DIY Soldering Station

[@kalenbogart4482]

I enjoy your work tremendously, and I want to thank you for your efforts. My son is autistic, and his limited interests can make bonding difficult, as often he lives in his own world. But, every new Great Scott! video means he's next to me on the couch, asking questions and absorbing with rapt attention. Then he'll drag me to radio shack and our local electronics shop, and we'll attempt (and usually fail) to duplicate your work. You've given me the gift of quality time with my boy, and for that I will always be grateful. With thanks, from Houston, Texas

[@colathebuilder3-652]

kalen bogart Noice

[@litgeeksquadofficial]

:)

[@americanengineering2063]

this is alot of work for a diy soldering station. the same can be achieved with a simple 555, lm317, Transistor, or Op Amp circuit. Set the positive reference and use the thermistor as negative feedback. the 555 circuit would probably work best and dissipate low temperatures. usually soldering station irons work on 12-24v.

[@BillAnt]

Or a click away on AliExpress, ready made station for $20 bucks including a heating element with a tip. ;)
Nonetheless, I really enjoy these videos, quite educational.

[@somedude2492]

@@BillAnt that's not even close to the quality you get with this.

[@maxximumb]

Scott, To fix your code you need to insert the following lines...
Before the setup
Line 21 int = triacVAL = 0;
In the counter == 40 test
Line 54 triacVAL = digitalRead(triac);
Line 64 digitalWrite(triac, triacVAL);
The reason it pauses every 40 cycles, is that on the test for 40, you set the triac low to read the temp, and it never gets checked again till the next interrupt 40 cycles later. The additional code looks at the state of the triac going into the test and stores it in triacVAL, then on leaving the interrupt it resets the triac to it's previous state.
I don't have the components to hand to build a test circuit, but I hope this helps.

[@BillAnt]

Makes perfect sense... I was wondering too why on earth did he set it to initial value of 40?! Good catch though! :)

[@svsv9]

I am going to buy a cheap chinese T12 kit DIY. Wondering if there is possible to get the code from a STC microcontroller that Cheap T12 kit have?

[@joshm264]

@@svsv9 when you're getting that t12 station, stay away from the Quicko or ShineNow, as the KSGER one offers so much more features

[@ctbully]

Good Thinking Batman :-)

[@MrMathewJoiner]

​@@joshm264​I love my KSGER t12 2.1S .. Make sure to open it up and go through everything. Some are not earth grounded. Its a great machine and the T12/T15 tips are my go to now.

[@valentinderouet]

You need a solder iron to build a solder iron...

[@greatscottlab]

I knew this comment would come.

[@valentinderouet]

But very very nice video !

[@shedexqwerasd1299]

StoneSet this leads to an infinite loop and soldering paradoxon D:

[@valentinderouet]

omg

[@ThatGuy-nv2wo]

Use someone else's...

[@TheOswald42]

7:10
"now in theory this code should have worked without a problem, but real life is not always that easy"
-GreatScott 2017

[@beach200]

Oswald Rayleigh epic xD

[@geovani60624]

Yeah, but he kinda of didn't want to take the extra step of analysing the system and add more components that would help

[@wowsuchhandle]

Coding in a nutshell

[@dimitrijekrstic7567]

@@geovani60624 no components needed, the code was bad

[@geovani60624]

@@dimitrijekrstic7567 okay

[@FilmproduktionHulok]

And I'm sitting here with my blinking led connected to my Arduino.

[@vintyprod]

I think I fried mine

[@joshm264]

I feel u, have no clue how to do Arduino

[@janzugic6798]

@David Daivdson i personally find kits overpriced and bad. except arduino kits. make a coil yourself, youre basically copying something and saying you did it yourself

[@janzugic6798]

@David Daivdson nevermind, i thought you were talking about those car type of kits. with everything included and the only thing you need to is assemble it and copy paste some code. and then people say they made it themselves.

[@euvo_sound]

@@janzugic6798 Electronics products are soooooooooooo overpriced in online shops.India has a lot of electronics in there but they are so cheap but really high quality.

