If I make an effort, I can stand up, lean to the side and easily see the display. From a sitting position, I'm far enough off axis that it isn't readable. I'm often using it for brief periods, and wind up turning it on and off repeatedly, so it's easy to get distracted and not turn it off. An indicator light makes this oversight much more obvious when one turns the room lights off at the end of the day.
@@dschoas Yes, I agree, the LCD should have been backlit, but a simple LED indicating the power on state is actually cheaper, so if production costs are that tight, at least that should have been included by Weller.
Yep, same 'problem' I have with my WD1 station. While my WTCP-S station has a lighted switched, my WD1 does not (something I do not understand as well) and it has happened multiple times that it was turned on for days... only to find the blinking dash on the display at some point, showing me I forgot to turn it off...
I was looking for how to open my new WE1010. It has dust particles stuck to the inside of the display cover! (I noticed yours does also! ) But now I'm going to wait and do your modification as soon as I find a suitable LED and shrink tube in my "stash" Great instructions by you. Thanks !!!
BTW I noticed my WE1010NA has some additional parts that yours does not have. Mine has a square disc cap and a fuse on the secondary side of the transformer. My fuse has ended up being bad (and was intermittent for a few cycles somehow). I'm trying to locate a proper fuse. I've already apparently replaced the original one, but I can't find the original value since it is unreadable.
I wish weller took a little more care in insulation of contacts in this machine. Id love to say im here for the upgrade, but its actually for a peek inside before i have to repair my own, seems common those contacts start arcing internally.
The Weller literature says "Standby mode and auto setback conserves energy, protects equipment." This made me thing that Standby and auto setback were two different things. I like that it reduces the temperature after a period of non-use. But, I would like it to shut off all together after a further period of non-use.
I agree, it would be a useful function, but since the switch is a mechanical switch acting on the primary side of the transformer, it is not possible to implement without a more complicated and expensive solution.
@@AdaptingCamera I wouldn't be as concerned about the transformer being on, although I suppose that would be wasteful of electricity and also might create some risk of over heating. Then again, we have lots of electronics & chargers that are plugged all the time, creating heat and wasting power. I'm more concerned with turning the tip heating element off altogether. I recently left my Weller WCC-100 station on for a few days and by the time I found it, it had completely oxidized that tip beyond repair. While I really dislike buying products made in China, here is a soldering station that works exactly as I would like. ua-cam.com/video/w0nZCK7B-0U/v-deo.html In addition, it uses a motion sensor in the handle to sense when the soldering station isn't being used to switch modes.
@@BryanTorok If you are only concerned about the tip heating and don't want to risk burning the tip, then the stand by function is good enough. It will lower the temperature to 180 °C (360 °F) after the previously set stand-by time. The stand-by time can be set between off and 99 minutes. OK, it would be better if Weller added a function to be able to set the stand-by temperature also, but they chose not to do it and that's fine for me, mine never goes to sleep anyway, because I prefer to switch it off. I also prefer the traditional transformer solution, not a switching supply, like the one in your video. The reason why they use switching supply is that it is cheaper. There are no other benefits, only drawbacks in that solution. The only other benefit I can see is that if you have to carry it often then it is light, but if you are like me, and never carry it, than that's a drawback because it will slide around the desk all the time. The Weller is simply much higher quality, especially for long term and frequent usage. Also note that even that Chinese one has a switch on the primary side: ua-cam.com/video/w0nZCK7B-0U/v-deo.html I don't care about the motion sensor, I'd hate to have to shake the pen and had to wait to wake it up from sleep. I prefer the Weller solution, you push any button and it wakes up, you don't have to hold the pen while it heats up. Before buying this Weller WE 1010 I considered other alternatives, but realized that you get what you pay for, even in soldering stations, so I went for the Weller. I have used Weller all my professional life, ever since the 1970's and I trust their products, even though this one is "Made in West Germany" like my previous one, but Made in Mexico.
Top and bottom is not possible because of the LCD pins, but left and right could be possible. Unfortunately, you would only see a tiny portion lit, not like if it had a back panel LED light also. I considered inserting a back panel, but unfortunately there is no space.
That’s weird i bought the same Weller station from. Home Depot and mine doesn’t light up either. I thought it was broken. On the box it shows it works.
Congrats for your job...it is very instuctive and pleasant to watch this video . Please , what are the necessary elements except the LED for this modification ? I read somewhere in a comment a resistor I think...of what power please ? Thank you for your answer ... Best regards from France . Cheers . Thierry
Thank you for your comment. The only parts needed to make this modification is a LED and a resistor. As you can see here, ua-cam.com/video/vsnpXHTc3M8/v-deo.html the resistor is nearly invisible because it's inside the heat shrink tube. It is connected to the +. I don't remember the value because it is a sort of trial and error value, I chose the value which gave me just enough light. The LED is a very bright 150k mCd, so it is really extremely bright and only needs about 1 mA, which in my case resulted in a resistor of around 3k. LED with less intensity might need lower resistor value to get higher current. As I said, I don't remember exactly, I just took a resistor and experimented to get the right intensity. I did not want it to be too bright because the desk surface is reflective and I did not want it to shine into my face too much.
@@AdaptingCamera You say LED bright : 150K mcd i know mcd but what is k mcd ? also the resistor 3K ? what is 3k...Power Resistor are in Ohms , isn't it
@@sheritage1450 The letter "k" is used as short for "kilo" which is the same as the value 1000, so instead of writing 150,000 mCd I wrote 150k mCd. For the resistor it is the same, 3k but normally the word "Ohm" is also left out because resistans is measured in Ohms, so that is obvious. 3k means 3000 Ohms, or 3k Ohms.
