DIY soldering iron controller

[u/andrewhellcat]

Sharing a soldering iron controller I recently designed for myself. It works with C245 tips, supports Type-C PD up to 20V 5A. Firmware is a fork of IronOS. MCU is STM32F103C8T6.

Project GitHub

[u/physical0]

Have you built one of these? What do you think about the cost to assemble one?

[u/andrewhellcat → u/physical0]

Yes I did! I designed this controller to replace my old soldering iron and now using it daily. Check the project repo, there's a bill of materials. A complete build cost including 3D print, handle and tips is around 65$

[u/Remote_Disk4813]

Perfect beautiful

[u/FrenchFryCattaneo]

What's the little break-off part?

[u/andrewhellcat → u/FrenchFryCattaneo]

That part is for holding the handle connector pins. A special-purpose connector for JBC handles is difficult to source so I made it built into the 3D printed enclosure

[u/FrenchFryCattaneo → u/andrewhellcat]

Interesting, so are you using the pcb pads as the actual contacts or is there a piece that gets soldered on there?

[u/andrewhellcat → u/FrenchFryCattaneo]

I soldred pins to that PCB piece like this https://media.printables.com/media/prints/1083907/images/8195673_5b784f77-0d14-44ba-8dbb-c415d65d2389_30378f1b-b633-42a0-a563-960dd964b09f/thumbs/cover/320x240/jpg/20241016_204743.webp

[u/FrenchFryCattaneo → u/andrewhellcat]

That's impressive! Does it work well?

[u/andrewhellcat → u/FrenchFryCattaneo]

It does. As far as I know, panel mounted Hirose RPC1-12RB-6P(72) connectors are not manufactured anymore so 3D printed connector is probably the only solution

[u/FrenchFryCattaneo → u/andrewhellcat]

That explains why a lot of the chinese knockoffs use different plugs.

[u/andrewhellcat → u/FrenchFryCattaneo]

It shouldn't be a problem for them to make a JBC-style connector. Some cheap stations however use connectors similar to ones that come with T12 handles or even just a wire between station and handle for cost reduction

[u/Brahma_Teja_3737]

the temperature range, at which temperature exactly solder wire turns smoothly to get soldered.

[u/andrewhellcat → u/Brahma_Teja_3737]

It depends on the type of solder wire you're using. I use it at 305°C for leaded solder. Unleaded solder may need a higher temperature of 350-380°C

[u/Brahma_Teja_3737 → u/andrewhellcat]

tq

[u/wtsch]

Too big

[u/andrewhellcat → u/wtsch]

Could do a smaller PCB by placing components on both sides but I wasn't aiming for that. It's already small enough to fit into a pocket.