[@bobedge3149]

I just ordered the handle, and a couple of tips today. I also ordered a 24V, 10A switching power supply. My thinking is that using DC should mean I can measure the temperature while the power is on. Add an IGBT instead of triac, and all should be good. A driver chip for the IGBT might be a good idea too, to turn it on good and fast, thus preventing blowing the IGBT. A couple of ebay buck converters to give 18V for IGBT driver, and 5V for the arduino, etc.
On the control side. PWM, and PID. I should perhaps limit the PWM to give 160W, which is the max that JBC offers for the 245 iron. 24V, and resistance of 2.85 ohms is around 200W. Rotary encoder instead of pot. Push button for sleep mode, at around 100C. I think that should be pretty much as good as the JBC station for just about £140. Only disadvantage is the JBC station is also a fantastic stand.
One thing I noticed is that the MAX6675 data sheet says to connect pin 2 to ground externally. This is not done with the ebay modules (I already have a few of those). That will be done anyway with the way the JBC handle is wired.

[@bobedge3149]

Ahh crap. I just ordered a complete JBC station. Oh well at least I can compare my version to the original. PRO TIP! Just tell the wife / Partner it was a bargain on ebay. Might be ok.

[@TheWireEDM]

One obvious problem with your Arduino code is that your 'counter' variable is changed by the interrupt function and the variable is defined as an 'int'. You have to define it as 'volatile int' to tell the compiler to always load the actual value from its memory location and not use a cached value, as the interrupt routine can change it at any time.
Your actual problem however might be in the fact that you are measuring the temperature inside the interrupt function and by looking at the MAX6675 library code it is seen that it uses blocking delay() functions, which do not work inside interrupts properly, thus ending/receiving bad data probably or giving spurious answers.
It is best to just measure the temperature inside your loop() function, and use the interrupt function to only switch on/off the output as needed.

[@mildyproductive9726]

I'm glad he discloses the problem with his project code. It is funny he finishes all the other details including 3d printed case and professional schematic. But the code bug gimps the iron to 50% power, and oh well. That's close enough. Hakko 936 performance for 5x the cost.

[@TheWireEDM]

I'm just wondering why he doesn't fix the code.

[@thegoodhen]

He should've used a triac with zero-crossing detection and not use any interrupts in the code.

[@rasz]

but MOC3041 has two more legs, think of the routing implications! ;)
temperature problems are not solely due to typical arduino shit code
- MAX6675 is for K type thermocouples, JBC one is not K
- you need to wait couple sine half cycles between disabling heater and measuring thermocouple, otherwise you can get bogus readings
- pid would be nice

[@nr7000000001]

Funny I used this library too, but it is not necessary. And the timing is ridiculously slow. I changed it to 5 microseconds without a hasle. I made my own function:
}
double read_temp(void){ //read max6675
int i; const int waittime = 5;
uint16_t d = 0;
digitalWrite(CS, LOW);delayMicroseconds(waittime);
for (i=12; i>=0; i--) {
digitalWrite(CLK, LOW);delayMicroseconds(waittime);
if (digitalRead(SO)) { d |= (1 >= 2;
}

[@ExStaticBass]

The fact that we can almost always search for the pinout of soldering irons like this one on Google or other search engines is something that should be considered. Of course in a world without that connectivity it's still important to be able to correctly identify them ourselves. While I think it is completely valid that you've done things this way I feel it is also important to mention other options and explain why this singular choice was made. This way others like myself can more easily understand the thought process behind the decisions we make while building things like this. To teach things like this we must consider the outside perspective and help them understand how we arrived at our final decision because in doing so they learn the process instead of just the answer. The project in this video is brilliant. I'd just like to see others make good decisions based on the wisdom we've gathered through our experience and gain their own in the process.

[@jaguarke069]

As always in awe of your engineering and presentation skills; you make it look so simple!

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks mate :-)

[@awabqureshi814]

6:00 FOOOOOLLL BRIDGE RECTIFIER

[@tensevo]

"Thankfully though, I had a couple of toroidal transformers lying around."

[@RosembergSantos]

hahaha

[@wizardOfRobots]

Of course...

[@elladamerie]

who doesn't?

[@ruipedroleite]

FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER 6:00 @ElectroBOOM

[@snapihansen]

YES, HE SAID IT ALL WRONG! :D

[@BillAnt]

Sounds like a Full Bridge Rectumfryer... but I digress... it worx!! ;D

[@ChristopherGoggans]

@@BillAnt per AvE though "recyumfryer" is the correct pronunciation! 🤣

[@morienbendinelli1554]

Needs an echo!!!😆
(7:52 too!)

[@secretwebsite]

Someone poot electroboom in the captions

[@cerberus9704]

He said OLED LCD :/
Also I've learned a lot from this channel, thank you so much GreatScott!

