Weller SP40 ???

[Paleo Pete]

Couldn't find a more appropriate place to post, so here it is. If it needs to be moved, fine with me...

OK - Found an old Weller SP40 soldering iron yesterday in a resale shop, 3 bucks I figured not bad. Has the 1/4 inch chisel tip, tinned on one side and looks like it may have been used a half dozen times. Works great, I didn't have any soldering to do but cleaned it up a bit, tinned it again and desoldered a couple of things from a junk board.

I've done a bit of Googling and can't find much, just sites selling new ones. This is obviously an older one, at least 10 years old, black bakelite looking handle, white cord. The new ones I'm seeing for sale have a red or orange handle. I'm just curious if anyone knows much about this thing and is there a way I can get a general idea how old it is. My old Weller is a 25 watt I think, I've had it over 20 years, and got it used, and it's been a great one. Identical to this SP40 but different model. Sorry I didn't look to see what the markings are.

Anyway I was just curious to see if I could find out a little about it, looks like it's a good one, heats up quick and judging by desoldering a half dozen small caps it seems to work very well, I think I'm gonna like it...At 3 bucks I think I got a decent deal anyway...might look into some different tips for it later on.

[Jazz P Bass]

40 watt iron.
The tip is rated at 900 degrees so it should be good for Lead free solder. (which requires a higher temp)

[Leo_Gnardo]

Nice find for $3 ! 40W certainly good for taking things apart, and soldering larger joints, phone plugs, etc.

I run a Weller that was formerly Ungar, with interchangeable heaters. There's a 35W on for 98% of the work I do. Still - too much heat for many applications. I plug into a Variac and depending on what needs doing, set at 85 to 95% of full power. A trick I learned from a smart tech in college, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. (Nixon & Agnew) Too much heat and solder gets too hot, too liquid and falls off the joint. I'm sure you've had it happen. Can also use an ordinary triac light dimmer from the hardware store if you have no variac or your variac is busy doing something else. Spare iron has a line-mounted triac dimmer on the AC line - brilliant!

[Paleo Pete]

Thanks for the info guys. I thought this was a pretty good deal for 3 bucks, couldn't pass it up and it seems to work great.

Yeah I've left my 25 watter on too long and had solder drip all off the contacts...have to let it cool, clean it up and start over...Most of the time it doesn't have any problems, I like the 25watt really well. Also have a Radio Shack 30 watt iron but don't use it much. I like the 30 watts, but the cheap iron just isn't as good. I needed one and my old Weller was at home 2 hours away so I bought one...It's been used maybe a dozen times...

I also have an ancient Weller pistol type, 100/140 watt, that's the one I use when I need to get down and dirty with things like adding a grounded wire to the chassis...got it for a buck at an estate sale, cord was cut off so I had to add one, glad I had the pencil iron..that thing is great but doesn't get much use, I rarely need that kind of power or heat. I'm pretty sure it was made in the 1950's, this guy had Craftsman wrenches so old they were rusted...I was wishing I hadn't left most of my money at home, I only brought $20 so I could stop for a bite to eat...and found an estate sale with a barn full of antique tools...dammit...I bought the Weller and a couple of the ancient Craftsman wrenches, I kept them rather than trading them in for new ones, how often do you see those covered with rust?