There are a lot of diagrams of various soldering stations on the Internet, but they all have their own characteristics. Some are difficult for beginners, others work with rare soldering irons, others are not finished, etc. We focused specifically on simplicity, low cost and functionality, so that every novice radio amateur could assemble such a soldering station.

What is a soldering station for?

An ordinary soldering iron, which is connected directly to the network, simply heats constantly with the same power. Because of this, it takes a very long time to warm up and there is no way to regulate the temperature in it. You can dim this power, but achieving a stable temperature and repeatable soldering will be very difficult.
A soldering iron prepared for a soldering station has a built-in temperature sensor and this allows you to apply maximum power to it when heating up, and then maintain the temperature according to the sensor. If you simply try to regulate the power in proportion to the temperature difference, then it will either warm up very slowly, or the temperature will fluctuate cyclically. As a result, the control program must necessarily contain a PID control algorithm.
In our soldering station, we, of course, used a special soldering iron and paid maximum attention to temperature stability.

Specifications

1. Powered by 12-24V DC voltage source
2. Power consumption, when powered 24V: 50W
3. Soldering iron resistance: 12ohm
4. Time to reach operating mode: 1-2 minutes depending on supply voltage
5. Maximum temperature deviation in stabilization mode, no more than 5 degrees
6. Control algorithm: PID
7. Temperature display on a seven-segment indicator
8. Heater type: nichrome
9. Temperature sensor type: thermocouple
10. Temperature calibration capability
11. Setting the temperature using the ecoder
12. LED to display soldering iron status (heating/operating)

Schematic diagram

The scheme is extremely simple. At the heart of everything is the Atmega8 microcontroller. The signal from the optocoupler is fed to an operational amplifier with adjustable gain (for calibration) and then to the ADC input of the microcontroller. To display the temperature, a seven-segment indicator with a common cathode is used, the discharges of which are switched on through transistors. When rotating the BQ1 encoder knob, the temperature is set, and the rest of the time the current temperature is displayed. When turned on, the initial value is set to 280 degrees. Determining the difference between the current and required temperature, recalculating the coefficients of the PID components, the microcontroller heats up the soldering iron using PWM modulation.
To power the logical part of the circuit, a simple 5V linear stabilizer DA1 is used.

Printed circuit board

The printed circuit board is single-sided with four jumpers. The PCB file can be downloaded at the end of the article.

List of components

To assemble the printed circuit board and housing, you will need the following components and materials:

1. BQ1. Encoder EC12E24204A8
2. C1. Electrolytic capacitor 35V, 10uF
3. C2, C4-C9. Ceramic capacitors X7R, 0.1uF, 10%, 50V
4. C3. Electrolytic capacitor 10V, 47uF
5. DD1. Microcontroller ATmega8A-PU in DIP-28 package
6. DA1. L7805CV 5V stabilizer in TO-220 package
7. DA2. Operational amplifier LM358DT in DIP-8 package
8. HG1. Seven-segment three-digit indicator with a common cathode BC56-12GWA. The board also provides a seat for a cheap analogue.
9. HL1. Any indicator LED for a current of 20 mA with a pin pitch of 2.54 mm
10. R2,R7. Resistors 300 Ohm, 0.125W - 2 pcs.
11. R6, R8-R20. Resistors 1kOhm, 0.125W - 13pcs
12. R3. Resistor 10kOhm, 0.125W
13. R5. Resistor 100kOhm, 0.125W
14. R1. Resistor 1MOhm, 0.125W
15. R4. Trimmer resistor 3296W 100kOhm
16. VT1. Field effect transistor IRF3205PBF in TO-220 package
17. VT2-VT4. Transistors BC547BTA in TO-92 package - 3 pcs.
18. XS1. Terminal for two contacts with pin spacing 5.08 mm
19. Terminal for two contacts with pin spacing 3.81 mm
20. Terminal for three contacts with pin spacing 3.81 mm
21. Radiator for stabilizer FK301
22. Housing socket DIP-28
23. Housing socket DIP-8
24. Power switch SWR-45 B-W(13-KN1-1)
25. Soldering iron. We will write about it later
26. Plexiglas parts for the body (cutting files at the end of the article)
27. Encoder knob. You can buy it, or you can print it on a 3D printer. File for downloading the model at the end of the article
28. Screw M3x10 - 2 pcs.
29. Screw M3x14 - 4 pcs.
30. Screw M3x30 - 4 pcs.
31. Nut M3 - 2 pcs.
32. M3 square nut – 8 pcs
33. M3 washer - 8 pcs
34. M3 locking washer – 8 pcs
35. Assembly will also require installation wires, zip ties and heat shrink tubing.

