Pace ADS200 soldering station

[labjr]

While watching a "How It's Made" video of McIntosh Labs, I spotted a Pace TD-100 hand-piece around 3:35

https://youtu.be/2HgS6gvokEI

[Shock]

Dave owns a Pace ST25 and a Pace Fume Exhauster as well which you can see in his earlier videos (8:30).

[Cliff Matthews]

I didn't see the ADS200 in any of his latest video's or the time-laps move.. Perhaps it's going to be slaving in the new assembly office.. (left office by the windows) while the fancy JBC will continue all pretty on the video bench.

[pshersby]

I use this station,  from Farnell UK the better tips only cost about 50p  (50cents) more than the others.
I was looking for a tweezer handpiece because I'm doing repair work,  STILL none available at the moment but Pace had the following to say about it. I don't really want a mix of stations and bits so I'll use some cheep ones and keep waiting

    Good Morning.
     
    Thank you for your recent enquiry via the PACE Worldwide Website.
     
    Currently, there is no Tweezer handpiece available for the ADS 200 but I can tell you that one will be introduced later this year.  In the meantime, the MT-100 and TT-65 handpieces are available and can be used in conjunction with the ST 50 Power Source.
     
    I hope that this information helps, should you require any additional details please do not hesitate to contact me.
     
    Regards
     
    Doug Winship

    PACE Europe Limited

[PACE-Worldwide]

I use this station,  from Farnell UK the better tips only cost about 50p  (50cents) more than the others.
I was looking for a tweezer handpiece because I'm doing repair work,  STILL none available at the moment but Pace had the following to say about it. I don't really want a mix of stations and bits so I'll use some cheep ones and keep waiting

    Good Morning.
     
    Thank you for your recent enquiry via the PACE Worldwide Website.
     
    Currently, there is no Tweezer handpiece available for the ADS 200 but I can tell you that one will be introduced later this year.  In the meantime, the MT-100 and TT-65 handpieces are available and can be used in conjunction with the ST 50 Power Source.
     
    I hope that this information helps, should you require any additional details please do not hesitate to contact me.
     
    Regards
     
    Doug Winship

    PACE Europe Limited

We are in the process of creating a new AccuDrive powered (meaning ADS200-compatible) Thermal Tweezer that is vastly improved over the current MT-100 MiniTweez. It will be called the MT-200 and likely be available in late-March/early April. The MT-200 handpiece is going into production by next month as we are set to receive the first long-leadtime machined parts next week. Thus we should have working pre-production models for beta test. The biggest hold-up is on the MT-200 Tip & Tool Stand, the tooling of which is a long and tedious process. The Tool Stand won't be available until at least March, and that's if everything is exactly right - if the tooling needs further tweaking, there could be delays. I know it's a long wait, but I think you'll be impressed with the results!

Aaron

[Cliff Matthews]

...Currently, there is no Tweezer handpiece available for the ADS 200

Hi Aaron, Re: MT-200
Any chance of getting some unlisted YouTube footage next week from IPC APEX?

[PACE-Worldwide]

...Currently, there is no Tweezer handpiece available for the ADS 200

Hi Aaron, Re: MT-200
Any chance of getting some unlisted YouTube footage next week from IPC APEX?

Hi Cliff,

If the parts get into PACE on Monday or Tuesday, they'll assemble one and send it to the show, but we're only showing it to select distributors. So probably not!

In any case, if any of you are coming to IPC Apex at the San Diego Convention Center 29-31 Jan , feel free to stop by PACE's booth at #2809. I'll be there, thinning gray hair and all! Note that practically every major soldering iron manufacturer exhibits here including Hakko, JBC, Weller, Quick, etc ...

Aaron

[joeqsmith]

Thanks for the update.   Interesting that you are changing your holder design.  We use these where I work and I think we had destroyed every set of the rubber handles due to the holder's design.  I am happy to hear you may possibly be addressing this.   

[joeqsmith]

The green are the newer set, the blue are mostly what we have.   Most of us now will just lay them on top of the holder rather than lock them in place to avoid further damage. 

[joeqsmith]

Looks like we are not the only ones who saw the handles degrade.   I wonder if PACE found problems with the materials and if the green will hold up better, or if it really is the design of the holder that caused them to degrade.   

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pace-1124-1004-6010-0140-6993-Desoldering-Tweezer-Soldering-Iron/263996520098?epid=2295972161&hash=item3d776b36a2:g:CmYAAOSwlxxbyQg8:rk:4:pf:1&frcectupt=true

[PACE-Worldwide]

Looks like we are not the only ones who saw the handles degrade.   I wonder if PACE found problems with the materials and if the green will hold up better, or if it really is the design of the holder that caused them to degrade.   

