An Old Modem ---> a New Soldering Station Enclosure.

by thalo blue path in Circuits > Soldering

841 Views, 4 Favorites, 0 Comments

An Old Modem ---> a New Soldering Station Enclosure.

from old modem to soldering station 3.png

Do not throw away this old modem.

It can become an electronics project box.

I used it as an enclosure for a soldering station controller.

An eco friendly idea as well.

Less plastic waste.

Supplies

  • Power or hand drill,
  • pliers,
  • file
  • m3 screws and nuts,
  • screwdrivers,
  • rubber feet.

Plan, and Then Drill.

IMG_20220116_211328.jpg
inside the electronics.png

I will not describe here the electronics side of the project.

One can find several designs online to implement,

either analog or microcontroller based ones (soldering station controller).

I will focus on the enclosure, the plastic case.

Plus one more idea for the potentiometer knob.

-----------

First i opened the old modem removed everything from inside. (pliers).

Then i planned the position of each part, the pcb,

the connector, the potentiometer, and the on off switch.

I drilled the necessary holes.

I enlarged or modified the holes with files.

With files you can carefully erase all the letters and logos.

-------------

note

The planning part is very important.

As you can see i used the enclosure upside down

since it was more planar on the down side.

From Old Glue Cap... to Potentiometer Knob

from glue cap to pot knob.png

I needed a knob for the potentiometer. A big one.

And then i came across this empty glue bottle!

I used the cap to make the potentiometer knob.


If the diameter of the pot shaft is small you can use heatshrink tube to make it bigger.

I finally used a pin to prevent self rotation as shown in the photo.

(i drilled the appropriate 0.8mm hole first).

Finally I Added Rubber Feet.

DSC_0590 arrows.png
back side.jpg

The port you see is for 20V dc power.

The station is upside down in this photo to show the rubber feet.

I covered the modem unnecessary holes with plastic sheet from an old notepad.


The end.