[@onkarshikhare31]

I appreciate your potential to analyze and explain .I am not an electronic engineer but a DIY enthusiastic some of your circuit just bounce of my brain but still I understand few of them.
I wish every student should get professor like your
Thanks

[@We1hrm0cht]

You will have a great future dude. From Iraq, I wish you all the best, you are a scientist

[@snottythe-snorlaxian4503]

This is the coolest one I've seen. It makes sense to build a soldering station if you are wanting to learn how to build things. My first project was installing a prewired pickguard in my guitar. I have an SMD Kit coming in the mail for my second project. I have a 30 Watt Delcast Soldering Pen and am unsure if I will even need a soldering station for some time for my needs. But, if I do, I hope it looks something like this one.

[@ozgunkara1930]

You just made the whole company go poor

[@greatscottlab]

I kind of doubt it ;-)

[@snrsmh]

şirket batmaz kolay kolay :D

[@HS-eq3gk]

Lol, they will probably gain money because of you, I have to say, your videos have never dropped quality, always great, keep it up!

[@Yonatan24]

Aww... Poor them, they charge *only $30* for a soldering iron tip...
(I buy mine for 99 cents on eBay)

[@Chooseyouruniquehandlebyaddin]

The tips are prob made of platinum.

[@luizz1997]

If you read the datasheet of max6675 you'll see that it takes up to 0.22s to read the temperature, so if you give him something like 250ms between readings, the results should be more stable

[@zAAmpie69]

Your writing and hand-drawn schematics are so satisfyingly neat! As an electronics engineer I approve...

[@hagartm]

Good to see someone keeping it simple with triacs and AC voltage (I don't really get why digital soldering stations are designed to use DC voltage (but, it's not like it's a big problem either)).

[@Mr.Laidukas]

+GreatScott! I work with original JBC stations at work, they are the best what I had used for soldering. However with your project you can't experience full joy of JBC. You should buy JBC original holder or construct similar DIY. Holder has metal ring so when you rest you iron it contact with metal ring on the handle and goes to standby so preserve soldering tip. They last forever I must say. When lifted tip goes back to temp in about 3sec. The second function of stand is soldering tip hot swap jig. Tips can be hanged with single pull and push motion. You can go between tips during the work in just second or two. I love JBC.

[@JohnFHendry]

Yes... I'm headed there as the new station will pay for itself by not damaging components as easily and saving one RC aircraft. Not the tool to go cheap on. Thanks for posting.

[@lmeza1983]

Truly amazing video this proves we are in the future high quality DIY products can be made using cheap and basic items aided by software.
I know it sounds a little exaggerated but when I was a teenager this was impossible for a regular guy at home.

[@Falney]

DIY JBC Soldering stations seem to be pretty popular. Marco Reps did one in January and I just finished building my own.

[@benwilsonMMA]

hello 4 years later lol , was it worth building it? is it still working?

[@muhammadrafiqulislamkhan6994]

You are real engineer. You know every details about engineering. And so gorgeous tool you make. Thanks for sharing.

[@vladmirputin7139]

Why not just use a small form factor 12v power supply that can supply 10 amps and use PWM to control the iron with a Mosfet?

[@QuickishFM]

Because that makes too much sense lol

[@BillAnt]

Exactly, I actually commented about using PWM earlier in an another thread, so much more elegant, simpler, and reliable.

[@TheTechnoGuy18]

@@BillAnt That's what I was thinking about.

[@areg7182]

@@TheTechnoGuy18 the power supply would be too big

[@honkhonk8009]

You could but it doesnt really delve into how everything works.

[@-iIIiiiiiIiiiiIIIiiIi-]

The way this guy says "Thempaturrr" cracks me up every time.

[@SleepingLionsProductions]

"Just like that you can create your own soldering iron"
-goes through numerous code, troubleshooting, and schematic design

[@daitedve1984]

Well, at least it's the first (and the one) project I UNDERSTAND. :) (I'm not a noob, but I'm veeery far from making own scheme) Scott presented his project in the most useful way. 5++

[@nautitard]

I was looking for solutions like this when my soldering station died. I was looking for Weller tips and just fixing this myself but I didn't trust my skills for such an important tool. Unfortunately. It would probably have been ok and cheaper. I'm glad you put out more information on how to do this.

[@TPGGGG__]

When he said full bridge rectifier, i heared it as
*FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER!!!!*

[@antiuniverse20]

Electroboom

[@55yxalaG]

If you get this then you win an award

[@juanantoniorey]

Some time ago I wanted to hack the jbc station and you have given it the most elegant solution I have seen.

[@ikkyino]

Have you thought about taking a few different readings from your thermal couple, and use the average to solve your strange temperature problem?

