[sdiy] Weller WLC100

[Scott Stites]

My crusty old soldering was showing signs of age, so I ordered a WLC100 from
MCM Electronics.  I received it last night, it works fine, but there are
some very obvious differences from any picture I've seen of the iron
(including the picture on the box itself).

The main difference is this - the iron itself is a separate piece from the
base.  There is a regular American AC socket on the side of the base,
labeled "</= 300 Watts Max", which isn't in any picture of the iron that
I've ever seen.  The iron plugs into this socket.  On the front of the base,
in the pictures, the model number WLC100 is displayed on the front beside
the switch - not so with this iron.  On the bottom side of the base it has
the model number WLC100.

The iron itself has a model number on it:  SPG40.  Problem is, I can't find
this model of soldering iron on the net by googling.  It looks like I can
plug it into the wall socket if I don't have any room for the base where I'm
soldering and use it as a regular 40 watt iron (which would be very handy).

The instruction manual doesn't show this difference - it illustrates the
iron and base as one piece, and makes no mention of plugging the iron into
the base or anywhere else.  Has anyone else experienced this?

Scott