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I bought a Metcal STSS-PS2V-02 soldering iron from eBay, it was cheap and in need of repair. The previous owner had some problems with the handpiece and tried to fix it himself.

I can't get it to heat up at all.

If I turn the base station on without the handpiece connected, it draws virtually no power. With it connected, about 10W.

It appears that he has sawn the handpiece in two, then attempted to resolder the cable. With no soldering tip attached, I am seeing 0Ω between the inner and wire and sheath of the cable, does this mean that his resoldering has shorted it, or should I expect this?

Next week, I'll be able to test the base station against a known working handpiece and determine if the base is working properly, but is there any other way I can tell?

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    \$\begingroup\$ The Metcals use 13.560MHz (square wave) RF heating, so I would imagine the sheath is a shield and should be grounded... \$\endgroup\$
    – tyblu
    Commented Jan 15, 2011 at 20:03
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    \$\begingroup\$ With no tip fitted it should measure open \$\endgroup\$
    – mikeselectricstuff
    Commented Jan 15, 2011 at 20:58
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    \$\begingroup\$ @mikeselectricstuff - That depends on what you mean by tip. My metcal iron has a "Tip" and a "Heater Cartridge". The tip is actually completely isolated from the heater leads (well, it is grounded), and is heated inductively by a coil in the "Heater Cartridge". Therefore, removing the tip will not affect the resistance, but removing the heater cartridge will. \$\endgroup\$
    – Connor Wolf
    Commented Jan 16, 2011 at 11:49

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I've got a similar Metcal system. If the handpiece and cartridge are working properly just the green LED on the STSS power unit should be on, otherwise the amber one will be lit as well.

They use RF heating at about 14 MHz, via a coaxial cable. It's very unlikely that you will get that handpiece working properly, I'd just buy a new one. You could try testing the power unit with a suitable 100W 50R resistor, it'll need to be non-inductive. Just the green LED should come on. I can't be sure that test will work as I don't think the impedance has been published, but it won't do any damage.

I got mine second-hand from a supplier here in the UK, with a new MX-500 handpiece and selection of cartridges. I subsequently picked up a second STSS unit on Ebay, as a spare. The power units are very reliable, so yours is probably OK.

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