[@greatscottlab]

I tried a couple of different "solutions" that I did not mention in the video. But I could not get rid of that problem.

[@WayneJohnsonZastil]

Take it's a coding issue with arduino to sort the display out!

[@RealRuler2112]

I was thinking about this same thing. (I'm a programmer & while I would love to do the kind of stuff you do, you lose me nearly every video. Still enjoy watching though. =) ) What about keeping track of the previous 3-5 readings, junking the 0 readings, updating the array with good readings, and averaging them out to feed to the display? Simple enough to code & should eliminate the problem Unless you're going to be soldering in extremely cold weather, that is... ;-)

[@stonent]

I was thinking if it checked every 40 cycles, change it to every 20, then you effectively have the 40.

[@patricktlo]

I actually made a similar project in college and I also got some really weird values in the transient response. It didn't get to zero but it definitely was close, for example sometimes it went from 150C to 90C in half a second, it might be the same problem you had!
Unfortunately I never found a solution either. I guess it has something to do with interference due to the long cables and low sensor signal.

[@JamieBainbridge]

Oh god the last few seconds. I can use a breadboard to hold pin connectors while I solder things to the pins. Thank you so much, that's a brilliant simple idea.

[@ibmpc]

4:31 “an oled lcd” lol

[@mickolesmana5899]

i have no idea what he has been talking about, but i keep watching it, it is weirdly very entertaining

[@Xyz-77]

You should make a video about how to use the sensor of an optical mouse with arduino as a camera or something like that..

[@1992jkwj]

Where do I go to start learning how to do this as a hobby? The most I've ever done is make a nichrome soldering iron, but I did take a few Basic programming classes.

[@MrGTAfan93]

your videos make my sundays better! :) I like all of your videos, but i'm really happy for this tutorial. maybe in the future you shud make an arduino controlled lab bench power supply, it shoud be really cool. Anyways greeting from Hungary, have a nice day!

[@greatscottlab]

I put it on my to do list.

[@MrGTAfan93]

GreatScott! Thanks!

[@Uncle_Buzz]

Brilliant work around for the temp reading. Always enjoy digesting your videos! Cheers, Chris.

[@anonym7500]

How about an electronics basics video on reading schematics???

[@LReBe7]

I like the project, I do have a remark: there's no snubber on that triac, if you get any spikes on the gate, it will conduct. Expect that this thing will one day keep heating, even though the Arduino code is OK. When that happens, just unplug it from mains and plug it back in, to reset the triac.

[@noanoxan]

Neat, but I'll save for the real thing. JBC stations are so, so nice to use! They make Hakko look and feel amateur. Their $400+ price tag is high, but it's literally the last station you'll ever buy.

[@mihacz]

I dont even remember what brought me to your channel in the past, something with electronics I suppose:) Now I completely dont understand what you are doing, because I am from other industry, but I love to hear and watch you doing what you do. Keep it and stay creative ;)

[@HurlockVanguard]

I don't fully understand the point of doing it this way. The original JBC soldering iron heats up to a set temperature within 2 seconds, yet your setups need 10 times as much (5 if you fix the thermocouple problem).
Another thing that puzzles me is why not do it with DC, and control it with PID and a MOSFET?

[@milky3ay566]

HurlockVanguard because it cost €450 more

[@HurlockVanguard]

I think you misunderstood everything I said. Not once have I mentioned buying an actual station.

[@karlohorcicka7388]

You've used all the steps that we learn in school: electronic circuits, 3D modeling, programming and electronics basics which includes soldering.

[@junaidfilms7862]

show us the video about salvaging lab bench power supply

[@greatscottlab]

I did not recorded it. Sorry.

[@junaidfilms7862]

it's ok 😊😋😘

[@danijel124]

Junaid Films I would also like to see salvaging videos :)

[@JerryEricsson]

Guess I am just old fashioned, I have a couple of cheap Chinese soldering irons, both take the now standard replacement tips, one has a digital display in the handle that is probably way off, well I know it is off some anyhow, the other has a tiny dial that I can set up to 450c. One I have a very thin sharp tip that I use for doing SMD, the other a wedge tip for through hole. Both hang on my computer desk, and I plug and unplug them when needed or not. Works for me. Today I built one of those little calculator kits that allows you to input the color bands of your resistor and gives a quick readout, and also has a function to get the needed resistor size for LED's when using different currents and voltages. Nice little kit. Even though it was through hole, I used the iron with the digital display and thin sharp tip, worked great, all my solder joints came out looking professional, I was pleased. The only problem I had was that, for some reason the iron ran away, I had it set at 290C and noticing that the solder was melting very quickly, I checked and it had gone up to 419c! Really blued the metal on my tip, and I replaced it when i was done with the kit build. Guess you get what you pay for, I think the iron with tips cost 18 bucks.

