An ever-present concern with any resistance based system is the buildup of heat within the system’s handpiece and power unit. Left unchecked, this buildup can cause permanent, non-warrantied damage to your system. Here are some steps that should be taken to reduce this occurrence.

Follow a 50/50 Duty Cycle ~ as a general rule, your system should idle (cool) for an equal period of time that its ‘active’, with cycle time not exceeding 20 seconds.

Monitor the Heat ~ Operator MUST monitor the heat that builds-up within their handpiece’s cables and handle. Warm is normal. Hot is a clear sign that the system is being overtaxed and should be allowed to rest and dissipate the heat.

Reduce cycle time ~ You always want to be soldering as fast as controllably possible. The longer you are ‘active’ on a solder joint, the more time for heat to buildup within the handpiece and power unit. Turning up the power, shortens the active cycle time and thereby reduces the opportunity for thermal build-up. If you are already operating at the top power setting, you may wish to investigate moving to a high wattage power unit.

Handpiece Stacking ~ If your application simply requires prolonged ‘active’ cycle times, investigate running two handpieces off of one power unit. This is called handpiece stacking and can assist heavy users in production style environments.