I just yesterday wrote about commercially make USB soldering iron product. But how building a DIY USB soldering iron?
USB Soldering Iron article shows how to convert an inexpensive battery powered Soldering Iron into a slick USB powered soldering iron. The conversion idea is to cut USB cable and wire it to the battery contacts inside the iron (that is normally operated with 4.5v battery power).
USB Soldering Iron – Powering Stuff w/USB Part 1 article shows another similar conversion project from battery power to USB power.
Converting the HobbyKing Battery Soldering Iron to use LIPO or USB video shows clearly how you can convert a battery powered soldering iron to use USB power or LIPO battery.
This looks interesting project because I have years old Biltema 20-388 battery powered soldering iron, that looks pretty much same as the soldering iron on the video (my soldering iron is just colored red). The specifications for this soldering iron I have is 6W power and 4.5V operating voltage. Looks like a good candidate for modification.
Still one issue to think about: The soldering iron tip on this kind of soldering irons is in direct contact with negative power terminal. This means that if your USB power source has any considerable leakage current (like on some laptops and some mobile phone chargers), that can potentially damage sensitive electronics that you try to solder. So you have been warned.
24 Comments
Jerry M says:
A motivating discussion is worth comment. I believe that you ought to publish more
about this subject matter, it might not be a taboo
subject but generally folks don’t discuss such issues.
To the next! Cheers!!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Solderdoodle: Open Source USB Rechargeable Soldering Iron
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solderdoodle-Open-Source-USB-Rechargeable-Solderin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Solar Powered Soldering Station
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Powered-Soldering-Station/
Tomi Engdahl says:
USB soldering iron test and teardown with schematic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-8D5t6TJYU
When I bought this I was very sceptical that anything powered from a USB port could actually produce enough heat to solder. But here it is, tested and reverse engineered for your viewing pleasure.
Note the warning about using it from plug-in USB chargers. Most ungrounded versions have significant capacitively coupled mains leakage on the output that will be present on the irons tip and could damage some overly sensitive components. In delicate situations it’s best to power the unit from a decent chunky USB power bank.
Tomi Engdahl says:
3 Easy-to-Make USB Hack Tools – Just 5 mins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z1X8M5y2Dw
3 USB Hacks Tools in this video you will watch: Smart USB Foam Cutter, Super Cool USB Fan and USB Soldering Iron (10sec heat up)
Tomi Engdahl says:
60 Watt USB Soldering Iron Does it with Type-C
http://hackaday.com/2017/02/24/60-watt-usb-soldering-iron-does-it-with-type-c/
Some time back we ran a post on those cheap USB soldering irons which appeared to be surprisingly capable considering they were really under powered, literally. But USB Type-C is slated to change that. Although it has been around for a while, we are only now beginning to see USB-C capable devices and chargers gain traction.
[Julien Goodwin] shows us how he built a USB-C powered soldering iron that doesn’t suck.
He is able to drive a regular Hakko iron at 20 V and 3 Amps, providing it with 60 W of input power from a USB-C charger. The Hakko is rated for 24 V operating voltage, so it is running about 16% lower power voltage. But even so, 60 W is plenty for most cases. The USB-C specification allows up to 5 A of current output in special cases, so there’s almost 100 W available when using this capability.
Being such a versatile system, we are likely to see USB-C being used in more devices in the future. Which means we ought to see high power USB Soldering Irons appearing soon. But at the moment, there is a bit of a “power” struggle between USB-C and Qualcomm’s competing “Quick Charge” (QC) technology.
Making a USB powered soldering iron that doesn’t suck
http://laptop006.livejournal.com/59591.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Review: Aneng LT-001 USB Soldering Iron
https://hackaday.com/2017/08/31/review-aneng-lt-001-usb-soldering-iron/
ANENG LT001 USB Powered Mini 5V 8W Electric Soldering Iron With LED Indicator Portable Soldering Tools
https://www.banggood.com/ANENG-LT001-USB-Powered-Mini-5V-8W-Electric-Soldering-Iron-With-LED-Indicator-p-1170695.html?p=27131452996820140438
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to make a MINI USB POWERED SOLDERING IRON with Just 5 mins – (10sec heat up)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaJ1fW57CII
Materials: – Handle Grip, USB Cable, Copper Wire 2.5mm, Nichrome Wire 0,1mm, Heat Treatment Fiberglass Sleeving
Tomi Engdahl says:
Build Your Own Portable Arduino Soldering Iron
https://hackaday.com/2018/07/09/build-your-own-portable-arduino-soldering-iron/
At this point you’ve almost certainly seen one of these low-cost portable soldering irons, perhaps best exemplified by the TS100, a pocket-sized temperature controlled iron that can be had for as little as $50 USD from the usual overseas suppliers. Whether or not you’re personally a fan of the portable irons compared to a soldering station, the fact remains that these small irons are becoming increasingly popular with hackers and makers that are operating on a budget or in a small workspace.
Believing that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, [Electronoobs] has come up with a DIY portable soldering iron that the adventurous hacker can build themselves. Powered by an ATMega328p pulled out of an Arduino Nano, if offers the same software customization options of the TS100 but at a considerably lower price. Depending on where you source your components, you should be able to build one of these irons for as little as $15.