Thank you for the comments. No, I don't need that fuse. This is a 230VAC version, and the hysterical guy is upset about that when you plug in a 110VAC version into a 230 V mains then the Weller will give out smoke signals and gets fried. Well, of course, if you are that stupid, it will get fried. Anyway, my home is safe, I have a fuse on each wall socket. The WE 1010 is delivered with a UK plug with a fuse in it also, so even if you live in the UK, you don't need to install any fuse in the soldering station, you are safe. Of course, if you replace the original cable that may not be a valid statement.
Super cool mod! Informative and inspiring. Do you think adding a fuse to this weller is necessary for safety? Can this be done? EDIT Never mind, I just read the reply to the question in comments. Thank you
Thank you very much. Please note that there is a fuse internally on the secondary side, as you can see here: ua-cam.com/video/vsnpXHTc3M8/v-deo.html F10 (red part) is the fuse. Also, normally (depending on where you live) there should be a fuse on the wall plug, or the socket in the wall. The soldering station comes with both EU and UK plug, and in the UK plug there is a fuse. So in my opinion, there is no need for additional fuse for safety. Of course, if you connect the station to 400VAC, and not to 230VAC, I don't know what would happen, but that is an illegal connection, not according to the specifications. It's not even something which can happen accidentally, it is a deliberate (or stupid) action. I don't know why anyone would need protection against that, but apparently, there is a hysteric guy on UA-cam who have done this and based on his totally stupid "test", this soldering station received a lot of undeserved bashing. I feel perfectly safe when I am using it, so for me, that's good enough. I live in Sweden, and the electrical wiring is perfectly safe in my home, so I will not add any extra fuse. But of course, if you feel uncomfortable with it, adding a fuse is extremely simple and there is more than enough to drill a hole and adding a fuse, that way, if you blow it you can change it easily. You can also add it without drilling a hole, so there are several options.
@@AdaptingCamera You're welcome, I have been using Weller going on 21 years i probably have 10+ from 25w,35w but mostly use the wp60. But looking at getting this solder station .
@@SundownBlazer I am happy with it. I think it works well, and is almost as simple as the one I used since 1979, 41 years. I gave that one to my son, so it continues working and being used.
Something must be wrong. Perhaps your LED is broken, perhaps you connected it the wrong way, perhaps the resistor is burned, I don't know, but 470 Ohm should give you more than enough current if everything is right, unless if your LED is from the 1970's...
GREAT JOB AND VERY EFFECTIVE COULD I ASK PLEASE WHAT THE VOLTAGE RATE FOR YOUR HIGH INTENSITY LED WAS AS I AM FINDING IT DIFFICULT TO LOCATE A 5 VOLT LED .REGARDS PAUL HINDS.
Hi, LEDs don't have Voltage rate, they are current driven. That is, unless you want to install a LED light which is made for certain voltage, like the ones you can buy in stores to replace ordinary bulbs. Those LEDs are not suitable for the task, so don't do it. I think the one I am using is this one: www.ebay.com/itm/252312633093 but basically you can use any LED, as long as the forward current is right. What is right depends on the intensity you want. This LED gives you maximum intensity at 50mA but that is far too much for my taste. The LED can be connected to any voltage, and the forward voltage (voltage drop across the LED) of this one is 3.3V.
At ua-cam.com/video/vsnpXHTc3M8/v-deo.html I show how to open and at ua-cam.com/video/vsnpXHTc3M8/v-deo.html I show how to close it. I guess that's what you mean by factory defaults, but if you mean the restoring the settings to factory default, then no, I don't know how to do that. It's probably in the manual, but there are so few settings, so it is really simple to keep track of them and set to something new.
Late to the party, but... Good idea. I'm replacing the original on/off rocker switch with one that has a red neon bulb and a current limiting resistor inside it. Also replacing the original, lame pointy tip with a type ETD 3/16" wide "screwdriver" tip, as the pointy POS original TIP can transfer little heat to a joint. Ordering 3 spares, "just in case". Now, if I can just get the WE 1010 soldering station to stop smelling like the aftermath of a toxic chemical spill... Phew!
Thanks for the comment. Larger tip is not always better. I use several tips, depending on the work I do with it. In fact, I find the default tip too fat for my needs most of the time, and never needed anything wider. I don't know what smell you are feeling, my soldering station never smelled and the only thing which smells is the rosin core melting.
The answer is easy. I can't see in dark. The display is not backlit, so if I forget to switch it off it will stay on until I look at it next time when there is light in my room. Also if the soldering station is hidden behind some other activity it is not possible to see the display, even if there is light in my room. The third point is that in my opinion, every mains powered electrical equipment must have an indication that the equipment is on. A display without back light is not good as an indicator. Weller saved 10C by not adding a LED or a few $ by not adding back light to the LCD, which I think is bad. It would have been better with at least a single 5mm LED at the front of the station.
Ouh man, you could‘ve installed a Backlight into your station very easily! Get square LEDs and bend so they shine directly into the side of the LCD. But definitely get at least two of them to get a half way homogeneous backlight.
It's always easy to do things that you are NOT doing yourself.... :) There is no space for your "solution" and it would really make it cheap look like. If there would be space for a real back panel I would have added that, but it looks better with my solution than it would look with yours. I'd rather just add a simple LED in that case, in fact that was my initial thought, but I didn't want to void the warranty by drilling a hole at that time. Today, if I wouldn't have done it before, I'd just drill a hole for a LED, or changed the switch to one with light in it as well, but would still not do according to your proposal, because I think that this gives it a cool look as well.
Add a fuse to the input voltage, the primary transformer side has no protection, if the primary windings short or you plug into 220 by mistake it will become a fire hazard smoke bomb.
