Let's do the math:
Minimum Order of 10,000 at .029 cents U.S., plus shipping, let's make it tidy and call it all up $300
$300 well spent to reduce the likely-hood of 10,000 properties catching fire
less resource wastage and stress on Fire Brigade/Departments
and keeps things sweet with Weller's reputation on those 10,000 units sold.
A backyard battling tech would flex their credit card and pay that for peace of mind,
mod the gear with those temperature fuses to make stuff 'safer' with less comebacks
keep some spares on hand (100, 1000?)
and sell off the rest (to Weller perhaps? ) to recuperate costs
Then again, maybe that's too complicated for most manufacturing companies nowadays to digest
plus the fact that $300 saved can score a bean counter a few snorts of coke, and or a couple of roulette wheel spins...
We keep seeing these posts which suggest recklessness on the part of Weller, but that still only seems based on conjecture and the perception of some people how things should be done.
The fact that Weller has decided not to fuse the US version, as opposed to the EU version, suggests that actual proper engineering may have gone into it.
It's very possible they identified risks in the EU unit which weren't so much of a hazard in the US version, so they eliminated a part which wasn't required.
Can you substantiate any of your claims?
Perhaps you can show us how the choice Weller made has made any meaningful impact on the stress of fire brigades?
Or that the decision to leave out the fuse in some units has actually increased the rate in which properties catch fire?
AFAICT many concerned posts here are not solely or remotely based on "conjecture and perception" but on equipment safety and reliabilty/longevity in the event of a fault, be it an internal or external cause
i.e. the fuse blows, immediate danger averted, there is no assumption required that Weller 'may' or may not actually performed actual proper engineering,
nor why they really cheaped out on 120 volt customers, with apologist PR quickie BS identifying their units as low hazard risks.
A cheap properly rated fuse arrangement is an easy upgrade to
very low hazard to no hazard status,
and helps the manufacturer keep a low hazard distance from courtrooms
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FWIW to GFCI and RCD "faithers",
if the unfused soldering station is smouldering away nicely, chances are excellent the GFCI, RCD, MCB, RCBO will not trip
i.e. the barbeque load may be balanced in relation to ground/earth,
and way below the MCB threshold
but the power strip board with cutout temp breaker switch might, if you're lucky to have one and the room hasn't caught fire yet
and the smoke detector might sound off, if one is fitted nearby
which won't do you any favours if the bench is left unattended by the user who has gone off to pick up pizza, diodes, caps, fuse kit,
Weller and Hakko brochures, and perhaps a pair of discounted fire extinguishers, fire blanket and bucket of sand too,
especially after reading this