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pace-1124-1004-6010-0140-6993-Desoldering-Tweezer-Soldering-Iron/263996520098?epid=2295972161&hash=item3d776b36a2:g:CmYAAOSwlxxbyQg8:rk:4:pf:1&frcectupt=true

Hi Joe,

Thanks for your comments. I forwarded your previous images to our engineering team, and they don't believe your degradation is due to the Tool Stand design, although it could contribute. More likely, it is due to high temperatures seen by the front end of the grips, plus breakdown due to chemicals used to clean the pcbs, like alcohol or other flux cleaners. High handle temperatures (especially if the handle temperature rises above 140°F) during extended production use has been an issue in the MT-100 Tweezer - it was never intended to be used continuously for hours at a time. And the handles can get extremely hot ... I've heard reported temperatures of over 180°F when maxed out at highest temp settings! Which is enough to burn fingers! Some companies use the tweezer for hours on end at the highest set temperature, and this is when we usually see degradation of the grips. It is for this reason that we have replacement grips available under MT-100 Soft Grips PN 1119-0165-P2 (Package of 2).

Our new MT-200 has been redesigned to minimize overheating of the handle and will not break down due to excessive grip temperatures. We accomplished this through the use of the very same "Cool Touch" technology we use in the TD-200: the internal portion of the grip is machined from a solid piece of aircraft aluminum (aluminium) which dissipates the heat tremendously (as Trump would say). Thus the grip temperature should never rise above 120°F, no matter what temperature you are set at.
 
About the Blue vs. Green colored grips: the blue rubber was the original color of the grip, while a green grip was to designate "lead-free" use. In the late 2000's, green was the universal code-color (colour) used by most board manufacturers to symbolize a "lead-free-only" work area, so mats, soldering irons, stations used in a lead-free work area had some touch of green in them. But since lead-free soldering is the norm these days for production houses, it has fallen out of favor. PACE has standardized to green grips for an even more simple reason: the supplier of our blue grips could no longer provide an accurate color-match (dayglo blue looked horrible), so we standardized on green!

About the new Tip & Tool Stand. The holder portion will not be stamped from sheet metal (with resultant sharp edges), it will be a casting with softer, rounded edges and will be significantly more sturdy. In addition, we will incorporate an "Instant SetBack (ISB)" switch into the casting to automatically lower the temperature of the tips to improve tip life.

I was just told that the new MT-200 with Tip & Tool Stand, compatible with the ADS200, should be available in April or May.

Best,

Aaron

 

[Shock]

Our new MT-200 has been redesigned to minimize overheating of the handle and will not break down due to excessive grip temperatures. We accomplished this through the use of the very same "Cool Touch" technology we use in the TD-200

That is indeed very cool, I was hoping Pace would go that route. I think the silicon style grip on the aluminum TD200 and TD100a is a good compromise, you want some comfort and grip but not a dirt collecting sponge or something that oils will easily break down.

Perhaps we will see an MT100a for Intelliheat stations? I'm thinking you will if the tip geometry doesn't change.

[joeqsmith]

Thanks for the info.   I am happy to hear that this problem is solved.     Funny to see you posting about the heat.   My old tweezers can get very hot and every time I use the newer ones, I think how nice these are compared with mine.   

Yes, we use these a fair amount and have been using them for 10+ years.   They are a great tool IMO outside of the grips.   I did look into new grips after your first post but no one seemed to have them in stock.   

[joeqsmith]

Aaron,

We purchase tips for the Intelliheat by bulk.  Around 20 - 50 tips at a time.   It appears PACE put's the tips for the irons through a burn-in cycle.   It seems like the ones for the tweezers are not.      I am curious if the tips have a high infant mortality or is there some other reason they are cycled?   I mentioned with my older Sensatemp, you require a conditioning cycle which is a feature built into my old controller.   Are the Intelliheat tips burned in for this reason?   We notice that every time we order tips that they take several weeks to deliver.  Which again makes me wonder if you are having problems producing them?   Are the tips made outside the USA causing the long lead times?   

Will the tips for the ADS200 also have long lead times?  Do you still have to burn them in before they are shipped? 

Just curious.  Thanks again for providing us with the inside details. 

[helius]

The reason for the burn-in procedure for SensaTemp heaters was described in this post.
As for the tips being tested, there were some early reviews of the ADS-200 that mentioned some tips were D.O.A. I imagine Pace is eager to make sure that any production problems are caught before delivery to customers.