That's not necessary at all unless you are an idiot. To start with, if you short your primary winding nothing will happen with that fuse, except that you will blow the fuse of your mains. Remember that electricity ALWAYS takes the shortest route, so there will be no electricity flowing through your fuse. The only time that fuse will blow is if you short the SECONDARY winding, not the primary. ...but why would you do that...? Your second argument for the fuse addition is also dumb. Who else than an idiot would plug it in into a voltage which the equipment is not designed for...? You should not even have the possibility to do it since those plugs should be built in a way that mistakes are prevented. So if you do such stupid thing then it's a deliberate stupid action. BTW, I live in Europe, so we have 230VAC mains here and I plug it in every day into 230V... 😂
You need to have a current limiting resistor in series with the LED. Mine is in the heat shrink tube. ua-cam.com/video/vsnpXHTc3M8/v-deo.html But I don't think you should do the mod if you don't know that already because you can fry your soldering station if you don't know what you are doing.
@@AdaptingCamera btw, for those who don't know about the need for a resistor, I would put some text on the screen and explain that, because it just appears like you really like heatshrink based on the content of the first half of the video. Some won't think there is a resistor in there...
@@ChonkTek Maybe, but then again, if one doesn't know a resistor is needed then that person should NOT open this soldering station at all. I mean, you should not start modifying things without knowing how and what to do. This video is not an educational video about the basics of electronic engineering, there are plenty others about that showing how to connect a LED and how LEDs work. Besides, the resistor is visible in the video if you look carefully.
@@ChonkTek Yes, maybe it would be a good idea, but the video is not intended as an educational video regarding basic electronics, quite the opposite, anyone NOT having the knowledge about how LEDs work and how to use them should NOT even attempt to do this mod. Also, UA-cam does not allow for embedding text once the video is published, and a published video can not be replaced.
@@AdaptingCamera at the 6m mark? It's not directly visible, but yes, maybe if one knows a resistor is required for that LED then they could imply one is there. But again, you should still mention it so noobs don't kill their station or LED. If you're going thru the real-time steps of every single other thing in this moderately long video, you should mention it. Also, the fact that you are taking the time to heatshrink unnecessary connections may give the viewer the idea that elsewhere in the video will be as detailed when it's not. Just thinking aloud here. I guess the worst that will really happen is people will burn out their LEDs if they don't use a resistor. Although I don't know if a short condition could occur with an LED.
No spare parts for the WE1010 Station! is the reply i receive from Weller. From a company who sell tools for repair is inadmissible , let this old company gone like water of toilet .
"No spare parts" means normally that they are not selling spare parts to private individuals, which is pretty normal for many companies. Also, "no spare parts" is nonsense, since you can buy all the spare parts necessary, which are user replaceable, like tip and the WEP 70 plus other things on it. But yes, if you mean the transformer inside, that might be an issue if you want to buy original, or the electronic circuit board inside, otherwise there is nothing else except the switch, but none of those should be regarded as user replaceable. So which part do you need? Did you fry the electronics and want to repair? If you can identify the faulty parts, those are pretty standard, so just buy and replace. But of course, you will need a soldering station first...
That's nonsense rubbish. Hopefully you are better at cars then soldering stations and electronics. You have probably never held one in your hands, because clearly you have no clue.
If the display is on then it's on...if it's off then it's off....not sure why this waste of time and effort was done,it only voided any warranty claims.
@Stephen Champagne I am sure you are a wise man, but this was perhaps not your wisest comment. I am not stupid, if I sit in front of the soldering station then I can see if it is on or not by looking at the display or the position of the switch. The grey on grey is however not that clearly visible as light gets dimmer during the afternoon, and unless I switch on the light in the room, the display is no longer visible from a fairly short distance. A clear visual light indication of things which are on is normal industry standard. This station does not even have a backlight for the LCD, or a simple LED in the switch, which every other Weller model had before, at least ALL that I came in contact with the last 50-ish years, private and professionally. I can't for my life understand how the Weller designers were thinking by leaving out a LED worth a few cents. There is more than enough space in the box and there is already a 5V available, so why leave such a simple thing out when they decided to save on the backlight...? Brain fart of the designer and his/her boss who accepted this. Also, don't worry about my warranty, it is still valid if I needed. This simple fix is easy to undo if necessary or if I want to. But if you worry that you destroy something and void your warranty, or you see this as a waste of time then don't do it. Personally I think it is cool and I like it a lot.
@@warplanner8852 I think a backlight panel is more expensive than a simple LED, but sure, I would like that and would have been glad to pay some extra for it.
@Stephen Champagne ... Apart congrats from the WELLER Team , above , i have not seen any criticism from them regarding the warranty ...!!! After this video , it's sure I’ll do it on my WE 1010...
@@sheritage1450 I think people who are afraid of voiding the warranty should not do it, but I didn't expect anything to go wrong. I was a bit nervous about using the soldering iron on the soldering station itself, it is risky because everything is on, so there is a risk involved there and if you have access to to another, it is better to switch off the Weller and use the alternative one on it. Today I'd go and borrow my old one and would not use this one on itself, because it is kind of asking for trouble. Generally speaking, it is a very simple and non-intrusive modification with very low risks involved, but of course, technically speaking, the warranty is void as soon as you open the casing, even without modifying anything. Be careful and be aware of that.
quite cool. Congrats. Your Weller team !!!
Thank you very much.
How about making a better iron Weller?
@@fasnuf What is YOUR problem with this soldering station...? I bet you never had one, but keen on having an opinion about it. Weller makes several soldering stations (this is not a soldering iron, it's a soldering station), if this is not good enough for you, you can find others which fits your requirements better. So instead of posting this whining nonsense, you can go and buy a better one if you REALLY consider this one a bad and poor quality. My experience so far is very good, it works as expected, and I use it almost daily, so as opposed to you, I REALLY know something about these things.
