Trial on the AI-controlled MiniDSO TS100 (Operation)

minidso

Beforewe move on to the power test, let’s first check the power voltage. It displays 19.13V,which is within a stable range.





Next,check the resistance of the body.





Directionchange (switch the position of two pens)





The soldering tip is built in with a thermocouple with both the anode and the cathode. As the temperature rises, the resistance of either direction measures inconsistent. The measurement results indicate that the tail part’s electrode is positive, which is consistent with the polarity of Hakko T12 tip. Now the ohmmeter probe’s short circuit resistance value is 0.42 ohm. Then the resistance value of the soldering tip, based on the measurement result, should be (8.64+8.26)/2-0.42=8.03 ohm, which is equal to that of Hakko T12 tip. The results might be slightly inaccurate since it came in a difficult situation where I held a camera in my left hand and meanwhile an ohmmeter probe in my right.

Next, let’s sheath the soldering tip and power it. As is seen on the display, what comes out first is a white-color MiniDSO logo.





Thenit is followed by the version number of firmware. I have upgraded the versionto V2.09.





Thenext thing on the screen is a soldering iron image plus a rolling arrowhead. Itseems it is signaling me to get it started.





WhenI pressed the leftmost button, the screen starts to display temperature whichseems to begin from 25 degrees Celsius. The temperature rose before my fingerleftthe button.





Withinseconds, the temperature already hit 300 degrees Celsius. What a surprise! Ishould’ve tinned the tip in the first place.





Asthe temperature rises, an arrowhead is rolling upward on the right. 300 degreesCelsius is the default setting value. Tinning is effortless. It feels the tipis extending its warmest welcome to the soldering tin. This tip can rival withthe factory-packed Hakko T12tip.





Whenthe tinning is finished, I feel better. Now let’s see what else is on thescreen. The two pieces of information are displayed alternately, which signifystarting up.



Now press the button as it says.
When it starts, press the front button to the left and the temperature will rise. The step length is 25 degrees The top limit is 400 degrees. The figure rolls upwards as the temperature climbs, which is a very thoughtful feature.






Press the front button to the right, and the temperature will drop. The bottom limit is 100 degrees. The figure rolls downwards as the temperature falls.





Longpress the temperature regulation button, and the temperature will be regulatedquickly and continuously. This move is very user-friendly. More exciting, thestep length of the regulation could be set. This will be discussed later. Whenthe temperature rises, the soldering iron on the right will be accompanied byupward moving arrowheads.





Whenthe temperature decreases, the soldering iron on the right will be accompaniedby downward moving arrowheads.





Whenthe extent of dropping exceeds 10 degrees, the screen will display both thecurrent temperature and the target temperature in a moving way, which revels thethoughtfulness of the designer.





Whenthe temperature stays constant after it moves up/down to the target, the solderingicon on the right will display the statues of constant temperature.





Nowlet’s measure the power of the mini soldering iron and that of its powersupply. The AC input power is measured with Nortel Power Monitor VC version.The starting power displays 0.5W. The indoor temperature measures approximately25 degrees Celsius. When the iron is on standby, the power hits close to 0W, orprecisely speaking, less than 0.5W. The following test also experiences similarresults.





Whenthe temperature rises nonstop, the power value displays around 48.5W.



The actual figure should be larger since the current result is an instant figure captured by a camera but what the monitor displays is a moving average. Supposed if the output voltage is 19V now, then the output power to the soldering iron should be 19*19/8=45W, which is far beyond the rated power (40W) of the switch-mode power supply. This explains that the power allows a certain degree of overload.  

While the temperature is decreasing, the power hits approximately 0W.





Whenthe temperature stays constant at 400 degrees, the power hits around 18W.





Whilethe temperature is rising, the power consumption gradually falls, which indicatesthat the system control algorithm is working.





Whenthe temperature remains constant at 300 degrees, the power displays 4.3 or so.





Whenthe temperature stays constant at 200 degrees, the result is about 2.6 W





Itimed the speed at which the temperature rose. The result shows that from thenormal temperature to 300 degrees, the speed was rapid. As is seen in thepicture, it only took 12 seconds for the temperature got into a constantstatus.





Itoccurred to me that I might test the power consumption in USB power supplymode. So I tried to connect the 3rd Generation OLED USB Tester inseries circuit. Guess what? It worked!



Nowthe handle screen displays a power consumption 33mA (0.163W), which iscomparable to the results of the control circuit. The handle, under such powerconsumption, still keeps “cool”. I particularly try press the button to startwithout the soldering tip. Now the handle will warn me of errors with itsdisplay showing “Sen-Err”. This is because the soldering tip itself is equallya temperature sensor.