[PACE-Worldwide]

Aaron,

We purchase tips for the Intelliheat by bulk.  Around 20 - 50 tips at a time.   It appears PACE put's the tips for the irons through a burn-in cycle.   It seems like the ones for the tweezers are not.      I am curious if the tips have a high infant mortality or is there some other reason they are cycled?   I mentioned with my older Sensatemp, you require a conditioning cycle which is a feature built into my old controller.   Are the Intelliheat tips burned in for this reason?   We notice that every time we order tips that they take several weeks to deliver.  Which again makes me wonder if you are having problems producing them?   Are the tips made outside the USA causing the long lead times?   

Will the tips for the ADS200 also have long lead times?  Do you still have to burn them in before they are shipped? 

Just curious.  Thanks again for providing us with the inside details.

Joe,

While they look the same as our standard IntelliHeat Tip Cartridges, AccuDrive Tips (ADS200 tips) have an interior heater with a different construction much more difficult to produce than our standard ones. And Helius is correct about the reason we test every tip before it leaves the factory in North Carolina: the last thing we need is another production fiasco like the one that occurred last year! We normally test only 25-40% of IntelliHeat-style cartridges, but 100% of AccuDrive Tips are tested which results in a slight discoloration towards the top of the tip.

Our tips don't have an abnormally high mortality rate, and rarely do our tips stop working due to heater failure. In fact, tip failure is usually caused by normal wear and tear of the plating. In use, the protective iron plating wears through, developing a pit or maybe a crack in the plating. Once there is a pit/crack, the interior copper is exposed and rapidly erodes away, as solder (especially lead-free solder) has a solvent effect on pure copper, dissolving the inner copper until the plating caves in!

How to improve tip life? In general, lead-free alloys have a higher Sn (tin) content which is much more destructive to iron plating, especially at higher temperatures. We estimate that solderers using lead-free alloys will go through tips up to 3 times faster than leaded alloys. Here is a common sense list of things you can do to extend tip life:

• Turn down the heat! Probably the best advice I can give. As stated before, using lead-free soldering along with elevated temperatures is a recipe for shorter tip life.
• Do not apply pressure to the soldering iron: being heavy handed with your iron can cause stress cracks in the iron plating.
• Do not scrub the lead: Any type of abrasion can increase your chances of scratching the plating
• Do NOT use tips as screwdrivers!
• With lead-free solder use Brass Wool Cleaner: Yes, it's slightly abrasive, but lead-free alloys and fluxes may require a bit more to properly clean. With Tin-Lead alloys, use a wet sulfer-free sponge (NO household sponges).
• Apply solder to the joint or lead, not the tip: In other words, use a solder-bridge, as constant application of wire solder to the tip may create a pit.
• Cover working end with solder during idle periods: the solder coating will oxide, rather than the iron plating.
• Turn off iron when not in use: less heat equals less oxidation
• Do NOT use pliers to change tips: Especially PACE tip-heater cartridges - it's a sure way to crush the heater core within the cartridge. Use our Tip Tool or Tip Removal Pad instead.
• Use soldering iron system with “Setback” and/or “Auto-Off” feature: Our Instant SetBack (ISB) Tool Stand automatically “sets-back” temperature to 350F/176C when placed in the Stand.

The burn-in or conditioning cycle for the SensaTemp handpieces (not tips used in SensaTemp handieces) are the result of the construction of SensaTemp heaters. To manufacture SensaTemp heaters, we machine out a brass bobbin, a coated heater wire is wound around the bobbin, then attached to a platinum RTD sensor in the front. It's the coated heater wire which is the cause of the burn-in procedure: when initially heated up, the wire burns off the coating  -- you'll notice smoke and an odor after initial heat-up. It's totally normal and the smell/smoke goes away within a short period of time, never to occur again. We recommend burning in the handpiece heaters because there is a very slight chance (probably 1 in 200) of a short in the wire winding if someone turns a brand new heater up to 900F. The vast majority of reported heater shorts occur with our TJ-70 ThermoJet Hot Air Jet Handpiece, probably because that tool is designed to be used at max temperature (900F). In contrast, the IntelliHeat and AccuDrive Tip Heater Cartridges are not burned in, they are tested. They are placed in a test fixture which fully energizes the tip for about 5 seconds, enough time for the tip to reach solder melt temperatures.