This soldering station costs more than 100 EUR. Weller should at least take care to do proper isolation. It's a shame that a customer(!) has to add isolation to improve security and losing warranty. Heat shrinking connectors is not rocket since. Also having a switch with a "power on" light would not hurt either. Even my nearly 40 year old Weller "Magnastat" has this. These details indicate that even for this price the manufactures tries to save cost wherever possible.
Well that escalated quickly 😲😂
Although the light is cool, it’s not that hard to remember you turned the station on
Great Mod , if I get a Weller 1010 I will certainly make that mod. Thanks for sharing your video!
I'm delighted that you got fan mail from Weller about this. I have a new WE1010 that is serving me well, replacing a 39-year-old Weller EC2000 that I bought used and extensively modified; I get to keep my collection of ET tips. I'm thinking of adding a power-on LED as you describe, and also a 2-amp fuse right at the power inlet (in North America we don't have fuses in our power plugs).
Regarding the fuse and the idiotic experiment that Aussie did, well, the solution is simple. Don't plug in ANY equipment made for 120V into a 230V mains. A fuse is not a protection against idiotic and pointless experiments. I think that Aussie guy, if he is any good in electrical engineering at all, very well knew what would happen. There is no need for more fuse in my opinion. There is a fuse inside the soldering station on the secondary side of the transformer and also there is a thermal fuse on the primary side, and that's enough of protection. I also live in a country without fuse in my power plugs, but there are fuses on groups of plugs, and that's perfectly fine. Of course, if you want to add an extra fuse just do it. It won't do any harm.
@@AdaptingCamera A thermal fuse on the primary side? That's what the Australian fellow denied or didn't find. Tell me more. Is it inside the transformer?
Agreed, plugging a 120V device into 230V power is simply not one of the hazards of daily life that one should expect to be protected against.
@@michael.a.covington Sorry, my memory failed, but now watching my video once again, I see there is no thermal protection on the primary side. Anyway, personally I also don't think it's needed. The fuse on the secondary side will protect the transformer in case you short circuit the secondary side because of a mistake. On the primary side, if you short circuit then your household fuse should trip. Of course, a fuse on the primary side might also provide som protection against stupidity, but the best protection is not to be stupid and not to connect to mains which it is not designed for. That's all.
I'm a 65 yr old novice at soldering and purchased this as my first real device.I mainly work on guitars.I was struggling with the cheap model I have and hope this will help me improve.When I'm more experienced perhaps I'll try your mod.👍
@Kev Mac it's never too late to start having fun with electronics, even though I had fun for over 50 years now, as I started when I was in my early teens and I am also 65 this year.
Thank you for this clear and easy to understand Video. I just purchased this Model of Soldering Iron and will Make this Modification upon its arrival! Thank you, again, for your video. Well Done!
I don't see the need to heat-shrink connectors that aren't going to be moved around or messed with. BTW cool mod here with the LED. I came across this by accident, looking for a troubleshooting vid to see what caused the LCD display to blank out on me right in the middle of a job. I JUST got a new genuine solder pencil a couple weeks ago, so not happy about that. The 1010NA was my workhorse for a few years. The fuse looks fine hmm.
Thanks for this, I have done exactly your mod and I love it.
This lack of an active "on" indicator was a terrible design choice, and yes I've left my iron on all night numerous times as a result. Now I have no excuses.
My previous Weller WTCPN Soldering Station TC202 lasted me 40 years! and was a great design. The "on" switch was also the indicator light and I loved the integrated pencil and sponge holder
Sadly my 1010's WEP 70 pencil also has design a flaw, as it has become loose where the metal barrel meets the handle. I've had it two years, this issue started after 6 months. This problem shows up particularly when using desoldering braid (when even a little bit of lateral force needs to be applied). Disappointing from Weller.
I am glad you liked my mod. Regarding the pencil, I like that a lot more than my old one, which was considerably thicker, heavier and had stiffer wires. I also love the possibility the independent pencil stand, which allows moving around the pencil without the need to move the whole station. My pencil attachment seems to be fine, but I always hated those de-soldering braids, so I always used them as little as possible. They also need very high heat to be efficient, otherwise they require too high pressure, and no pencil is actually designed for the side pressure you need to apply. My old pencil had many cracks and I had to glue it many times, using super glue. To be honest, I don't think it is possible to design such small pencils for use with braids, if I would have that need, I'd use a larger soldering iron for that sort of use. This is more for wire and IC soldering on PCB, and for use with de-soldering suction pumps, which does not require longitudinal pressure.
I was inclined to agree with the gentleman below who made the "if the display is on, [the unit] is on.." remark. However, after seeing the results and remembering my returning to the bench hours or days later and seeing the unit still on, I think I will try the mod!
Of course, I agree with him as well, I am not stupid. If the display is on the soldering station is on. That's stating the obvious, but this fix, or the need of control lamp is about something else. It is, as you also experienced, so easy to miss the display because it is grey on grey(ish), so it melts into the normal environment and it becomes totally invisible as it gets darker and darker in the room. Anyway, it is normal praxis in the industry to have indicator light EVEN if something is obviously on. I bet you that ALL professional model Weller stations have backlit displays or/and power on indicator light as well. Yes, they cost considerably more, but come on... a simple LED + a resistor costs what...? 5-10 cents? If the WE 1010 would have cost 10 $ more and had a LED, I would have bought it anyway and wouldn't think about that they should have left out the LED and saved the costs, I think nobody would think much about that. I cant understand anyone actually defending the absence of a LED, that's just pure and simple, bad engineering design without significant cost benefit.
