Making a small and nice AC power supply for a vintage Weller soldering iron with magnetic temperature control that I got from my friend Alana.
The enclosure comes from a 6V DC adjustable power supply for a spectrophotometer light bulb, or something. Made in East Germany (GDR), just like many devices from that time. I found it in an old chemical lab when my friends were squatting it - got some cool stuff from there, but not all I wanted as the squat was evicted, meh.
And the transformer? From the friend who gave me all those nixies I went over here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suCi8nMEZXQ
This is a loooooong, real time video of making a fabrication and electronic project end to end. Some parts were done off camera (a little correction on the transformer placement, and lab recombobulation - there's a lot of metal filings as a by-product). Other than that, you get the raw uncut building video, with problem solving along the way.
"My advice? Use the vise."
"If I spot them, I will cut them"
1:15 GDR Power Supply Teardown and Reverse Engineering
10:55 Enclosure Stripping
12:10 Power Connector Fitting
26:00 Top Cleanup
29:00 LED and Transformer Test Fit
30:20 Bend Them To My Will!
40:00 Transformer Mounting Brackets
1:20:00 Test Fitting
1:22:00 Soldering Iron Connector
1:32:30 Transformer Holes
1:39:35 Heating/Hot Indicator Working Principle
1:44:15 Making the Indicator
2:07:05 Transformer Assembly
2:07:17 Oops!
2:09:00 Soldering the Socket
2:14:25 ESD Resistor
2:21:10 Mains Connections
2:50:50 Final Assembly
2:55:30 Tests
You'll find a hole marking tip at 47:27 - use a flat-ended rod and a marker to mark a spot to drill a hole in a matching part. And 1:36:00 may sound familiar to some of you, haha!
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