[@tamoghnasaha6615]

You are really an inspiration! Your knowledge on electronics! _/\_ I am also an electronics students. I learn more from you than books. :D
Cheers from India!

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks mate :-)

[@physicsisawesome696]

I'm also Indian

[@I_killed_that_beard_guy]

Practical knowledge is always greater than theoretical knowledge that's why :)

[@dalenassar9152]

In the last 10 seconds of this video, I would like to make a suggestion: Don't solder pin-by-adjacent-pin as shown. The breadboard will get thermal damage over time. Solder in a front-back motion. Better yet, cross solder:front-back-bottom-right. This is the price you pay for being so advanced in your solder skills!...LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!!!!!

[@yurinapham327]

6:00 ElectroBoom: F U L L B R I D G E R E C T I F I E R

[@TheFecesGuy]

This video cured my cancer and my crippling depression...thank you

[@wazzap500]

Jeremievlogs 69
k.

[@YinSuJanSam0w0]

This is a really great project!
I like it 0w0/
I am happy to help translate Chinese Traditional(Taiwan) subtitles~

[@danzimandanziman]

one of the best youtube channels ever

[@tctrainconstruct2592]

I would use a MUCH simpler method, by activating the triac only if the temperature (measured every second) is below the set temperature.

[@xgamerbih]

TC TrainConstruct The method that Scott used is called "PID". It holds the temperature at a given value but without turning off or on the device, just by cutting off the sine wave that enters it. That method that you mention could also be done with a simple relay too but this one is more precise I guess?

[@yiyou6529]

Q 1, after you used the full bridge rectifier, the heating resistor and the thermocouple shared a common ground. when you measure the temperature during heating, I don't quite see a reason of distortion.
Q 2, when your tip is heating up, do you hear unpleasant noise? I know some of the soldering stations use filters to heat the iron with near-DC power.
Q 3, was the controller working with PID?

[@infinitymdm527]

*casually slaps a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo on a BTB26 Triac*

[@harris9624]

Time to watercool my triac.

[@tyttuut]

Hyper 212 Evos are for sissies, try a Zalman CNPS9900MAX!

[@jamayetuddinahmed3713]

You are awesome. Excellent video for EEE students. They will learn lots of things from your video.

[@firstsurname8931]

"OLED lcd"?
Maybe an 'OLED display'?

[@TheDutchFighters]

Lcd means liquid crystal display. So LCD is correct.

[@BillAnt]

Well they sometimes use "LCD" to identify a "display", though technically incorrect in this case of an OLED. Also let's keep in mind that English is not his first language. ;)

[@johnaldrinestrada5264]

this is very helpful. thank you great sir!

[@littlenemos1536]

I love these fuckboys who have nothing better to do than watch videos to catch meaningless snippets and act like "haha fool! You misspoke once in a 10 minute segment of advanced terminology and I am therefore superior!"

[@moki2093]

@@littlenemos1536 lmao he's just pointing out something he heard from the video and not acting cocky about it what the fuck
Get the plug out of your ass

[@Nechros]

I love your handwriting!

[@ayu12641]

Use PID for better temperature tracking

[@georgeswallow5238]

Or, instead of showing 0 sometimes, save the temp to a variable and then display that variable. When a new temp is registered, save that to the variable and display that variable. By doing this you do not get a ‘0’ reading.

[@BlizzetaNet]

I do have to say cutting corners to save you a ton of a money to make your own station rather buying it, pretty good. hats off to you.

[@maon7565]

sorry dude but 35 bones for a tip is ridiculous too.

[@JohnFHendry]