DIY soldering iron- Arduino based
http://www.electronoobs.com/eng_arduino_tut32.php
Tomi Engdahl says:
USB-C-PD Soldering Pen for Weller RT Tips
https://hackaday.io/project/163827-usb-c-pd-soldering-pen-for-weller-rt-tips
Small and powerfull controlling unit powerd from USB-C-PD
Tomi Engdahl says:
Homemade Magic Makes The Metcal Go
https://hackaday.com/2019/06/16/homemade-magic-makes-the-metcal-go/
Entering the electronics workplace one comes across the next level of quality soldering iron: high end HAKKOs, Metcals, JBCs, and the like.
[SergeyMax] seems to have had this problem. He bit the bullet, figured out how the Metcal works, and made his own base. This is no mean feat as a Metcal might look like a regular iron but it’s significantly more complex than ye olde firestarter. The Metcal magic is based on a oscillating magnetic fields (notice the handpiece is connected via BNC?) interacting with a tip bearing a special coating. In the presence of the changing field the tip heats up until it hits its Curie temperature, at which point it stops interacting with the magnetic field and thus stops heating.
Reverse engineering a high-end soldering station
https://habr.com/en/post/451246/
it becomes clear that the resonant frequencies of the circuits are slightly shifted away from 13.56 MHz. The thing is, the closer the frequency to the self-resonant one, the less voltage is needed to power the HF generator and the higher is its current consumption.
In case the cartridge is replaced or removed, the overvoltage can surge to 300-350V, but the authors of the original design chose not to bother with sophisticated protection
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Metcal 13.56 MHz RF Supply
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/diy-metcal-13-56-mhz-rf-supply/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Solder Ninja Dabbles In USB Power Arcana
https://hackaday.com/2019/09/09/solder-ninja-dabbles-in-usb-power-arcana/
Solder Ninja
https://hackaday.io/project/167310-solder-ninja
A 40W Portable USB-Powered Soldering Iron for Makers and Professionals compatible with Weller RT Tips
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/10/06/soldering-your-own-soldering-iron/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/11/01/adding-usb-c-to-the-ts100/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Your TS80 – Music Player
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/31/your-ts80-music-player/
By now most readers will be familiar with the Miniware TS100 and TS80 soldering irons, compact and lightweight temperature controlled soldering tools that have set a new standard at the lower-priced end of the decent soldering iron market. We know they have an STM32 processor, a USB interface, and an OLED display, and that there have been a variety of alternative firmwares produced for them.
Take a close look at the TS80, and you’ll find the element connector is rather familiar. It’s a 3.5 mm jack plug, something we’re more used to as an audio connector.
[Joric], who has created a music player firmware for the little USB-C iron.
https://github.com/joric/ts80player
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adding USB-C To The TS100, But Not How You Think
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/26/adding-usb-c-to-the-ts100-but-not-how-you-think/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/04/an-arduino-controller-for-hot-air-handles/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Packing Heat With A Homemade Portable Soldering Iron
https://hackaday.com/2021/08/17/packing-heat-with-a-homemade-portable-soldering-iron/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.hackster.io/news/diy-portable-soldering-iron-d2e285925209
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/electronichobycircuits/permalink/5045972578760744/
Soldering for long hours can cause the fumes to enter our lungs which is harmful, and can also cause irritation in the eyes.
I have made this simple 3d printed solder fume extractor to solve the problem.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ApVw0e-svts&feature=youtu.be
Tomi Engdahl says:
All About USB-C: Pinecil Soldering Iron
https://hackaday.com/2023/01/31/all-about-usb-c-pinecil-soldering-iron/
Today, let’s check out the Pinecil. A soldering iron by Pine64, released a few years ago, keeping the price low and quality high. It sports both a barrel jack and a USB-C port for its power input – a welcome departure from the Miniware iron strategy, where neither the barrel-jack-only TS100 nor the low-power proprietary-tip TS80 irons quite did it. And, given its design around TS100 T12-style tips, it’s no wonder Pinecil took a well-deserved spot in hobbyist world.
Pinecil went the “PD stack software + PD frontend IC” way, devoting part of the MCU to the realtime nature of PD communications. The PD frontend used is the FUSB302, connected to the MCU over the regular I2C interface. The microcontroller itself has changed from the GD32VF103 in Pinecil v1 to the BL706 in Pinecil v2 – both of them RISC-V.
Leading USB-C In Open-Source
Writing a USB-C PD software stack is not as straightforward as writing, say, an ADC driver. To enforce the coexistence and safety requirements, USB-C uses state machines. If you’ve ever had someone share one of these intimidating diagrams straight from USB-C documentation pages with you, you might be inclined to believe that USB-C is best not touched by humans. That viewpoint isn’t entirely wrong – reimplementing these state machines is not something you necessarily might want to spend your time doing. On the other hand, despite the informationally aggressive nature, the state machines involved are simpler than they might look.
Tomi Engdahl says:
RT Soldering pen
https://hackaday.io/project/18899-rt-soldering-pen
Soldering pen for Weller RT tips with OLED display
very hardware hacker need good soldering tool. My idea was to build own but with very specific qualities. On one side not so expensive, on second side high quality and also small with precise control and features. I found some projects where is used Weller soldering tips designed for WMRP soldering iron with standard 3.5mm jack and inside the tip is also thermocouple for sensing temperature. These tips are not so cheap but the quality is really great, especially for fine soldering. Hardware design is based on similar projects but with many modifications and improvements. Also my request was to make the hardware small as possible to fit into handle and capable to supply from hobbyist LiPO battery.Buy one on tindiy: https://www.tindie.com/products/vlk/rt-soldering-pen/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/06/22/portable-soldering-station-runs-on-drill-batteries/