Good source for Weller WTCP tips?

[Sidecar Bob]

Anyone know a good source of tips for Weller WTCP series soldering stations? I'ce found a few places online but either the prices are very high or the shipping is.

 

[Harald Kapp]

Not overly expensive, free shipping if the right conditions apply.

 

[Audioguru]

Amazon sells clothes and shoes. They know nothing about electronics but they sell cheap soldering iron tips for a Weller soldering irons but not made by Weller, they are made by Teche. I looked in Google for Teche Company but found nothing. A Chinese knockoff?

The tips are not WTCP anyway.

 

[Sidecar Bob]

The only tip on the first page of that link that I think is right for my soldering stations is over $12, which I don't consider a reasonable price.
I was hoping someone here had bought tips for a WTCP series soldering station recently and could save me a lot of time searching online but I guess I'll have to look up the tip numbers and spend some time shopping.

BTW: I have the WTCPL station that my parents bought me for Xmas in '74 and a newer WTCPS station that I inherited from my son. They both take the same tips.

 

[Audioguru]

I have a Weller WTCP soldering iron that is about 55 years old. Usually its tip lasts for about 5 years but the last tip I bought from a local store (the store name and staff are from a distant country) looked like a Weller but it fell apart in a couple of months.
There are fakes everywhere but not at Digikey where my next one will be purchased.

 

[Sidecar Bob]

OK, more research I should have done years ago. Most people who have these irons know that the tip temperature is controlled by a reed switch turning the heating element on & off as it reacts to a thermo-magnetic slug in the back of the tip and we should all know that the number stamped in the slug is the operating temperature in hundreds of degrees F.
I never noticed before that Weller doesn't recommend the use of tips above 700 degrees except when absolutely necessary and specifically says that hotter ones won't last as long. (That could explain why the genuine Weller PTB9 tips I've been using fail so soon).

I also took a few minutes to extract this chart from the manual for reference while I'm shopping for tips.

 

[Audioguru]

I have always used PTA7 tips with 63/37 leaded rosin-core solder.

 

[Sidecar Bob]

Yeah, I have a PTA7 that's so old the plating is starting to lift near the base of the cone and I think it is my preferred tip too.

There are lots of PT tips on eBay for $7 CAD or less but the shipping from the US is higher than I feel is appropriate. Amazon is even worse ("free shipping" just means the cost of shipping is added to the price).

When I gave up on them I spent an hour Googling PTA7 Weller Canada while watching TV with the wife and found a place called ITM Instruments that has them for $4.40 each with a flat rate $17.50 shipping so I ordered 4 each of PTA7 and PTP7 (conical). After taxes that comes to $7.45 each.
That should last me a while.