JBC CLMU-PA Senior Tip Cleaner

[gaminn]

Hi,
I have https://www.jbctools.com/clmu-pa-universal-tip-cleaner-non-metal-brushes-product-1476.html tip cleaner. It cleans tips very well but there are 3 things that I really hate about it:

1) It consumes several W of energy in standby mode, it is warm on the top of the body.
2) When my table is not super clean and there is some static object in front of the unit then it is chaotically turning on and off. Please see this video: https://youtube.com/shorts/Fbg_8thIvBo
3) The cleaner produces unpleasant noises (in previous video).

All this exists from the very beginning when I purchased the cleaner new. Anybody with this or similar JBC tip cleaner - do you experience the same? I would not expect these flaws for this premium and expensive cleaning unit. JBC customer support told me all this is perfectly OK.

[woody]

I see this really bugs you so I took the time to measure it for you

I recently acquired a CLMU-A and my experience is indeed that it cleans tips like no other solution I used. It is also by far the most expensive solution I ever used or indeed that money can buy for the relatively simple activity of cleaning solder tips. But it does the job, keeps my desk completely clean after hours of use and it is a bomb-proof, well-made heavy device that does not move a millimeter on my desk when I use it. And although surprisingly a network connector lacks, its firmware is upgradable via USB. Try that with your brass wool!

In answer to your questions:

1) The device takes between 2.5W and 2.8W in standby mode (with only the middle power led lit). It takes between 2.8W and 3.2W when idle (all leds lit, as well as the light inside the chamber). It takes between 3.2W and 3.5W when turning. Mind, these measurements were taken with a 'household' type of wattmeter in the 230V line that is pretty accurate for higher loads, but I never tested that for low loads like this. If you need more detail I can connect it to a PSU but that starts to look like work.

I find 2.5W in standby quite a lot, especially considering that the idle load is only marginally more. I think that this might even be against an EU-law somewhere. But it does not bother me, nearly all my equipment sucks power when not used and if I do not want that I pull the plug. Shame though that for this amount of money there ain't a real power switch on the device.

If left in standby the device gets a bit warm on top, 36ºC at the JBC logo, measured with a Fluke 62Max infrared thermometer. Ambient here is 25ºC today.

2) No, that is not my experience. The sensitivity of the sensor however is adjustable (by holding in the right button) and if that is set too sensitive I found that moving my arm in front of it was enough to set it spinning. The setting it is now on just spins when I insert a tip and never spins for no reason.

3) The spinning brushes (metal in my case) and their drive make a not unpleasant (to me!), low, grinding noise. That noise is completely drowned out by the constant hissing of the fume extractor that is always on when I solder. So I have not given this any thought at all.

Hope this helps you.

[gaminn]

Thanks, woody, I really appreciate that.

1) I hate when such a high end device can't be designed to consume less than 1 W. Even my cheap TV can do that.
2) Really? Adjustable? Oh yes, I don't read manuals and even JBC customer support, when asked about the problem, didn't inform me that the cleaner has adjustable sensitivity. Hopefully my cleaner is set to the highest sensitivity and after 4 years of ownership of the cleaner I will be able to let it on all the time I work.
3) So obviously the noise problem is caused by my brushes, either they are deformed or the material of the brushes causes the noise. But it is ok, the noise problem is mostly annoying only because the cleaner is turning on/off chaotically. If 2) is solved then I'm happy...

I will try on Monday when I get to my workshop....