Humm... I hear you but look at the tech in it. People lose hundreds of dollars a year due to damaging what they are working on. The algorithm used in the JBC heating control system not only increases performance,
it allows a reduction of the working temperature by 50ºC (122ºF) or more so lifting a pad or over heating a component dealing with a ground sucking up heat is far less likely.
If the claims are true the JBC station can reach 662ºF in only 2 seconds compared to 8-10 sec or more. It's moments like that waiting as heat spreads that make an extra $400 spread out over years disappear and not seem like all that much. In many cases it will pay for itself as a nice RC model brought down due a heat damaged component is worth more than that in cash where the time lost is even more valuable. Lowering the temperature reduces the risk of damaging components big time. Even the JBC station will drop off 68ºF but other "good" stations drop up to 158ºF and that can break the bank. The operator is the most important factor of course but cannot outperform the tools they use and the worse you are at soldering the more you need it. And $35 bucks a tip is what it takes to be in the game. A tip that will last 5 times as long so when you do the math it's the initial cost that hurts but the pain goes away with time and I'm thinking it out. A week ago I'd agree with you;-)
BTW I've been using a couple of 936 clones for years with cheap $1.00 tips that needed copper mesh added to get a tight fit and compared to the Radio Shack 30w handhelds I grew up with works miles better and is (seems) great up till it's thermal limit. But once put on and heated up the tip is not coming off so I have several stacked as I only paid 10 bucks a piece on sale (8 bucks off) at Hobby King for the entire 936 cloned station so I know what you mean... the 936 was a good machine to copy. But I just melted a handle wire and am tired of dealing with the stiff short wire used so decided to up grade and after researching it I went from where you are at to thinking $35 bucks is really fair price even for someone that does not solder for a living. The more I research the JBC station the less I want it and the more I need it.

[@joshm264]

T12 tips are much cheaper, and companies like KSGER have really nice stations for around $50, and uses a beautiful OLED display!

[@Thepajonk]

Each time I come up with a project that works, I feel smart, each time I watch one of my videos I want to go back to my cradle :D

[@snowcoalRC]

500 dollars for a fucking soldering station? Mines probably worth ten bucks at the most and ive never had an issue with it!

[@theblinkstykrab3106]

C Cole I got a fucking 3 dollar soldering iron from harbor freight and I haven't had a fucking issue it does the same fucking thing too

[@lochinvar00465]

I built a soldering station long time ago. Simple diode in the ac line with a switch that would short it out. So I had 2 power levels, one which the iron could be left on for hours and the other that would then quickly heat up to operating temp. One thing I found out was that if a lamp was plugged into it, on half power the lamp had way more than half brightness. So if you plugged 2 100 w lamps into it and ran on half power, it was brighter than one of them at full.

[@splatink]

6:00 Google: Did you mean: FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIAHHH

[@BillAnt]

The proper name is Full Bridge Rectum-fryer. xD

[@megamer2340]

@@BillAnt no

[@WestEast3259585]

someone is watching marco reps

[@joshm264]

Osmu gang

[@albert2524]

you are the sole reason i wake up on sundays

[@wojciechtechtips1602]

Will you actually use it?

[@greatscottlab]

Yes, I tested it quite a while after filming the video. Works very well.

[@philp5013]

Can I somehow modify my own soldering iron to heat up faster? I have a 60 watts one by Würth but I want it to heat up faster. Is it possible?

[@philp5013]

Hii!

[@ArsyadKamili]

PrashMotion
No you can't. You need an iron with a better heating element in it.

[@maplobats]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who got an inordinate amount of joy at hearing "FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER"

[@Vincent-zo3uc]

What were your total costs for your station?

[@greatscottlab]

Since I had the transformer which is by far the most expensive component, I would say around 20-30$.

[@atc1441]

GreatScott! but the soldering iron alone was 50€ ?

[@0xbenedikt]

+GreatScott!, what would stop you from using DC to power the soldering iron? In that case, the regulation would have to be done differently (e.g. PWM), but a cheap high-power chinese PSU could have been used instead of the transformer.

[@AlexandreKandalintsev]

My calculations show around 180euro (without cost of enclosure and stand). It's around 100euros for handpiece and a one cartridge (with VAT). Then 30-40euros for transformer, low-power ICs (like MAX6675) and the display can be bought from ebay/aliexpress/whatever (still watch out for rip-offs). Concerning power devices (like triac), I recommend only buy from a reputable distributor.

[@fuzzy1dk]

a 19V laptop psu would be the perfect candidate, I've seen some claim that DC will burn out the heater because of electron migration but I've not seen any proof that that is true

[@rich1051414]

Im proud, you didn't say 'in serious' when you were saying 'in series'.

[@greatscottlab]

Well, thanks.

[@philp5013]

lol on 4:08 there's my name on the chip

[@philp5013]

timmy I pledge 1€ per month on patreon to see the videos a couple hours earlier.

[@luigipizzolito5597]

good one phil...

[@philp5013]

hello to you :D

[@PIXscotland]

Hi 7SAEK.
Shit name though. :-)

[@Boryyy]

its phil dumbass

[@stevejin9459]

Two things I noticed in your code,
1. Attach interrupt reference pin 0, while in setup(), pin 0 is not initialized, but zerocross (pin 2), which is not used in rest of the code.
2. The isr handles every thing. It is better to move the display code to loop(). In case display() take longer than half cycle time, your isr is blocked. Since avr only capable of one isr in a time.