Concerning lead times, you can blame your local distributor for that! Our standard lead times to Distributors for all PACE products is 2 weeks after receipt of order. This a hard and fast policy of PACE's. We expect distributors to do the one thing distributors are supposed to do: STOCK OUR PRODUCTS! But many distributors do not. If a distributor takes more than 16 days to ship PACE products or tips, it's very simple: You can bet they are not stocking tips and are only ordering AFTER you have placed your PO! If you order directly from PACE's website, we generally ship within 2-4 days. Yes, we have occasional lead time issues, and if a production problem occurs (like the original defective batch of ADS/AccuDrive tips), then we are at fault for the delay. But we have been pretty steady on lead times since late August, so I'm going to blame the distributors!

Finally, we manufacture all soldering products (including tips) and bench top rework stations in Vass, North Carolina, while higher end BGA Rework Equipment and Fume Extractors are manufactured in Elkridge MD (where I am located). PACE is one of the last major manufacturers of soldering irons made in the USA (Weller: made in Mexico & Germany; Hakko: made in China; Metcal: Made in China).

Whew, I'm going to bed!

Best,

Aaron

[joeqsmith]

The reason for the burn-in procedure for SensaTemp heaters was described in this post.
As for the tips being tested, there were some early reviews of the ADS-200 that mentioned some tips were D.O.A. I imagine Pace is eager to make sure that any production problems are caught before delivery to customers.

I wasn't questioning the Sensatemp conditioning but was curious about the Intelliheat being burned in at the factory and the reasons for it. 

[joeqsmith]

While they look the same as our standard IntelliHeat Tip Cartridges, AccuDrive Tips (ADS200 tips) have an interior heater with a different construction much more difficult to produce than our standard ones. And Helius is correct about the reason we test every tip before it leaves the factory in North Carolina: the last thing we need is another production fiasco like the one that occurred last year! We normally test only 25-40% of IntelliHeat-style cartridges, but 100% of AccuDrive Tips are tested which results in a slight discoloration towards the top of the tip.

Our tips don't have an abnormally high mortality rate, and rarely do our tips stop working due to heater failure. In fact, tip failure is usually caused by normal wear and tear of the plating. In use, the protective iron plating wears through, developing a pit or maybe a crack in the plating. Once there is a pit/crack, the interior copper is exposed and rapidly erodes away, as solder (especially lead-free solder) has a solvent effect on pure copper, dissolving the inner copper until the plating caves in!

Concerning lead times, you can blame your local distributor for that! Our standard lead times to Distributors for all PACE products is 2 weeks after receipt of order. This a hard and fast policy of PACE's. We expect distributors to do the one thing distributors are supposed to do: STOCK OUR PRODUCTS! But many distributors do not. If a distributor takes more than 16 days to ship PACE products or tips, it's very simple: You can bet they are not stocking tips and are only ordering AFTER you have placed your PO! If you order directly from PACE's website, we generally ship within 2-4 days. Yes, we have occasional lead time issues, and if a production problem occurs (like the original defective batch of ADS/AccuDrive tips), then we are at fault for the delay. But we have been pretty steady on lead times since late August, so I'm going to blame the distributors!

....

Finally, we manufacture all soldering products (including tips) and bench top rework stations in Vass, North Carolina, while higher end BGA Rework Equipment and Fume Extractors are manufactured in Elkridge MD (where I am located). PACE is one of the last major manufacturers of soldering irons made in the USA (Weller: made in Mexico & Germany; Hakko: made in China; Metcal: Made in China).

The 25 - 40% of Intelliheat cartridges being tested makes a lot of sense.  I looked at our stock and it appears there were some (for the irons) that had not been heated.   When I look at the discoloration of the cartridges that were tested, it varies a fair amount.   I suspect its a manual operation.   I attached a couple of pictures of one of the worse.  Most will not be this dark.   

I wouldn't have guessed that the AccuDrive cartridges were  much more difficult to produce than the Intelliheat and require 100% testing.  To reduce the cost, are you working on a better cartridge design for the AccuDrive? 

This is good to know about the distributors being the problem.   They typically quote us lead times of a couple of weeks but we rarely see parts within a month.  I wasn't aware that we could purchase parts direct but will get you setup as a supplier to take care of it. 

[PACE-Worldwide]

The 25 - 40% of Intelliheat cartridges being tested makes a lot of sense.  I looked at our stock and it appears there were some (for the irons) that had not been heated.   When I look at the discoloration of the cartridges that were tested, it varies a fair amount.   I suspect its a manual operation.   I attached a couple of pictures of one of the worse.  Most will not be this dark.   

I wouldn't have guessed that the AccuDrive cartridges were  much more difficult to produce than the Intelliheat and require 100% testing.  To reduce the cost, are you working on a better cartridge design for the AccuDrive? 

