ZD 929C soldering station not heating above 160°F and now won't power on

Hello! I am new to this forum so hello and thanks for reading this!

I bought a ZD 929c soldering station only a few month ago and I turned it on today and the knob was not responding to the temperature i wanted to set it at. It wouldnt get hotter than 160 degrees F. I didnt really know what to do so I decided to check the fuse. It was fine. But now the solder station wont even turn on. Has anyone ever had any problem like this with their soldering iron? How can i fix this? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!


Thanks,
William

It sounds like it is the power supply that died or a loose connection. You might try hitting it on the table hard in an attempt to "fix" any loose connections. If you can open it, unplug it and reseat any connectors.

Also, sometimes solder joints crack, and come loose. How did you check the fuse? Did you pull it out, test it with an ohm meter and then put it back in? If so, perhaps the solder joint(s) came loose on the fuse holder. [or course, if this is your only soldering iron, then you've got a catch-22 .

But, then I'm thinking in terms of a PC mounted fuse. If it's in a chassis mount holder, then perhaps there is crud on the fuse or the contacts. Try taking it out and cleaning both with a brush, etc. But, if this iron has interchangeable tips, then one thing you can check is if the soldering tip is snug (i.e. are things screwed down tight/pushed in all the way/or whatever applies in your case). Also, if you have other tips, try one of those--it's possible that the tip went bad. BUT BE SURE THE TIP HAS COOLED BEFORE TOUCHING IT!

But, that only addresses your second problem. The first problem could be many things--too many things to troubleshoot without having the unit in front of me. Consider this. Perhaps the first problem is causing boarder-line excess current, such that the fuse was about to blow, but hadn't yet. And DID finally blow after you checked it. So, I suggest checking it again.

BTW: the fact that the iron was heating up at all, is a strong indicator that the fuse was OK.