Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?

[yelkvi]

not true, i myself have taken dump from my own aixun t3a station using the $3 chinese clone "stlink v2" you can pickup for dirt cheap on aliexpress

there is already the pads on the t3a's controller PCB, where you can solder a simple 0.1" inch header for the 3-4 pins SWD programmer connection

I also recorded the steps already in a pastie, here you can just follow my instructions for connecting over cmdline with openocd program to take flash dump of the firmware:

https://gist.github.com/dreamcat4/9022f7efd0e73f411b677fe0ad8b2708

Thank you - I'll take a closer look.
I have this programmer.
And I will order the processor on Aliexpress.

P.S.  Oh! Linux! I never used it. Are there programs for Windows? It's been years for me to start learning Linux just to program one microcontroller

[sporks]

On another soldering station (T12), I made myself a very simple and reliable ESD protection on one small 24 volt relay. (plus capacitor and resistor). Everything is very simple and reliable. The signal from the stand turns on the relay, and it, in turn, switches the signal to the processor. 100% protection. No optocoupler needed and.....
If interested, I can draw a diagram and a photo.

Please provide any details on this mod.  Thanks!

[mastershake]

anyone have a current list of in stock cap part numbers for these? all the one i usually use are out of stock everywhere, i know someone posted way back in the beginning of this thread some models. just curious before i start digging around looking. i have one unit where one of the caps finally did fail and i figure while im at it all just go ahead and recap all of the ones in use at the shop (12 of them)

looks like they are also now going to be selling single channel versions of the 420 model stations as well as upgradeable versions along side the t420d where you only get one handle and stand and can later buy the second one and add it.

[yelkvi]

Please provide any details on this mod.  Thanks!

What are you specifically interested in? It's a very simple diagram. Relay (v23079a1005b301) and resistor with capacitor (to protect against contact bounce). These elements are selected according to the duration of the relay operation pause, which you like.
One group of contacts closes the socket on the back of the soldering station to the case (minus 24 volts). I used the second group of contacts in my station as an indicator of the stand mode - I connected the blue and red LEDs.

P.S. See the next post for the correct one.

[kosmos]

What advantages should a relay have over an optocoupler. An induction voltage is generated at the magnet coil without a freewheeling diode and you don't want to have the contact bouncing on the side to the µC either.

Against an eletrocstatic discharge you can take a ceramic capacitor with an ESD fixed resistor in front of it, the capacity e.g. 10nF does the discharge load so much that the voltage is totally pulled down, then you could still install the 2 diodes one from GND to µC input and one from the µC input to VCC, if you want to relieve the internal of the µC.

[yelkvi]

An induction voltage is generated at the magnet coil without a freewheeling diode and you don't want to have the contact bouncing on the side to the µC either.

I'm sorry - I forgot to draw a diode parallel to the relay winding. I'll fix it now.

[yelkvi]

What advantages should a relay have over an optocoupler.

The relay was in stock from a faulty air conditioner.

[yelkvi]

Against an eletrocstatic discharge you can take a ceramic capacitor with an ESD fixed resistor in front of it, the capacity e.g. 10nF does the discharge load so much that the voltage is totally pulled down, then you could still install the 2 diodes one from GND to µC input and one from the µC input to VCC, if you want to relieve the internal of the µC.

These circuits are in the soldering station circuit itself. But they didn't protect my microprocessor. The port is broken on VCC. The relay will provide complete galvanic isolation of the port.

[kosmos]

https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_schematics/blob/master/aixun_t3a.pdf
The original circuit of the pin is listed at the bottom right.

A small RC circuit could be enough here.

[Ungolian]

anyone have a current list of in stock cap part numbers for these? all the one i usually use are out of stock everywhere, i know someone posted way back in the beginning of this thread some models. just curious before i start digging around looking. i have one unit where one of the caps finally did fail and i figure while im at it all just go ahead and recap all of the ones in use at the shop (12 of them)

looks like they are also now going to be selling single channel versions of the 420 model stations as well as upgradeable versions along side the t420d where you only get one handle and stand and can later buy the second one and add it.

Pickins' are slim.  2 of the 4 values I used are out of stock, but these should be acceptable replacements.  (From Mouser).

470uf 35v- 35ZLH470MEFC10X16 (10,000 hour)

82uf 400v- UCY2G820MHD3TN (12,000 hour)

10uf 50v-  ELE-500ELL100ME11D (10,000 hour)

1000uf 35v- Things get a little complicated here.  Diameter is important here, I used a 10mm diameter x 25mm height, 10,000 hour cap that is out of stock.  There are only 20mm high and 30mm high caps in stock.  The 20mm ones have a max of 2,000 hours, the 30mm ones are 4,000 or 10,000 hour.  I'd think you could get a 30mm tall cap in there, but can't confirm.  So measure it first.  Even a 2,000 hour cap should last you around 6 years.  Those two are the closest to the heat sink, but it seems rare that people draw more than 10% sustained power, so I don't think that Mosfet really gets that consistently hot.  I'm assuming a 60c internal ambient temperature (which is probably generous).

2,000 hour, 20mm Rubycon- 35PX1000MEFC10X20
10,000 hour 30mm United Chemi-Con- EKYB350ELL102MJ30S   

[kosmos]

for two I/O
https://cdn-reichelt.de/documents/datenblatt/A200/USBLC6-2_ST_ENG_TDS.pdf

or a CAN bus ESD protection diode
https://assets.nexperia.com/documents/data-sheet/PESD2CAN.pdf

[yelkvi]

Nevertheless, Chinese developers did not bother with good protection. In my case, the D5 diode was broken, after which the processor port failed.
I do not impose my scheme on anyone - it suits me perfectly. Works correctly. It also indicates the status of the stand.
 I moved the handle connector to the back panel, and put a switch in front, like in Aixun 3B. I just put a two-color LED in the backlight of the button

[kosmos]

I didn't say that you're pushing your solution on anyone, I just wanted to show that you can make it a little easier.

