Fullscreen HTML5Med Res (??MB)HTML4

Review by NICHOLAS VINEN This soldering station has Curie-point regulated induction heating to give it very fast thermal recovery and accurate temperature regulation. It also features quick-change tips with spare tip storage, fast warm-up time and automatic shutdown when the soldering pencil is in the workstand. Thermaltronics TMT-2000S-K Soldering Station L ooking at the photo of the TMT2000S soldering station, you may be wondering “where is the temperature adjustment”? After all, pretty much all modern soldering stations have a temperature adjustment knob and sometimes a temperature display, don’t they? This one doesn’t need a means of adjusting the temperature because it is self-regulating, based on the Curie effect; they call it “Curie Heat Technology”. Essentially, what happens is that the tip is heated inductively by a coil in the handpiece. In the case of the TMT-2000S this coil is driven by the base station at 470kHz. The rapsiliconchip.com.au idly changing magnetic field causes magnetic hysteresis losses in a layer of ferromagnetic material near the surface of the tip, heating it up. These losses are caused by the fact that the magnetic field is constantly reversing the polarisation of the magnetic grains within the metal. Due to the Skin Effect at the high operating frequency, this heating is mostly at the surface of the tip element, ie, just where you want it. Note that while the tip is not within the coil, being in front of it, it is still within its magnetic field and thus in the magnetic circuit. The Curie effect is the property of metal alloys whereby they lose their magnetic properties above a specific temperature. Once the tip hits its Curie point temperature, without its magnetic properties, it is no longer heated by the magnetic field and so it remains at that temperature. Since this is a form of ‘local feedback’, as soon as the tip temperature drops just a few degrees, it starts to draw as much power as it needs (up to 60W) to maintain the set temperature. Given that the temperature is determined by the tip material, clearly it can’t easily be adjusted. But why do you need the ability to do so? The two main reasons to adjust soldering iron temperature are to solder with different alloys that have different melting April 2014  27 points or to compensate regulated to within about for poor thermal regula±1°C. The reason for the tion at the tip. wide range is that it is not • ESD-Safe & ESD Compliant In other words, you just the alloy composition • Ergonomic lightweight handle might want to crank but also geometry (ie, size • Rugged cast aluminum housing up the temperature to and shape) which deter• Auto-sleep workstand solder a large compomines temperature, as the nent with much thermal latter affects the thermal • Extra thick tip plating for long life mass or turn it down • No need to replace heating coil with tip replacement gradient across the outer when working with plating and so on. • Compatible with PS & MFR series from OKI small, delicate compo• Lowest tip cartridge price on the market Twenty tips! nents. • Tip-to-Ground Potential <2mV True RMS, 50-500Hz Regarding the solder There are 20 different alloy being used, even tips available for the TMT• Tip-to-Ground Resistance, 0.2DC, unit on the lowest temperature 2000S in each of the three • Idle temperature stability ±1.1°C in still air tips available for this temperature grades, for a iron (at 325-358°C) are total of 60 options. There able to melt both tin/lead solder (melt- components without skipping a beat. are six different sizes of chisel tip, six ing point ~190°C) and lead-free solder conical, five hoof (‘mini-wave’), one Ergonomics (melting point ~220°C). bent conical and two knife blades. So there’s really no need to adjust We have described the fundamental (The Thermaltronics catalog lists more it for different types of solder. And benefits of this technology but there are tips than this but they are designed for because its thermal regulation is very other important aspects to a soldering backwards-compatibility with other good, due to that local feedback, you iron, such as ergonomics and tip selec- brands of soldering iron and so are of don’t need to change temperature to tion. The TMT-2000S is no slouch in little interest to new purchasers.) compensate for the thermal mass of these areas either. The tips aren’t all available through what you are working on. The soldering ‘pencil’ is actually retail channels but Altronics do carry So this heating scheme largely a bit smaller and thinner than those ten different types: two conical, the mitigates one of the biggest problems we are used to (partly because it’s no bent conical and four chisel tips in with traditional soldering irons which longer so critical to have a high ther- the standard (yellow) temperature is that if you need a fine tip to work mal mass) and this is an advantage grade and three chisel tips in the highon small components, these have less overall as it makes it easier to angle temperature (red) grade. They aren’t thermal mass and can lack the ‘grunt’ the tip to get into tight spaces. We also overly expensive so you can afford needed to solder to ground planes. like how the power switch is on the to have a few different types to suit If you compensate by increasing top of the unit, which is convenient different tasks. the temperature, you risk overheating for frequently switching it on and off The base station has ten slots for those small components or burning when changing tips. spare tips. If you are planning on workyour flux. With the Thermaltronics Tips for Thermaltronics irons come ing with both tin/lead and lead-free irons, the heat