[@motzyt]

4:30 You added an OLED LCD? wtf

[@y2ksw1]

Although I appreciate new attempts and approaches, some things can be changed. One of these are how code is implemented. Interrupts are always a bad idea, if your circuit can handle polling. For this application, you easily can alternate between measuring the temperature and switching the heater more or less on or off. For computing the right interval, you would use a PID. A PID would compute the correct interval based on the given and desired temperature, and additionally, you would use ramping. A ramp is a small difference over time between given and desired temperature, this avoiding long delays between switching and measuring, plus extends the tool's life span for a lot.
The same mechanism should be used for cooling down. Professional soldering stations do exactly this, and the expense derives from the software and the adaptivity from the PID. It means that under heavy load, the PID must become more reactive, while it relaxes while the soldering iron remains unused.

[@m.emrahozkaya9903]

Everything was great except for heating the soldering iron with a lighter.

[@FexiSponge]

One day, after enough experience and research, I'll come back, understand everything, and tackle this build

[@resnis100]

GreatScott you need to make new intro

[@greatscottlab]

I still like it

[@resnis100]

I like it to, but maybe you can make new.

[@resnis100]

I make led matrix 10x10 from your video and it works, thanks.

[@resnis100]

Badass Killer greatscott liked it

[@coalitionofrob436]

Could make a new one, or make a new video. I'd take the video any day ...........

[@milanm5776]

Using soldering iron to make soldering iron is nice paradox :)

[@BillAnt]

Also, which come first, a Full Bridge Rectifier or Full Bridge Rectumfryer?! xD

[@feidex]

When you are going to make a simple video so everyone with couple of tools can do it and without aloth of programing knowledge

[@jjmelo]

Dude, thank you for your videos. They do exactly what they say they are going to and you explain in a great, concise manner!

[@MrMaxyMahdia]

Damn ! i didn't understand nothing :/

[@ArjunChatterjeeIN]

MrMaxyMahdia happens

[@kmah324]

Engarish

[@JasonSmith-qx3zh]

I see why I was escorted to basic algebra out of an advance in high school dang rocket science of soldering???

[@michaelbutzen8122]

So you understood everything?

[@patrickyoon3461]

wow from the thumbnail photos= I couldn't tell that the enclosure was 3d printing! nice!

[@MOEHD100]

What did you study at university??? I want to be able to do this stuff :D:D

[@greatscottlab]

Electrical power engineering

[@FadiFadi00]

MARHD
Start now
You don't have to study it be able to build these stuff!!!
I've been working with electronics since i was a little kid and now finally I'm studying electronics engineering..

[@MOEHD100]

First RUclipsr to reply to me directly, I really appreciate that. I have been watching ur vids for a few years now, keep making great videos :D

[@nautitard]

Building them are not a big problem, that's why GreatScott is doing such a huge part of the work for us. The designing takes a lot of knowledge and organisational skill. I'm studying electronics at the moment and I'm FAR from being able to design more complex circuits by myself, I can't even see that in the horizon. Building things after finished and tested schematics though, that I can do already.

[@FreeOfFantasy]

with that you can make a wave cutting power regulation. you cant how ever do any measuring of the temperature. you would just heat it up until it reaches equilibrium, not the temperature you want.

[@johnnyaquila]

WOW , was so simple to make !!!!! even a kid can do it !!!!

[@thaGkillah]

Cant i just buy a cheap soldering iron station from ebay and equip that station with that expensive solderingtip and solderingiron?

[@Meta194]

Capt_Kaplan you probably can. Bigclivedotcom not too long ago recomended a Hakko clone tht was cheap and with good performance, and that could actually use original Hakko tips and irons if needed. Ofc in the end it's still not the same performance as this.

[@UpcycleElectronics]

This iron is really nice, small and easy/nice to handle. The Hakko clones aren't bad, but they are larger, use a ceramic element that takes longer to heat, and have a tendency to loosen at their threaded collar clamping points.
The clone tips are junk, the coatings suck IMO. You'll go through 5 $.99 clones in the same amount of time as 1 $5 genuine Hakko tip.

[@webchimp]

I remember that, worldwide supplies of that clone station disappeared after that video. I ended up having to get a knock off of the clone.
Works OK for my armature needs though.

