[SMCARA] All things old and busted...

[Rene Ramirez]

Can be new again if you use Google!

Most of y'all know I was looking for a BASG (Big___Soldering Gun) to do the
cap can replacements on boat anchor chassis.  And for those of you that
haven't attempted it, your little Hakko or Pace or brand-x rig aint gonna
do it the old solder will just laugh at you (on a side note, my Brother
swears that he can do it with a product called Chipquick but I dont have
any of it.)  But if you have access to one of those old Weller D550 guns
(240/325W) brute force heat of Hades that solder into submission.  Also, if
you have one of those or its little brother, don't use it to do regular
re-work or *le gasp* SMD rework.  There are much better irons for that than
a Weller BASG or LASG.   Where was I.  Oh, I was looking thru Ebay for an
older style one with the compression nuts on the top not the newer models
with the sleeves and screw posts on the sides.  Why?  There is this neat
albeit little long winded video on youtube where a tech shows you how to
"hot rod" your Weller gun to make it a chassis soldering/desoldering
powerhouse with nothing much more than #14 or #10 gauge solid copper wire
and prefers the old compression nuts to do the mod with.  Modified link
follows.  https(://)youtu(.)be/79uD6XwBg5E

All the new style guns are all like 70+ bucks and if you find an old style
one, prepare to pay just as much or even more because a lot of folks don't
like the new side posts.  But last Friday, I found an old D550 BASG with a
badly broken case (as in I wouldn't plug it in much less use attempt to use
it) but electrically sound for...11 bucks opening bid....or 24 bucks in
"buy it now".  A quick search on
"Teh Googles" lead me to a stained glass forum which gave a link to Weller
repair parts.  It seems that they no longer make the D550 but you sure can
buy a whole new replacement outer case for 10.60!  Push the buy it now
button and push the add to shopping cart for the outer case replacement and
Vola!  One almost new D550 for 34.60 (plus shipping and handling).

So the moral of this little tale is.  If you want a piece of test equipment
or bench tools and you know how to do basic google searches to find
replacement parts you can get pretty decent buys as long as your not
wanting instant gratification and are willing do basic repairs.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Ren.