capacity of the tip is no in three different series, which oper- solders, it’s important not to get any longer so critical so finer tips become ate at different temperatures (due to cross-contamination as the presence of a more practical proposition. varying tip alloy composition) and the lead can contaminate lead-free joints. Having no adjustment knob also temperature for a given tip is indicated So there’s plenty of room to keep means that you can’t change the tem- by a coloured ring. The coolest have separate tips for working with different perature when working on a particular a blue ring, operating at 325-358°C; solder alloys. component and then forget to set it yellow operate at 350-398°C and red back, causing all sorts of potential at 420-475°C. In most cases, yellow is Other features problems such as dry joints or short what you want. Having a large selection of tips is tip life. As an aside, you may be wonder- useless if it’s a lot of effort or slow This is especially good in a pro- ing why all these temperatures are so to change tips. Many solder stations duction environment as it means that much higher than the 187-220°C melt- require you to switch off, let it cool everybody is making joints at the same ing point of typical solder alloys. The down, undo a nut, remove the old tip, (correct) temperature. answer is that the more rapid heating fit the new tip and then switch on and provided by a higher tip temperature wait for it to warm up to operating So how well does it work? allows solder joints to be formed more temperature again. We spent a number of hours solder- quickly, paradoxically leading to less That can take five minutes or more ing with one of these units and never heating of the board and components and our response has basically just had any problems due to the lack of as the iron does not need to be left on been to leave the one tip on the iron temperature adjustment. the joint for anywhere near as long and use it for all situations as it’s too We were able to make solder joints before a good fillet is formed. much hassle to change. to large copper areas on a PCB, using Many modern soldering stations Note also that while the temperahigh melting-point lead-free solder, tures for a given tip series are given now feature quick tip changes and the in a reasonably quick time and could in a range spanning 33-55°C, the tem- TMT-2000S is no exception. A silicone then move on to soldering smaller perature of any given tip is actually pad attached to the pencil lead allows Features: 28  Silicon Chip siliconchip.com.au you to easily pull out the tip while it’s still hot and immediately drop it into one of the ten slots in the base. It’s then just a matter of pushing one of the other tips home, switching the unit back on and waiting about 10 seconds for it to heat back up. Total time to swap the tip is under 30 seconds which means you can always be using the right one for the job. And that fast heat-up time applies the first time you switch it on too. Also, if you place the handpiece in its stand and leave it there, the unit senses this and after a little while, switches off the heater. In fact this model is able to totally power down even if you forget to switch it off, which reduces power consumption and saves the tip. Our experience is that even the most careful person can occasionally forget and leave the iron on, especially when using it sporadically so this is a welcome feature. The stand comes with a sponge and brass wool for cleaning the tips but we’ve been told to hide the sponge and stick with the brass wool for longer tip life. A damp sponge cools the tip too rapidly, cracking in its protective coat- the TMT-9000 series, mentioned below. Conclusion The second output, shown here, is for compatibility with other brands but if you can find a supplier for these handpieces, in can drive both at once. ing ultimately, and causing oxidisation As you would expect, the TMT2000S is ESD-safe too, ie, it won’t harm your electronics due to static discharge. As shown above, it is possible to connect two hand pieces to the base station but the connectors are different. This is primarily intended to let users who already have Metcal or OKI soldering irons make the switch easily. Local retailers do not carry the alternative handpieces and tips so new purchasers cannot easily use the second output. If you need two outputs, consider The Thermaltronics TMT-2000S-K is a top notch soldering iron which suits the type of work that we typically do to a ‘T’. Its great temperature regulation, fast heat recovery and quick-tip changes allow you to consistently and quickly make high-quality solder joints. The TMT-2000S-K soldering station is available from Altronic Distributors for $315 (including GST, Cat T2000), which includes the base station, stand, brass cleaning wool and one chisel tip. They also carry a range of 10 different tips for $20.90 each (including GST). See www.altronics.com.au or call 1300 797 007. For more information, see the Thermaltronics website (www.thermaltronics.com.au) or phone 1300 738 250 or (02) 9623 3670. Note that they offer two other types of soldering station, the TMT-5000 series and TMT-9000 series, the latter being also available from Altronics, as well as a vacuum desoldering gun SC accessory. NOW AVAILABLE IN TOP QUALITY COMPONENTS FROM Local stock held for popular items Made in Germany, manufactured with high precision, using materials of high quality Large range as well as customised solutions available ISO9001 Certfifed Manufacturer Contact the sole Australian Distributor: Enertel ® PO Box 784, Winston Hills NSW 2153. Phone: (02) 9674 4748 Web: www.enertel.com.au siliconchip.com.au April 2014  29