The TS100 is a compact temperature-controlled soldering iron that’s long on features without too eye-watering a price. One thing it lacks as shipped though is anything to protect it from the thumps and bumps of everyday life in a toolbox, save for its elegant cardboard-and-foam retail box which requires iron and element/bit to be separated.
[Jeremy S. Cook] has a TS100, and decided to do something about it with a bit of work that may be quite simple but should be something that all TS100 owners take a look at. He made a very tough carrying container for it from a length of PVC pipe lined with the foam from the iron’s retail package. His short video which we’ve placed below the break takes us through the build, which bits of the packaging foam to cut, and uses a pair of PVC end caps to terminate the container. It’s not high-tech by any means, but enough of you will have TS100 irons to appreciate it.
You can read our review of the TS100 if you are interested, or you can marvel at the additions people have done to its software. Tetris, for example, or a working digital oscilloscope. Meanwhile [Jeremy] is an old friend of Hackaday, whose many projects include this recent unholy hybrid of fidget spinner and multirotor.
As this is being made from PVC pipe and the foam packaging, when the user is in a hurry then this case wouldn’t allow for a hot iron into a tool box.
That’s a bit of the problem I’ve been having where I’ve put off other things to wait for an iron (TS100) to cool. It is usually quick to cool, yet I’d forget what I was going to do by the time I’ve allowed the iron to cool and prepared.
The cure will be a steel cylinder as a hot-end receptacle that is soldered (Silvered or brazed) onto steel heat dissipation fins and onto an outer cylinder. The outer cylinder can then be padded as required.
The TS100 paired with a 19V at 3.5A power-bank is awesome for portability though, so I shouldn’t complain. :)
.
.
Modder specific:
Unferium 20svntn11tusiqs2250. (I’d guess It’ll be safer if I Emailed a random-ID for comment matching in the future to help prevent handle-hijacking related spamming? )
For mine I did something similar: I drilled out a bit of aluminium round bar, turned an o-ring groove inside it and fitted an o-ring that’s a tight fit on the base of the iron tip. That slides over the tip and I can put it away hot with no issues.
Doesn’t do much to protect the TS100, but I just keep it in a padded bag with my other electronics gear.
Pics: https://twitter.com/assortedhackery/status/856308953894051840
unabomber approved
Jenny,
With your background, you probably used the same trick as a generation of TV techs …using the ceramic tube from a duff mains-dropper power resistor (you remember the ones; multiple windings on the single ceramic former on long stand-offs at the top of the PCB). It was perfect for preventing the still hot element of your soldering iron from burning/melting the rest of the gear in your tool-kit as you made a quick exit to get to the next customer on the (always long) list.
Ob hack – The field fix for those power resistors (when you’d already run through your stock of spares) was to look for the black spot, then use the sharp corner of a screwdriver blade to lift the two ends of the burnt-out wire off the former, peel them back half a turn each and then twist the ends together to remake the connection. Try doing that with an SMD part! :-)
In other words, the resistance was not futile. ;)
Show your TS100 Soldering Iron on Twitter and @Mini_Cen , We’ll select 10 winners and send each lucky fellow free gifts of ONE Logend TS100 Wood Case and ONE T-Stand (white) for TS100 Soldering Iron. Come on! It’s showtime!
Thanks for the writeup Jenny!
Just don’t take it thru airport security. A similar homemade PVC case for a historic wooden flute caused an airport to be shut down. Black iron or galvanized pipe would solve the hot and hurry problem but make matters worse.
DO take it through airport security, but TELL THEM ABOUT it first (you’d have to open the baggage and show them anyways), don’t just stick it into the X-ray machine and watch the chaos ensue.
That’s really cool!
I’ve just started using it much more, waiting for my hakko heater replacement.
Still looking for an idea for a good portable docking station for the TS100, please comment if you have any!
I printed one of these: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2543551
The clips in the base are good enough to suspend the hot end of the iron in midair, so I can put it away while it’s still pretty warm.
Bonus: The clips in the lid for holding spare heaters also conveniently hold 5.5mm-diameter DC plugs, so I keep an adapter up there that lets me use the 5.5×2.5 iron with 5.5×2.1 power supplies (including every 12v plug in the world).
I also made a cord that inhales the 19v from my laptop adapters with a spare jack: https://www.ebay.com/itm/301912485492 and brings it out to a barrel plug for the iron. That doesn’t fit in the case; I wrap it around the outside.
Nice find and also mush more airport friendly than a pipe.
And since I only have 1 extra tip I can use the second holder for my Laptop Lenovo PS to 5.5×2.5mm barell jack adapter :)
Nice share!
It’s good to protect an TS100, they aren’t expensive (around $50 USD) ( http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/YvBMVjE ) but, are not as cheap as AC pencil soldering iron, so a good idea to protect your investment