Lol,I hope you have homeowners insurance for all that leave them on for hours or days...eeek.
@@SPECIALIZED95711 I don't know what you mean. Of course a soldering station is on for many hours. That's very much the normal situation for anyone using just about any soldering station, not just this one. From your comments it sound like you don't have one and don't really know what you are discussing. Also, nobody talked about leaving it on for days, but there is really no risks involved in doing that, except for the increased electricity bills and unnecessary power consumption. The soldering station actually goes to sleep mode after a while, which you would know if you had one.
just relax, lad...he made a funny joke and u just didnt understand
I think the led will make it easier to spot when we're leaving the bench tired out. And maybe keep a lot of wear and tear off of the heating element. I'm going to try it.
Weller could have put a lighted on/off switch. The green light is pretty cool.
I agree with you putting heat shrink on the connections, but I don't see where anything inside would be touching.
I congratulate you Mr. very good video, I just bought the Weller We1010 and the truth is that it does not have a visualization Weller passed them but no way, now I continue to put a led light thanks to your video, then I send you the video of how it turned out, thank you very much Mr. greetings from Mexico Mexicali, 🤝🎩
Thank you.
@@AdaptingCamera ua-cam.com/video/Vd-A7pXAy4U/v-deo.html
@@AdaptingCamera Good afternoon Sir, here is the link of my video about the Weller WE1010 and thank you very much for the Valuable idea,
This was a great idea. Well done. Greetings from Arizona.
Thank you for your kind words.
Thank you. Did according to your video and it is a real peace of mind to have a visual indication now.
Cool. Thank you for your feedback
this is superb useful for budget users who want the best out of their we1010!
Nicely done! I did something similar to my WD-1 station after discovering that I'd left it on again for about the tenth time. Mine was a bit more invasive; I drilled a hole above the power switch and installed a neon panel indicator light. The whole no-power-on-indicator-lamp thing had annoyed me for years, and that time just happened to be the straw that broke the camel's back in my case. They make good irons; would it cost them that much more to use a lighted power switch or include a pilot light in the damned things? To the gentleman below who commented that 'if the display is on the iron is on', mine sits on a shelf above my bench. If I make an effort, I can stand up, lean to the side and easily see the display. From a sitting position, I'm far enough off axis that it isn't readable. I'm often using it for brief periods, and wind up turning it on and off repeatedly, so it's easy to get distracted and not turn it off. An indicator light makes this oversight much more obvious when one turns the room lights off at the end of the day.
Thank you.
Even a simple backlighted LCD would do the trick and does not cost much more.
@@dschoas Yes, I agree, the LCD should have been backlit, but a simple LED indicating the power on state is actually cheaper, so if production costs are that tight, at least that should have been included by Weller.
Yep, same 'problem' I have with my WD1 station. While my WTCP-S station has a lighted switched, my WD1 does not (something I do not understand as well) and it has happened multiple times that it was turned on for days... only to find the blinking dash on the display at some point, showing me I forgot to turn it off...
Had mine over a year use every day. No problems
Had mine for three years now and no problems at all. Using it almost every day, so it definitely has been well tested.
I was looking for how to open my new WE1010. It has dust particles stuck to the inside of the display cover! (I noticed yours does also! ) But now I'm going to wait and do your modification as soon as I find a suitable LED and shrink tube in my "stash" Great instructions by you. Thanks !!!
Hi, Thank you for your comment. Any dust you can see on my display is on the outside, I don't have anything on the inside.
Now you can spot it easily when you are leaving the room.
BTW I noticed my WE1010NA has some additional parts that yours does not have. Mine has a square disc cap and a fuse on the secondary side of the transformer. My fuse has ended up being bad (and was intermittent for a few cycles somehow). I'm trying to locate a proper fuse. I've already apparently replaced the original one, but I can't find the original value since it is unreadable.
Sorry, I can't help, but I am pretty sure the value of the fuse is not that critical, as long as there is not that much difference. Try 1A.
You did an excellent job.👍
Great mod. I have just purchased the same station from Weller. I will be making the same mod.
I wish weller took a little more care in insulation of contacts in this machine. Id love to say im here for the upgrade, but its actually for a peek inside before i have to repair my own, seems common those contacts start arcing internally.
I don't believe in arcing internally. Something else must have caused it, not the lack of insulation. The distance is far too much for arcing inside.
Thank you so much for sharing this great simple modification. It looks like really amazing and its help me, that I not forget to switch off.
No dropping resistor for the LED? Why not? I do plan to make the mod tp mine as well.
Yes there is. It is in the heat srink tube so you can't se it.
I added your mod, in my case with two smd LEDs in series. Would there also be a replacement switch with a built in LED on Aliexpress?
Congratulations. Sorry, I don't know if you can find a replacement switch with light. I have never looked for that.
The Weller literature says "Standby mode and auto setback conserves energy, protects equipment." This made me thing that Standby and auto setback were two different things. I like that it reduces the temperature after a period of non-use. But, I would like it to shut off all together after a further period of non-use.
I agree, it would be a useful function, but since the switch is a mechanical switch acting on the primary side of the transformer, it is not possible to implement without a more complicated and expensive solution.
@@AdaptingCamera I wouldn't be as concerned about the transformer being on, although I suppose that would be wasteful of electricity and also might create some risk of over heating. Then again, we have lots of electronics & chargers that are plugged all the time, creating heat and wasting power.
I'm more concerned with turning the tip heating element off altogether. I recently left my Weller WCC-100 station on for a few days and by the time I found it, it had completely oxidized that tip beyond repair.