How is the situation where you work with the Aixun? Synthetic floor or do you work with well insulated shoes? I don't know the situation at home with static electricity because I'm walking around without shoes.

Has anyone informed Aixun about this ESD issue? Maybe they'll bring out a PCB version 1.3.

[yelkvi]

I wrote a letter to Aixun technical support with a description of the problem, but did not wait for a response. Didn't insist. Remade the soldering station for another controller. All other components are already there: power supply, housing, soldering iron handle.

[mb.raghavendra@gmail.com]

I have purchased T3A with T245 handle. When i tried to use T12 handle after wiring modification I had issue,  T12 handle which  detects correctly , but it doesn't read back the temperature correctly

 upgraded firmware to 1.27(Latest as on 4th Jan 2023) , after firmware upgrade T12 handle and/ bits are working fine.

Just noticed , only original bits are working fine but showing as T245 instead T12, heat up time is 5-6 seconds slower than T245 bits. Other branded T12 tips are not working LCD screen starts blinking.

[OriginalDan]

just a heads up, though it should be obvious, Don't be a dumbass like me who plugs the upgraded stand wire into the stations Ground socket instead of the 'in port1' under it. i did that and if you boot it up while the iron is in the stand, ital max out the temp! i was watching the screen at 30c wondering whats going on then looked up to see my tip glowing, soon as i took the iron out it was reading 600c :S

[dreamcat4]

who plugs the upgraded stand wire into the stations Ground socket instead of the 'in port1' under it

yeah i didnt like this either, the ports are too easy to confuse with each other. so what i ended up doing is (to predict i would do this)... just ordered some different colored version of these same banana plug terminals off aliexpress

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001103877494.html

so while you are doing other kinds of mods for this station, i did not actually change this plug for the stand detect (which is black and still remains the same). however i instead changed the other gnd terminal. so that color got swapped from black ---> green

it is very much harder to make this mistake now.

however the +24v output is gone. it was removed and replaced entirely with a gh12-5 connector. and that new plug now actually can also carry that stand detect signal on the unconnected pin 1 to the stand cradle. which is then fitted with its own pair of gh12-5 too. so the handle plugs into that, and the stand detect is passed thru to base station.

so i dont even need to plugin any seperate stand detect wire anymore anyhow. its just kept in reserve there as an alternate system. for other situation where its being used for mobile field work and is away from any desk. so when have to use some other stand, a more portable hanging 'hook' style of soldering stand. which is just merely a bent piece of metal sheet. that is like you find comes with the really cheapest irons. for hanging up when there is no desk about (for the mobile use only). so for that one i need to keep available that legacy 4mm banana socket.

[kosmos]

I got an answer on January 3rd. My request will be forwarded to the appropriate department. It sounds good. I'll report how it goes.

[Mikeva]

Guys i want to buy this station....
On ali express in some stores called  JC AIXUN T3A and in other stores just AIXUN T3A
Does anybody knows if there is a difference?

[mastershake]

no difference at all

[Mikeva]

no difference at all

ok thats good! Thanks for the info!

[exe]

Ha-ha, I just noticed that cartridge that was put with the station does a bit of "singing" when I don't solder. Not loud, but I can hear it.

[nedrysoft]

Hi,

I've been using a t3b for a while and on the back of that I purchased the t3a, I've been using with a real JBC 245 cartridge for drag soldering with zero issues.

Today I wanted to use it for a different use so switched to one of the 3 axiun cartridges that came with it.

None of them work, they start to heat and I see 100% power but all 3 refuse to go up to anything resembling a soldering temperate, one goes to 77, another to 50 and another to 35.

If I switch back to the genuine JBC tip it comes straight up to temperature (well, after a few seconds of heating), swap back to an axiun one and the same issue occurs.

I figured I'd try updating the firmware, but I don't have a windows computer, I tried using a VM (windows 10) but while the USB device starts enumerating (it sees the device and reads the descriptors) the driver doesn't start and I have a yellow exclamation mark on the driver, I've tried a number of things but I couldn't resolve that, so I couldn't update the firmware.
 
Any suggestions?  Anybody else experienced this?  I've search the web, YouTube and on here and couldn't seem to find any similar issues?

Thanks

[dreamcat4]

Any suggestions?  Anybody else experienced this?  I've search the web, YouTube and on here and couldn't seem to find any similar issues?

yeah it's not uncommon to see such issues with chinese clone tips.

Somebody who already did extensive investigations on this forum was DavidA1pha, who experienced a lot of issues which lead to some considerable examination of T12 tips.

Sorry I don't have any good or specific advice to give, other than  to save up, and replace over time for genuine JBC tips instead.

[nedrysoft]

Any suggestions?  Anybody else experienced this?  I've search the web, YouTube and on here and couldn't seem to find any similar issues?

yeah it's not uncommon to see such issues with chinese clone tips.

Somebody who already did extensive investigations on this forum was DavidA1pha, who experienced a lot of issues which lead to some considerable examination of T12 tips.

Sorry I don't have any good or specific advice to give, other than  to save up, and replace over time for genuine JBC tips instead.

Many thanks for the reply, I do appreciate it.

I figured as much to be honest, although I did expect that the ones I received with the iron would at the very least heat up correctly, however, I only switched the tips because the drag solder tip was a bit awkward to use and the only other tips I had were the ones that have remained sealed since I received the iron, so I guess I'll go and get some more genuine JBC ones.

The iron does work incredibly well with the genuine tip, although it looks like I might have to set aside some time to read through this particular thread.