How do I determine the temperature of this iron?

"Jason France, the Weller wlc100 is a variable temperature soldering station. ""The tip temperature can be adjusted by varying the power level of the heater. The temperature can be adjusted anyway from 5 to 40 watts with the knob on base unit"" (from user manual).

Set power control knob to В“5В” to heat tool up quickly. Wait 1 minute. Lower settings take longer to reach operating temperature. Adjust control to a lower setting. Remove tool from holder and tin tip with solder. Unit is now ready for use. Always use the lowest power setting that will handle the load you are soldering. By using lower settings and properly selecting tip styles, sensitive components will be protected from heat damage. So there really are no direct temp settings. Always adjust your iron down once you have it hot, to get to the temp where it melts the solder. I think the max temp on the Weller is 900deg. at 40W, each settings should be about 180deg. Now you need to know which solder you use and determine that particular melting point. Honestly, I never had to use it based on temperature, but I always base it on when the solder melts. Do not forget to tin the tip. Hope this helps, good luck."

"Jason, When I first started out trying to solder electronics, I practiced on junk electronics, I would uninstall capacitors, diodes, switches, wires, etc. and then solder them back in place, improving technique and speed with practice. After a while you get better and faster and will find a temperature/ setting your comfortable with. For me I found setting 4 on my iron approx. 700 degrees allowed me to unsolder and resolder with out damaging/burning parts. I am by no means the best soldering person in the world, but have built up confidence to tackle a lot of soldering applications just by practice. The same with different tips, just experiment and you will find your favorite tip for different applications. Good luck.

I hope this helped you out, if so let me know by pressing the helpful button.

Temperature Gun, Non-contact Digital Laser Infrared IR Thermometer can be found by google search if you desire knowing more precise what heat output on different settings are on your Weller WLC100."

"The Weller WLC100 is NOT a temperature controlled soldering station.

http://www.sentex.ca/~mec1995/circ/wlc10...

It is a Voltage controlled soldering iron (uses an OEM light dimmer).

http://www.k7jrl.com/pub/manuals/weller/..."

I don't know why you couldn't determine the temperature of the iron with a digital no contact thermometer. Or use a Tempil stick or similar product.