While I really dislike buying products made in China, here is a soldering station that works exactly as I would like. ua-cam.com/video/w0nZCK7B-0U/v-deo.html
In addition, it uses a motion sensor in the handle to sense when the soldering station isn't being used to switch modes.
@@BryanTorok If you are only concerned about the tip heating and don't want to risk burning the tip, then the stand by function is good enough. It will lower the temperature to 180 °C (360 °F) after the previously set stand-by time. The stand-by time can be set between off and 99 minutes. OK, it would be better if Weller added a function to be able to set the stand-by temperature also, but they chose not to do it and that's fine for me, mine never goes to sleep anyway, because I prefer to switch it off. I also prefer the traditional transformer solution, not a switching supply, like the one in your video. The reason why they use switching supply is that it is cheaper. There are no other benefits, only drawbacks in that solution. The only other benefit I can see is that if you have to carry it often then it is light, but if you are like me, and never carry it, than that's a drawback because it will slide around the desk all the time. The Weller is simply much higher quality, especially for long term and frequent usage. Also note that even that Chinese one has a switch on the primary side: ua-cam.com/video/w0nZCK7B-0U/v-deo.html I don't care about the motion sensor, I'd hate to have to shake the pen and had to wait to wake it up from sleep. I prefer the Weller solution, you push any button and it wakes up, you don't have to hold the pen while it heats up. Before buying this Weller WE 1010 I considered other alternatives, but realized that you get what you pay for, even in soldering stations, so I went for the Weller. I have used Weller all my professional life, ever since the 1970's and I trust their products, even though this one is "Made in West Germany" like my previous one, but Made in Mexico.
Wouldn't we need to put a current limiting resistor in series with the LED?
Of course you need one. I have mine in the heat shrink tube so you can't see it, but it's there. ua-cam.com/video/vsnpXHTc3M8/v-deo.html
He unfortunately didn't mention this important part of the job. I hope, no one does the mod without the resistor and blows the PCB.
I have to wonder what would happen if one put the LED(s) to the sides or top and bottom of the LCD display. Would that work to illuminate the display?
Top and bottom is not possible because of the LCD pins, but left and right could be possible. Unfortunately, you would only see a tiny portion lit, not like if it had a back panel LED light also. I considered inserting a back panel, but unfortunately there is no space.
@@AdaptingCamera Tnx for the answer.
That’s weird i bought the same Weller station from. Home Depot and mine doesn’t light up either. I thought it was broken. On the box it shows it works.
Yes, the picture on the box gives you the impression that the LCD is backlit, but it is not.
How did you discover, (the process of discovering) where the ground terminal was?
Through simple measurement.
Exelent work, the LED looks good, tks Master,..
Thank you.
Very good idea.
Thank you.
very nice!
Awesome video! This has helped me a ton. Thank you. :)
Congrats for your job...it is very instuctive and pleasant to watch this video . Please , what are the necessary elements except the LED for this modification ? I read somewhere in a comment a resistor I think...of what power please ? Thank you for your answer ... Best regards from France . Cheers . Thierry
Thank you for your comment. The only parts needed to make this modification is a LED and a resistor. As you can see here, ua-cam.com/video/vsnpXHTc3M8/v-deo.html the resistor is nearly invisible because it's inside the heat shrink tube. It is connected to the +. I don't remember the value because it is a sort of trial and error value, I chose the value which gave me just enough light. The LED is a very bright 150k mCd, so it is really extremely bright and only needs about 1 mA, which in my case resulted in a resistor of around 3k. LED with less intensity might need lower resistor value to get higher current. As I said, I don't remember exactly, I just took a resistor and experimented to get the right intensity. I did not want it to be too bright because the desk surface is reflective and I did not want it to shine into my face too much.
@@AdaptingCamera ...Thanks to you
@@AdaptingCamera You say LED bright :
150K mcd i know mcd but what is k mcd ? also the resistor 3K ? what is 3k...Power Resistor are in Ohms , isn't it
@@sheritage1450 The letter "k" is used as short for "kilo" which is the same as the value 1000, so instead of writing 150,000 mCd I wrote 150k mCd. For the resistor it is the same, 3k but normally the word "Ohm" is also left out because resistans is measured in Ohms, so that is obvious. 3k means 3000 Ohms, or 3k Ohms.
@@AdaptingCamera Thank you for your answer and excuse my naivety but I'm new in this field of electronics...
Good idea. You need to install the fuse (on 240V). It will come in handy sometimes.
Thank you for the comments. No, I don't need that fuse. This is a 230VAC version, and the hysterical guy is upset about that when you plug in a 110VAC version into a 230 V mains then the Weller will give out smoke signals and gets fried. Well, of course, if you are that stupid, it will get fried. Anyway, my home is safe, I have a fuse on each wall socket. The WE 1010 is delivered with a UK plug with a fuse in it also, so even if you live in the UK, you don't need to install any fuse in the soldering station, you are safe. Of course, if you replace the original cable that may not be a valid statement.
Well done And Congratulations Uk London jey
Thank you.
Super cool mod! Informative and inspiring. Do you think adding a fuse to this weller is necessary for safety? Can this be done?
EDIT Never mind, I just read the reply to the question in comments. Thank you
Thank you very much. Please note that there is a fuse internally on the secondary side, as you can see here: ua-cam.com/video/vsnpXHTc3M8/v-deo.html F10 (red part) is the fuse. Also, normally (depending on where you live) there should be a fuse on the wall plug, or the socket in the wall. The soldering station comes with both EU and UK plug, and in the UK plug there is a fuse. So in my opinion, there is no need for additional fuse for safety. Of course, if you connect the station to 400VAC, and not to 230VAC, I don't know what would happen, but that is an illegal connection, not according to the specifications. It's not even something which can happen accidentally, it is a deliberate (or stupid) action. I don't know why anyone would need protection against that, but apparently, there is a hysteric guy on UA-cam who have done this and based on his totally stupid "test", this soldering station received a lot of undeserved bashing. I feel perfectly safe when I am using it, so for me, that's good enough. I live in Sweden, and the electrical wiring is perfectly safe in my home, so I will not add any extra fuse. But of course, if you feel uncomfortable with it, adding a fuse is extremely simple and there is more than enough to drill a hole and adding a fuse, that way, if you blow it you can change it easily. You can also add it without drilling a hole, so there are several options.