This is what a set of all the parts looks like:

PCB installation

When assembling a printed circuit board, it is convenient to use the assembly drawing:

The installation process will be shown and commented on in detail in the video below. Let us note only a few points. It is necessary to observe the polarity of electrolytic capacitors, LEDs and the direction of installation of microcircuits. Do not install microcircuits until the case is completely assembled and the supply voltage has been checked. ICs and transistors must be handled carefully to avoid damage from static electricity.
Once the board is assembled, it should look like this:

Housing assembly and volumetric installation

The block wiring diagram looks like this:

That is, all that remains is to supply power to the board and connect the soldering iron connector.
You need to solder five wires to the soldering iron connector. The first and fifth are red, the rest are black. You must immediately put a heat-shrinkable tube on the contacts, and tin the free ends of the wires.
The short (from the switch to the board) and long (from the switch to the power source) red wires should be soldered to the power switch.
The switch and connector can then be installed on the front panel. Please note that the switch may be very difficult to engage. If necessary, modify the front panel with a file!

The next step is to put all these parts together. There is no need to install the controller, operational amplifier or screw on the front panel!

Controller firmware and setup

You can find the HEX file for the controller firmware at the end of the article. The fuse bits should remain factory, that is, the controller will operate at a frequency of 1 MHz from the internal oscillator.
The first power-up should be done before installing the microcontroller and operational amplifier on the board. Apply a constant supply voltage from 12 to 24V (red should be “+”, black “-”) to the circuit and check that there is a 5V supply voltage between pins 2 and 3 of the DA1 stabilizer (middle and right pins). After this, turn off the power and install the DA1 and DD1 chips into the sockets. At the same time, monitor the position of the chip key.
Turn the soldering station back on and make sure all functions are working correctly. The indicator displays the temperature, the encoder changes it, the soldering iron heats up, and the LED signals the operating mode.
Next, you need to calibrate the soldering station.
The best option for calibration is to use an additional thermocouple. It is necessary to set the required temperature and control it on the tip using a reference device. If the readings differ, then adjust the multi-turn trimmer resistor R4.
When setting, remember that the indicator readings may differ slightly from the actual temperature. That is, if you set, for example, the temperature to “280”, and the indicator readings deviate slightly, then according to the reference device you need to achieve exactly a temperature of 280°C.
If you don’t have a control measuring device at hand, you can set the resistor resistance to about 90 kOhm and then select the temperature experimentally.
After the soldering station has been checked, you can carefully install the front panel so that the parts do not crack.

Video of work

We made a short video review

…. and a detailed video showing the assembly process:

I thought for a long time whether to write an article about this homemade product or not. On the Internet you can probably count a dozen articles on this scheme. But since, in my opinion, this particular circuit design solution is the most successful, I am sharing the design with you, dear visitors of the Technoreview website. I would like to immediately thank the author of the diagram for the work done, and for the fact that he posted it for public use. The soldering station is quite simple to manufacture and is very necessary in amateur radio practice.

When I first started my journey as a radio amateur, I didn’t think about anything. Soldered with a powerful 60 watt soldering iron. Everything was done with overhead mounting and thick wires. Over the years, having gained a little experience, the tracks became thinner and the details became smaller. Soldering irons of lower power were purchased accordingly. I once purchased a soldering iron from the LUKEY-702 soldering station with a maximum power of 50 watts and a built-in thermocouple. I picked up the diagram for assembly right away. Simple and reliable, with a minimum of parts.

Diagram of a homemade soldering station

Parts list for the circuit:

• R1 - 1M
• R2 - 1k
• R3 - 10k
• R4 - 82k
• R5 - 47k
• R7, R8 - 10k
• R indicator -0.5k
• C3 - 1000mF/50v
• C2 - 200mF/10v
• C - 0.1mF
• Q1 - IRFZ44
• IC4 – 78L05ABUTR

Power diodes B1 are used KD202K. Just suitable for this purpose. To power the MK, I took a small-sized diode assembly B2. E30361-L-0-8-W with a common cathode was used as LED indicators. I also designed my own printed circuit board for my own indicator. It turned out to be double-sided. One-sided could not. Too many jumpers. The board is not the best, but it has been tested and works. I also re-soldered the connector on the soldering iron itself. His standard one is no good. At first, the boozer was not provided on the board. I installed it after, but the board in the archive was fixed.

