Weller WMD-3 soldering station. Questions around tools and compatibility

[RG450]

Hi, my first post here - I registered on this forum hoping that some of you have experience with weller soldering Irons.

I recently bought a Weller WMD-3 soldering station. It came with the following tools:
WT-50 tweezers. Works with the same tips as the more recent WTA-50.
HAP1 100W hot air soldering iron (I've barely tried it - seems to work ok)
I bought a WSP80 off aliexpress - to my surprise it looks like a genuine product, and it works fine. 80W general purpose soldering iron.

The station also came with these that are giving me issues:
mlr21 - 25watt soldering iron. Tips are NLA but it seems pretty close to Hakko 900M-series tips - I think they can be easily modified to work by simply drilling them out to a slightly larger internal diameter. There is also a tip adapter still available, but I'd think a tip adapter would introduce lag. So what's the actual benefit of a 25W over an 80w handle? As both have the same temperature control - is the smaller iron somehow better for smd work??

DS21 50W solder sucker. This thing is falling apart - it has cracked in the junction holding the heating element and I can see the heating element glowing red in there. The entire desoldering head was available as a replacement but seems to be NLA. However there is a are two 80W versions DS80 and DSX80 - are these compatible with the WMD-3? Is the 80W desoldering head from either of them compatible with the DS21 handle?

[tooki]

I'm pretty sure the DS21 handle is much older than the WMD-3 station itself. The DS80 and DSX80 are two of many handpieces expressly stated to go with the WMD-3: https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/79447.pdf

I would not, however, attempt to frankenstein a DS80 heater onto a DS21 handle.

[RG450]

Thanks for replying, tooki - yes I agree, the DS21 must be older. I was sure I'd seen the DS22 (which is pretty much the same) on a compatibility chart for the WMD-3, but now I can't seem to that either. And you're right - both the DS80 and the DSX80 are compatible, I'll save that file for future reference - thanks!

I won't try to Frankenstein a DS80 heater into the DS21 handle unless I find evidence that they're compatible.

[RG450]

how about my other question - is there any point to the 25W iron when I have a 80W iron of similar physical size?

In what situation will the lower wattage actually be a benefit? There are fine tips available for the WSP-80 as well - so what's the point? Less temperature overshoot maybe?

[tooki]

I can’t imagine there’s any advantage. Does anyone even still make 25W handpieces for temperature-controlled stations anymore?

[mahi]

I agree with tooki: Forget about the MLR 21.

The WSP 80 is one of the best general purpose soldering irons by Weller and has a much broader selection of tips than the MLR 21. It's an excellent soldering iron for any job from minuscule SMD to old school through-hole, just as long as there are no massive ground planes or beefy connectors.

No, it will not give you the performance of modern cartridge-based soldering irons, but you already have the soldering station and iron, and LT series tips for the WSP 80 are really cheap.