Have you considered positioning the LED so that it lights the display a bit?
Yes, but the quick test I made did not give satisfying results, so I decided this is a better and more unconventional solution.
Nicely done
Thanks.
@@AdaptingCamera You're welcome, I have been using Weller going on 21 years i probably have 10+ from 25w,35w but mostly use the wp60. But looking at getting this solder station .
@@SundownBlazer I am happy with it. I think it works well, and is almost as simple as the one I used since 1979, 41 years. I gave that one to my son, so it continues working and being used.
@@AdaptingCamera Awesome that it still works after all that that time.
@@SundownBlazer Yes, good quality but really simple. Especially the old ones are very simple designs.
Hello with a 470 Ohms serial on the anode the light is not seen in the dark ? All the best from France
Something must be wrong. Perhaps your LED is broken, perhaps you connected it the wrong way, perhaps the resistor is burned, I don't know, but 470 Ohm should give you more than enough current if everything is right, unless if your LED is from the 1970's...
Perhaps it is I'm 75 yrs old ! @@AdaptingCamera
GREAT JOB AND VERY EFFECTIVE COULD I ASK PLEASE WHAT THE VOLTAGE RATE FOR YOUR HIGH INTENSITY LED WAS AS I AM FINDING IT DIFFICULT TO LOCATE A 5 VOLT LED .REGARDS PAUL HINDS.
Hi, LEDs don't have Voltage rate, they are current driven. That is, unless you want to install a LED light which is made for certain voltage, like the ones you can buy in stores to replace ordinary bulbs. Those LEDs are not suitable for the task, so don't do it. I think the one I am using is this one: www.ebay.com/itm/252312633093 but basically you can use any LED, as long as the forward current is right. What is right depends on the intensity you want. This LED gives you maximum intensity at 50mA but that is far too much for my taste. The LED can be connected to any voltage, and the forward voltage (voltage drop across the LED) of this one is 3.3V.
thank you.
Very nice!
Thank you.
Wasn't it simpler and less invasive to mount an illuminated switch?
Not less invasive but simpler. On the other hand, if I was after simplicity I would have done nothing.
I totally agree to your question. Just use a Marquardt 1800.1102 switch and you don't have to solder on the PCB.
Do you know how to unlock the base? Or how to restore factory defaults?
At ua-cam.com/video/vsnpXHTc3M8/v-deo.html I show how to open and at ua-cam.com/video/vsnpXHTc3M8/v-deo.html I show how to close it. I guess that's what you mean by factory defaults, but if you mean the restoring the settings to factory default, then no, I don't know how to do that. It's probably in the manual, but there are so few settings, so it is really simple to keep track of them and set to something new.
Exelent vídeo, 💯
Thank you.
Late to the party, but... Good idea. I'm replacing the original on/off rocker switch with one that has a red neon bulb and a current limiting resistor inside it.
Also replacing the original, lame pointy tip with a type ETD 3/16" wide "screwdriver" tip, as the pointy POS original TIP can transfer little heat to a joint. Ordering 3 spares, "just in case".
Now, if I can just get the WE 1010 soldering station to stop smelling like the aftermath of a toxic chemical spill... Phew!
Thanks for the comment. Larger tip is not always better. I use several tips, depending on the work I do with it. In fact, I find the default tip too fat for my needs most of the time, and never needed anything wider. I don't know what smell you are feeling, my soldering station never smelled and the only thing which smells is the rosin core melting.
It looks cool. But I don’t get it. You have a big display with numbers on that shows the station is on🤷🏻♂️
The answer is easy. I can't see in dark. The display is not backlit, so if I forget to switch it off it will stay on until I look at it next time when there is light in my room. Also if the soldering station is hidden behind some other activity it is not possible to see the display, even if there is light in my room. The third point is that in my opinion, every mains powered electrical equipment must have an indication that the equipment is on. A display without back light is not good as an indicator. Weller saved 10C by not adding a LED or a few $ by not adding back light to the LCD, which I think is bad. It would have been better with at least a single 5mm LED at the front of the station.
Lol, I can hear the clock in the background.
Thank you for the remark. You are right, but I never thought about that it might be picked up by the microphone.
Ouh man, you could‘ve installed a Backlight into your station very easily! Get square LEDs and bend so they shine directly into the side of the LCD. But definitely get at least two of them to get a half way homogeneous backlight.
It's always easy to do things that you are NOT doing yourself.... :) There is no space for your "solution" and it would really make it cheap look like. If there would be space for a real back panel I would have added that, but it looks better with my solution than it would look with yours. I'd rather just add a simple LED in that case, in fact that was my initial thought, but I didn't want to void the warranty by drilling a hole at that time. Today, if I wouldn't have done it before, I'd just drill a hole for a LED, or changed the switch to one with light in it as well, but would still not do according to your proposal, because I think that this gives it a cool look as well.
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel a sense of cannibalism (or something else) when using a soldering station on another soldering station?
Add a fuse to the input voltage, the primary transformer side has no protection, if the primary windings short or you plug into 220 by mistake it will become a fire hazard smoke bomb.