Soldering station - case manufacturing

I wondered about making a housing for this station. Of course, you can use the station in this form, but it is very dangerous both for the station itself (the boards can short-circuit each other if accidentally touched) and for the surrounding people.

I considered the following ideas as options for making the case:

• Print on a 3D Printer
• Cut pieces of any flat material (acrylic, laminate, chipboard) and assemble from pieces
• Adapt a suitable box size

The first two options involve careful preparation in the form of case design, and the third simply comes down to finding a box of a suitable size, and the New Year is already around the corner and I want to launch the soldering station quickly, so for now I decided to try the third way, and then, if I don’t like it, I’ll redo it !

If you are a very greedy person, then as a housing you can use plastic packaging from Korean carrots or salted herring, but a plastic container purchased from Wholesaler or Jupiter will look much more beautiful.

I found a container of a suitable size and laid out the boards inside it so that they did not touch each other. I put the plugs, screen and potentiometers in their future places, checking that they did not touch the boards. I made the holes for the protruding elements with a drill if they were required to be round, and with a scalpel heated on fire if they were of a different shape. The GX-16 plugs and the 220V input wire socket with a fuse had to be disconnected from the board, since they are inserted into the holes from the OUTSIDE! At the same time, do not mix up the wires when connecting them in place! The boards inside were secured with hot glue, but later I am going to add more secure fastening to them - with cable ties or metal screws.

And after assembling the device in the case, I accidentally discovered that the resulting structure in a plastic box measuring 191x129mm fits perfectly on the bottom level of a standard 12-inch tool container! Thus, on the upper level of the same container you can store a hair dryer and a soldering iron disconnected from the soldering station, and on the remaining part of the lower level - solder and other soldering accessories!

I will not describe each step of manufacturing and assembly; instead, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the photo report. As they say, it's better to see once!

How to arrange the components? Arranging the components Try-on A hair dryer and a soldering iron will be stored on the top shelf External elements are already cut in Screen and potentiometers in place Switch and fuse GX-16 Trial switching on Checking the soldering iron Future storage location Box dimensions are printed on the lid 12-inch case Top shelf

For some time I used a soldering station based on the Hakko T12 controller. I tried to make the housing for the station myself, but my inner perfectionist did not approve of the gray, boring box with crooked slots, so for some time my station existed without a housing in a small cardboard box, and it so happened that at one “wonderful” moment, I accidentally touched it with a sting controller, I burned something in it. Therefore, I decided that I needed a station in the building. T12 suited me completely, and I began to look closely at assembled stations, such as . But the prices didn’t suit my toad, especially since I already had the power supply unit and the handle, so I ordered the body separately and without the handle for $9.08.
Read on to see what came of it.

Delivery ◄

First impressions ◄

I liked the design of the case, it looks neat and strict, it opens conveniently for preventive maintenance and inspection of the insides. As for me, there are not enough ventilation holes.

Compound:

1. 1. Identical lower and upper parts of the body with grooves.
2. 2. Front and rear walls.
3. 3. IEC C6 socket.
4. 4. On/off button
5. 5. Eight black screws for attaching the walls.
6. 6. Two white screws for securing the IEC socket.
7. 7. Four anti-slip rubber feet.

Additional photos with dimensions

Assembly ◄

1. 1. Screw the IEC C6 connector, also known as Mickey Mouse, to the rear wall of the case.
2. 2. Insert the power button.
3. 3. Solder the wiring.
4. 4. Place the power supply on one of the halves of the case (they are identical, so choose either one). I used a piece of a plastic envelope as insulation under the power supply.
5. 5. Connect or solder the wiring to the power supply (I used standard terminals).
6. 6. Screw the back wall to the bottom half of the case using the supplied screws.
7. 7. Move to the front wall. We insert the aviation connector into the corresponding hole. Place the washer on the back side and screw on the nut. I don’t recommend tightening it right away, as you may have to move the controller a little so that the indicator is level with the window.
8. 8. I didn’t solder the diode right away, I just placed it in the designated holes on the board.
9. 9. Insert the encoder knob into the corresponding hole, align the holes on the board with the legs of the aircraft connector and screw the nut onto the encoder knob.
10. 10. Making sure that the indicator is located strictly in the center of the window, alternately tighten the nuts of the encoder and the aircraft connector.
11. 11. Align and pull the diode into the hole as much as possible and solder it to the controller.
12. 12. Solder the aviation connector to the controller.
13. 13.We connect or solder the power wiring from the controller to the power supply (this time I soldered it, since I had removed the standard terminals when placing this unit in a homemade case).
14. 14. Screw the front wall to the bottom half of the body.
15. 15. Next, I filled the edges of the power supply unit with hot glue so that it would not move around the body. There would be enough space in height for the legs, but the corners of the power supply board were sawed off during the creation of the first case, so there was nothing to screw it to.
16. 16. Close the lid on top and tighten the remaining screws and glue the rubber feet to the bottom.
17. PROFIT!!!

