Weller Pyropen

[ppppenguin]

I've just found this Weller Pyropen Junior lurking in a box of assorted stuff. Don't know where it came from but it could be useful in the field. I found a user manual for it. What I'm not sure about is the small metal spring that I've outlined (very badly) in the photo. It's loose and I can't work out where it came from or what it does. Can anyone help please.

[Mike Watterson]

Holding solder?
Never seen that one, but I've two makes of gas powered soldering iron. I believe they use a catalyst so that the flame goes out shortly after lighting.

Here's the test! Can you solder the PL259 side holes quickly (i.e. without melting the dielectric) while outside in the rain up a ladder?

I think they are far better than the rechargeable irons which seem good only for a few minutes of PCB work. Handy when it's too far to run an extension lead.

[ppppenguin]

Doesn't look like it could hold solder. At present it's preventing me getting the cap back on without fear of damaging it.

Traditional PL259 plugs are the work of the devil. Unless you are using BBC style crimps that screw into the back of them.

[Mike Watterson]

Traditional PL259 plugs are the work of the devil. Unless you are using BBC style crimps that screw into the back of them.

Yes. I was baffled when I left the BBC and discovered security cameras and monitors were using the evil PL259. Which are 75 Ohms baseband. Even RCA "phono" plugs make more sense.
Never encountered the Musa plug ever again after leaving the BBC.
SCART is baffling. Easy to solder or crimp and assemble. How I missed the EIAJ-8 on Japanese AV gear and wished the French had used some sort of latching connector a bit bigger than D25 and made it easier to insert by feel without knowing which way up the socket is.

I can sort of understand 1950s and 1960s commercial and amateur receivers / transmitters / Transceivers using them, I suppose people thought the BNC too small. Maybe at HF the PL259 handles more power. I prefer BNC for skinny 50 Ohms, N-type for fat 50 Ohms and SMA for tiny cables. Why did the WiFi people think inverted SMA was a good idea?
Then there is a plug with a pin (not inner of coax) that looks like F-Type. It's not the same size, it's 50 Ohms and typical for car mounted phone aerials originally.
Then CB universally used PL529 / SO238. Ham gear except some VHF/UHF only stuff continued with PL529 after commercial rigs abandoned it.

I do think it's the worst connector, though Belling Lee as used TV/Radio in UK/Ireland comes second. I like N-Type for outdoor end of 50 Ohms, I've three sizes. I did have a few 75 Ohm N for "trunk" cable used on masts similar to cable TV trunk.

[Alistair D]

I think all my years of sniffing out data for the spreadsheet has made me a bit an expert.

Try this drawing

https://media-weller.de/weller/data/Expl...R286_4.jpg

Al

[Mike Watterson]

So maybe an "Off" safety catch?

[ppppenguin]

Al, thanks for digging that out. Still not sure where it should sit when assembled.

[Alistair D]

I think the ring is supposed to be on the flame adjustment knob. The small loop should sit over the numbers on the body acting as a setting indicator.

Al

[ppppenguin]

Still can't see how to get the ring to sit there and still get the cover on. I'll look at it again tomorrow. Ultimately I don't think the ring is of any great importance. I think I've got a gas refiller somewhere so I can try to get ignition.

Apart from soldering in the field I can see it being good for small heatshrink jobs. Where a full size hot air gun is a rather crude instrument.

PS: I found a good long length of what I thought was heatshrink sleeving. So tried a little bit over the gas hob. It wasn't At least it was fairly fire retardant.

[Mike Watterson]

A heatgun is better. I've tried both. But mine has a selection of nozzles, temperature and airflow rather than being a DIY paint stripper!