[@nr7000000001]

Buy a TS100. It is only 50 dollars, and works the same as what he showed, but TS100 is much more compact

[@nr7000000001]

I paid 50 bucks for a ts100 and this is my best buy ever, it heats up in 11 seconds to 310 degrees, and you can change the temperature and see it on a little screen

[@corporaal1]

The real JBC station heats up that tip in 2-3seconds...

[@anonym7500]

And costs €450 more...

[@corporaal1]

Nope €300, and no man hours to build it. And it does have a nice autosleep function when you put the iron in the holder. Don't get me wrong though, I love to make my own stuff and I quite like this project because the JBC soldering pencils are lovely if you solder a lot.

[@diavalus]

I did my best and got a genuine one. Worth every penny, after using a clone Hakko for two years.

[@anonym7500]

Oops, got my numbers mixed up, I thought it was 540 but it was 450, my mistake...

[@maxischerr]

I have also builded me one (I started before he uploaded this video). It works great! It needs about 3 seconds to heat up. I can switch between 3 safed temperature, which I can also increase or decrease. The only "disadvantage" is, that the temperature can only increase or decrease in 5°steps (much easier to safe in the EEPROM). ^^

[@bgable7707]

I love your videoS, makes me think I SHOULD have gotten into electronics back when I scored high on the ASFAB test back in high school(197x), oh well. For now, I'll just continue buying cheap parts from China and spend my free time watching your videos. Thanks for all your hard work. KEEP IT UP!!!

[@lovebirdmic]

You're making your own HUGE thing! (Huge as in they can take wall outlet current) With transformers, a case, all kinds of stuff... Then there's me with an Arduino that lights up when you press a button and turns off the light when you press the button again :P

[@Squall762]

if I get enough time and money, I will definitely make myself one of these!

[@junits15]

For extra fun you can make a metcal, its even easier because theirs no control circuitry needed. Essentially all it is is a ~50W RF supply at some specify frequency that I forgot.

[@m.emrahozkaya9903]

I have a recommendation for the temperature problem. Instead of attaching and detaching interrupts all the time, I suggest you use a time based option in the loop section and check the temperature every 1 or 2 seconds. And before the temperature check sleep for 10ms or so. If you had current sensing implemented, you also wouldn't even need to cut the power and apply the deltaV correction in software. But cutting power for 10ms or so for every 2 seconds is not that bad either.

[@MkmeOrg]

I ran into a similar issue with several of my projects whereby the Arduino ADC gets confused- I found the solution was to take the reading, wait ~10ms, throw out the first reading and take a second to use for action. Not sure if this is what is hitting yours. Great project! Cheers. Eric

[@Pr04basher]

everyone at my workplace, including me, has the soldering station from JBC.
A big feature of it is that the soldering iron is not heating when u are not using it... The tip is always at a temperature of about 80-90°C when the soldering iron is in its rest position on the station. (the station also gets in a Standby mode after some time and stops heating at all... until u take the soldering iron back in your hand.)
This helps to save a lot of power and the tip seems to be more attached by the tin and holds it on it. Having a extremely heated up soldering tip while not soldering with it can make it difficult to get tin on it later on.
That's why our station only heats up the iron when it is used...
and it is doing that extremely fast so u don't have to wait.
I would love to see if you can do that too...
maybe it is realized by using a simple reed contact...

[@codebeat4192]

"Stay creative, and I will see you next time" is something from the past. Just by watching this video, you need to upgrade it, must need to lift up another creative slogan, or better, leave it behind. Great video and creative thoughts, like it, it doesn't need to be that expensive when using brains. A plus plus multiply by .....a multiplier ;-)

[@ThePsychoBoiz]

A good idea is to build a iron holder with a switch. When you put the iron in it, the switch will be pressed and the station regulates the temp of the iron to a lower temp like 100°C to preserve the iron when it is not used. If you take it out the temp will be set higher and it would only take a couple seconds to heat up.

[@ranger175a2w]

always a pleasure Scott

[@dolf182]

I just build one of my own based on a pic32 but the thermocouple is certainly not a type K. The used thermocouple seems to be between a type K and J (Maby type M???). If you use the Type K converter ic your temperature is reading is to low causes the soldering iron to be hot and wear out much faster. So i used the value of 45mV/C and works for me. The temperature is accurate.

[@americanengineering2063]

this is alot of work for a diy soldering station. the same can be achieved with a simple 555, lm317, Transistor, or Op Amp circuit. Set the positive reference and use the thermistor as negative feedback. the 555 circuit would probably work best and dissipate low temperatures. usually soldering station irons work on 12-24v.