Results ◄

It's time to take stock.

Compact.
+Easy assembly.
+Neat appearance.

The first thing I didn’t like right away was the IEC C6 connector; it would have been better if they had made a traditional C14.
-The threads are not cut very evenly, so the screws are tightened with force and slightly at an angle, it is not noticeable, but this limits the number of assembly and disassembly cycles, the slots and threads wear out quickly (by the way, when screwing, you should not immediately tighten the screws fully, it is better lightly screw one at a time).
-No ventilation holes. I'm not sure if they are needed, but they certainly wouldn't hurt.
-There is no protective window for the indicator, you can hack something, even with a light filter, but you were too lazy to do it.
-In connection with the previous point, small inconsistencies are visible between the indicator and the window under it.
-Both halves are the same. On the one hand, it’s good that you don’t have to think about which one goes where, but on the bottom half the raised stripes make it difficult to glue the rubber feet to the right places. For better contact, it is better to attach them to a smooth surface, and this is either on the outside of the strips - i.e. too close to the edges, or on the inside - too close to the center. I hope it's clear what I mean.
-I would like a U-shaped leg (I don’t know what it’s called correctly) to fix the station at an angle.
-Lack of spare screws, at least a couple could have been put in.
-Coloring. I checked the internal parts, it peels off from light touches of sharp objects, which means that if the device is used intensively, the case will quickly peel off.

± Price. For anyone, I think the price is ~1000 rubles. quite acceptable for the case, because Even simple plastic boxes cost me at least 350 rubles offline (I didn’t even look at all sorts of junction boxes, my inner perfectionist said - “MISTERY”).

Despite the abundance of disadvantages, I was pleased with the case, especially since most of them can be corrected. Would I buy it again? Yes!

About the controller

I can’t say exactly what happened to the previous controller because I didn’t understand it, either the contacts were shorted or the SMD capacitor overheated. As a result, when the power is connected, the numbers 0 and 500 change cyclically on the indicator, while the tip quickly overheats and turns blue. When I have some free time, I'll try to restore this controller. In the meantime, I'll try a new one. The burnt one is slightly different from the new one, on the burnt one there is the marking STC T12-HG, on the new MINI STC T12 VER:A (it seems like a new one, this is an earlier version, forgive the pun :)).

Burnt out controller on the right.

The place on the burnt controller where I poked the sting:

New controller fully equipped:

The new board suits me quite well; the tracks are not cut anywhere. All menus are available. There are enough reviews of this controller here, so I won’t describe it in detail.

Good afternoon, Dear Readers! Today we will talk about assembling a soldering station. So, let's go!
It all started when I came across this transformer:

It is 26 Volt, 50 Watt.
As soon as I saw it, a brilliant idea immediately came to my mind: to assemble a soldering station based on this transformer. I found this one on Ali. According to the parameters, it is ideal - the operating voltage is 24 volts, and the current consumption is 2 amperes. I ordered it, a month later it arrived in shockproof packaging. In the picture, the tip is a little burnt, because I already connected the soldering iron to the transformer. I purchased the connector on the market, with a connector for four wires.

Soldering station regulator diagram

• DD1 – lm358;
• DD2 – TL431;
• VS1 – BT131-600;
• VS2 – BT136-600E;
• VD1 – 1N4007;
• R1, R2, R9, R10, R13 – 100 Ohm;
• R3,R6,R8 – 10 kOhm;
• R4 – 5.1 kOhm;
• R5 – 500 kOhm (tuning, multi-turn);
• R7 – 510 Ohm;
• R11 – 4.7 kOhm;
• R12 – 51 kOhm;
• R14 – 240 kOhm;
• R15 – 33 kOhm;
• R16 – 2 kOhm (tuning);
• R17 – 1 kOhm;
• R18 – 100 kOhm (variable);
• C1, C2 – 1000uF 25v;
• C3 – 47uF 50v;
• C4 – 0.22uF;
• HL1 – green LED;
• F1, SA1 – 1A 250v.

Making a soldering station

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