This is good to know about the distributors being the problem.  They typically quote us lead times of a couple of weeks but we rarely see parts within a month.  I wasn't aware that we could purchase parts direct but will get you setup as a supplier to take care of it.

All Tip Heater Cartridge production including testing are manual operations and very labor intensive. I doubt it would make sense to automate the process unless we were selling millions & millions of tips per year. The easiest alternative would be to move production to China or Mexico, but then we lose valuable, long time employees and quality control, so it's not something that will ever be put on the table. Not by current PACE management.

When we experienced the AccuDrive production issues last year, the tip design was modified significantly to make them easier to produce and to improve reliability. While AccuDrive tips go through a similar production process as the IntelliHeat tips, the heater windings are tricky (more wattage requires more winds at more precise intervals) and AccuDrive heaters have 2 sensors rather than 1 sensor that has to fit in the same metal shroud using the same iron plated copper tip end. Like I said, trickier. Our production people seem to be totally in the groove now!

We have some really excellent distributors, but I would shop around to see who actually stocks PACE product. Usually the Hakko, Metcal or Weller tips are given stocking priority because of their historical focus on mass market soldering stations, as opposed to PACE's focus on production-oriented rework & repair products. But the trend in distribution seems to be to minimize inventory. Many of our distributors use complicated algorithms built into their ERP systems that minimize excess stock, and sometimes this results in wild swings in their buying patterns. One month they may go without buying any tips, then the next month we get an order for $30K. So one month they have nothing on the shelf, then the next month they have too much. And the cycle repeats. The result is a noticeable lag in delivery to customers during certain periods of time. If a distributor has a particular tip in stock, they typically ship within 2 days. If they are shipping any later than that, then they don't have the product on the shelf.

In defense of distributors, they cannot possibly stock 100% of the product lines they carry. They'd be out of business within months. Most distributors take an 80/20 rule approach to shelf stock, so only the most popular items that sell quickly are stocked. Specialty tips used by a few customers may take longer as they only purchase the tip when you order.

Hope this clarifies things a bit.

Aaron

[labjr]

Aaron,

I noticed that TEquipment seems to have a dozen or so ADS200 stations at a time, and several of each tip. And when they run out, it's a few weeks before they get more. Meanwhile, they have over 100 of the similarly priced Hakko station. I was wondering if it's selling slowly because it's fairly new, or so popular that Pace can't keep up with production? Thus have to ration the product between distributors.

[labjr]

joeqsmith,

I'm curious about that tip. And the type of soldering you do, where you need for a high thermal mass conical tip?

Thx

[edvb]

I just received my ADS200 with Setback on Tuesday. It took a month from ordering to receiving the unit. It is version 1-4. I got it from TEquipment at a time when it was not in stock, but they had an order in with Pace a week earlier.

I got it at great price so did not mind the wait. The setback stand works perfectly.

[Shock]

I noticed that TEquipment seems to have a dozen or so ADS200 stations at a time, and several of each tip. And when they run out, it's a few weeks before they get more. Meanwhile, they have over 100 of the similarly priced Hakko station. I was wondering if it's selling slowly because it's fairly new, or so popular that Pace can't keep up with production? Thus have to ration the product between distributors.

I spoke to Evan from Tequipment about this the other day. Their stock level has looked terrible for months seemed like they weren't ordering in enough tips and stations. I'm sure they would have sold more overall, not everyone likes to wait for a backorder or buy a station without the tips. Perhaps their ordering system doesn't forecast well when the product is a new listing.

There was a time when people didn't like Hakko all that much, but since then they have had time to gain market penetration with little competition (value wise) in the USA. The FX-951 at ~$200 price point was an okay station, I never thought it was a particularly good design (or value with Australia tax). But the Pace ADS200 at ~$200 is a great station, over time I'm sure the word will get out more.

I noticed people are starting to buy on Amazon as well.

[Shock]

I just received my ADS200 with Setback on Tuesday. It took a month from ordering to receiving the unit. It is version 1-4. I got it from TEquipment at a time when it was not in stock, but they had an order in with Pace a week earlier.

I got it at great price so did not mind the wait. The setback stand works perfectly.

Good to know you finally got yours, congrats. They should be all version 1.4 by now but it's a simple process to change the firmware over anyway.

In case you weren't aware use the tip tool to swap tips, the silicon pad is just there to confuse people. It might make a good place to drop parts on when the tweezers come out.

[joeqsmith]

....
Hope this clarifies things a bit.

Aaron

Yes sir, it has. Thank you again for taking the time to write.  This has been very helpful.