That's not necessary at all unless you are an idiot. To start with, if you short your primary winding nothing will happen with that fuse, except that you will blow the fuse of your mains. Remember that electricity ALWAYS takes the shortest route, so there will be no electricity flowing through your fuse. The only time that fuse will blow is if you short the SECONDARY winding, not the primary. ...but why would you do that...? Your second argument for the fuse addition is also dumb. Who else than an idiot would plug it in into a voltage which the equipment is not designed for...? You should not even have the possibility to do it since those plugs should be built in a way that mistakes are prevented. So if you do such stupid thing then it's a deliberate stupid action. BTW, I live in Europe, so we have 230VAC mains here and I plug it in every day into 230V... 😂
OK so it looks like if I use an LED that is not spec'd for higher than 3V, then it WILL burn out to where it goes dim LOL
You need to have a current limiting resistor in series with the LED. Mine is in the heat shrink tube. ua-cam.com/video/vsnpXHTc3M8/v-deo.html But I don't think you should do the mod if you don't know that already because you can fry your soldering station if you don't know what you are doing.
@@AdaptingCamera btw, for those who don't know about the need for a resistor, I would put some text on the screen and explain that, because it just appears like you really like heatshrink based on the content of the first half of the video. Some won't think there is a resistor in there...
@@ChonkTek Maybe, but then again, if one doesn't know a resistor is needed then that person should NOT open this soldering station at all. I mean, you should not start modifying things without knowing how and what to do. This video is not an educational video about the basics of electronic engineering, there are plenty others about that showing how to connect a LED and how LEDs work. Besides, the resistor is visible in the video if you look carefully.
@@ChonkTek Yes, maybe it would be a good idea, but the video is not intended as an educational video regarding basic electronics, quite the opposite, anyone NOT having the knowledge about how LEDs work and how to use them should NOT even attempt to do this mod. Also, UA-cam does not allow for embedding text once the video is published, and a published video can not be replaced.
@@AdaptingCamera at the 6m mark? It's not directly visible, but yes, maybe if one knows a resistor is required for that LED then they could imply one is there. But again, you should still mention it so noobs don't kill their station or LED. If you're going thru the real-time steps of every single other thing in this moderately long video, you should mention it. Also, the fact that you are taking the time to heatshrink unnecessary connections may give the viewer the idea that elsewhere in the video will be as detailed when it's not. Just thinking aloud here. I guess the worst that will really happen is people will burn out their LEDs if they don't use a resistor. Although I don't know if a short condition could occur with an LED.
No spare parts for the WE1010 Station! is the reply i receive from Weller.
From a company who sell tools for repair is inadmissible , let this old company gone like water of toilet .
"No spare parts" means normally that they are not selling spare parts to private individuals, which is pretty normal for many companies. Also, "no spare parts" is nonsense, since you can buy all the spare parts necessary, which are user replaceable, like tip and the WEP 70 plus other things on it. But yes, if you mean the transformer inside, that might be an issue if you want to buy original, or the electronic circuit board inside, otherwise there is nothing else except the switch, but none of those should be regarded as user replaceable. So which part do you need? Did you fry the electronics and want to repair? If you can identify the faulty parts, those are pretty standard, so just buy and replace. But of course, you will need a soldering station first...
Good station. Pointless waste of time opening it for that
I agree it's a good soldering station, but what is waste of time and what is not, is not for you to decide, except regarding your own time.
It a great idea, wtf are you on about?
Any more Weller is Junk at best.
That's nonsense rubbish. Hopefully you are better at cars then soldering stations and electronics. You have probably never held one in your hands, because clearly you have no clue.
If the display is on then it's on...if it's off then it's off....not sure why this waste of time and effort was done,it only voided any warranty claims.
@Stephen Champagne I am sure you are a wise man, but this was perhaps not your wisest comment. I am not stupid, if I sit in front of the soldering station then I can see if it is on or not by looking at the display or the position of the switch. The grey on grey is however not that clearly visible as light gets dimmer during the afternoon, and unless I switch on the light in the room, the display is no longer visible from a fairly short distance. A clear visual light indication of things which are on is normal industry standard. This station does not even have a backlight for the LCD, or a simple LED in the switch, which every other Weller model had before, at least ALL that I came in contact with the last 50-ish years, private and professionally. I can't for my life understand how the Weller designers were thinking by leaving out a LED worth a few cents. There is more than enough space in the box and there is already a 5V available, so why leave such a simple thing out when they decided to save on the backlight...? Brain fart of the designer and his/her boss who accepted this. Also, don't worry about my warranty, it is still valid if I needed. This simple fix is easy to undo if necessary or if I want to. But if you worry that you destroy something and void your warranty, or you see this as a waste of time then don't do it. Personally I think it is cool and I like it a lot.
Wonder why the designers did not use a backlit display?
@@warplanner8852 I think a backlight panel is more expensive than a simple LED, but sure, I would like that and would have been glad to pay some extra for it.
@Stephen Champagne ... Apart congrats from the WELLER Team , above , i have not seen any criticism from them regarding the warranty ...!!!
After this video , it's sure I’ll do it on my WE 1010...
@@sheritage1450 I think people who are afraid of voiding the warranty should not do it, but I didn't expect anything to go wrong. I was a bit nervous about using the soldering iron on the soldering station itself, it is risky because everything is on, so there is a risk involved there and if you have access to to another, it is better to switch off the Weller and use the alternative one on it. Today I'd go and borrow my old one and would not use this one on itself, because it is kind of asking for trouble. Generally speaking, it is a very simple and non-intrusive modification with very low risks involved, but of course, technically speaking, the warranty is void as soon as you open the casing, even without modifying anything. Be careful and be aware of that.