Bosch Balderdosh?

Neighbour asked me to fix his Bosch garage door remote.

Took it apart, felt sure I'd not be able to sort it as it was full of SMD components each smaller than the smallest blob of solder I can produce with my Henley "Solon" iron.*****

Did a load test on the battery in case of something obvious, but at 100mA for a second or so, the battery stayed up.

In the end, it was the indicating LED that had blown. Now, why necessary to put an indication that you've pressed the button, when tactile feedback should tell you all that you need to know?

Well, checked its output at 433.93MHz on the speccy before doing a field test before knocking on his door to return it.

Now ... here's the rub ... the LED was in series with the rest of the gubbins, so that means that the failure of an unnecessary tuppenny component rendered the whole thing U/S.

I wonder how much Bosch would have tried to charge, even assuming that they would have been able to fix it?

***** Yeah, OK, I've two Solons from 45 years ago and a host of other Antex et al irons with needle tips :-)
Reply to
gareth
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Get this from CPC.

TENMA - 21-10115 UK - SOLDERING STATION, DIGITAL, ESD, UK - £35.94

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I've given my Weller TCP iron the sack...

Reply to
Adrian C

Mine, not Bosch, also has an indicator. It can be operateed out of sight of the door, so the indicator is useful. You want to make sure it's open before dashing through the rain and finding the door still shut..

Reply to
charles

i'e had to since the bit seems to have "welded" itself in place.

Reply to
charles

Seems a good price, is Tenma a "heard of" manufacturer? Or would it be wise to stock up on spare bits and elements when buying one, rather than risk disappointment later on?

Reply to
Andy Burns

They probably bought it off the shelf in any case and the chip it talks to. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

I got mine at a similar discount from Maplin as I needed something hot enough to do Lead Free (+ was emergency, so Maplin distress purchase....).

Does have some issues if you read reviews on Amazon, but I'm not fussed as some. Yeah lead could have been a bit longer, could have had rubber feet, etc...

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Overall it does the job, for a tenth of the original price of my Weller station. In one of the reviews above, it gives the link to an excelent value set of bits.

10 Solder Soldering Iron Tip for Hakko Station 900M 933 - £3.33
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Reply to
Adrian C

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Notice they sell a variety of spare bits - but not a replacement element?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I've seen designs where an LED has been used a voltage reference/current limiter, it may be doing more than just showing a button press...

The Hakko clones off Ebay are usually ok and at least parts and tips are available.

Reply to
Lee

To be a voltage reference, it has to be someways in paralllel and not in series.

Current limiting? Not like an incandescent bulb, an LED will keep drawing current until it melts!

Reply to
gareth

Current limit in the sense that it was used as a voltage reference for a current limit circuit - guess it was cheaper than a Zener and it performed two functions ;)

Reply to
Lee

Adrian C put finger to keyboard:

uk/dp/SD0173805

"Imported temperature-beard materials with long life" ???

Reply to
Scion

Produces lots of whiskered joints then.

Reply to
Bob Eager

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I had that happen on a door chime remote.

David

Reply to
David

Sorry, Avast crap fixed (hopefully)

David

Reply to
David

I learned to solder with one of those, with a bit that was probably 2 decades past being worn out. It does mean I can solder with just about anything now, including a screwdriver held in a gas flame, although I do prefer my nice temperature controlled iron.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

I've still got a 25 watt Solon. In the bottom of the 'seldom used' drawer. ;-)

Strangely, the iron I bought just after it in the early '60s - Antex - is still the make I prefer to this day, being so small and well balanced. But I'd guess this is a personal thing.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I had to buy a 200v element for mine when I went to university - the town having 200v mains. It lasted quite a few years on 240v and was somewhat hotter than normal.

Reply to
charles

Clearly, as far as this group goes, the Internet is NOT an indication of a young person :-)

63 years old a couple of weeks ago :-(

(The body of an old man; the mind of a youngster)

Reply to
gareth

your body is 10 years younger than mine!

Reply to
charles

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