Soldering Iron Woes

make your own control that can be mounted where the plug is. it's really just a light dimmer switch. get a duplex electrical box from home depot, a plug, a socket, and a short piece of 2 conductor + ground wire. screw the box to the wall near where you're already plugging in the iron. wire the plug to the wire. attach the other end of the wire to the dimmer switch. wire the socket to the dimmer switch. plug your iron into the new socket.

you could also just attach the controller to the wall. velcro if it doesn't have any screw attachments available.

Hakko, ceramic element, model 456, its a 60 watt iron that just plain works, no controller needed, when you turn it on, use it, that will keep the heat right. keep the tip clean, and there are 2 tips available for it, and if you forget and leave for home and forget to unplug, while not safe, you will still have an iron you can use the next day. You'll just have to clean the tip.

I use them everyday, and like them. Light weight, and they work.

I also use American Beauty, but I have pretty good size arms too. All of the above except light weight and ceramic heater apply to them also.

ah, yes the soldering iron conundrum...........

I use the 1140A (used to be unger) and now weller...have tried many(although not of late) and after ONLY ABOUT 23 years of shade making, still like them the best!

1,000 degrees at the tip regular 1,100 degrees at the tip high performance also available

get the heater and tip that is one piece......NOT THE SCREW ON TIP!!!!!!!!!

they are 45 and 50 watts respectively

and yes Martha, YOU CAN SOLDER WITH A 45 watt iron!

If you are doing a came....you may/will have to turn it down........... If you are soldering HEAVY BRASS LAMP STUFF will not be enough staying power heat for that..I use a propane torch to heat the brass lamp hardware and then it flows real well with the 1140A

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Maybe my brain is off duty right now, but it seems to me the iron itself will still be a 2 wire jobbie...

You might want to write Weller and tell them about your iron problems. Tell them "you kept it in case their engineers want to inspect it so they can redesign it to make sure their reputation stays at it's well deserved high level of desirability." Plan B, if they don't reply I'd write them another letter and cc (clearly indicated) a copy to the UL folks. I had a problem with a Leviton auto sensor switch the other day and wrote them a similar email. Waddaya know, a week later there was a package in the mail with two new switches - excellent products and great folks to deal with...

Good luck,

Bart.

tinnitus, custom compensated bridges, tabs, stained glass:

**may your moments of need be met by moments of compassion**

yeah, but you never know what someone else will plug into it when you're not there. if the original socket is grounded, it doesn't take much to ground the extended socket also.

check with a polarity testing plug to make sure you've wired it correctly when you're done.

regards, charlie cave creek, az

I too used those irons for years then the temp controls started only lasting a year or less so I went to plain inland irons and temp controllers... Guess they are just making them out of crap nowadays...

i use inland studio pros and they last a good while. when one does blow up i send it back to inland and they ship me new one. Can't beat that!!! michele

Two points. I use the Weller SPG80 as my main iron, have for years and never had any trouble with it. Which raises point two; when one of my students shows up with one of those stands you described, I take it away from them. Consider what is happening. Every time you take the iron out or put it into that "spring" you run the risk of banging your tip into the metal and damaging it. Beyond that, the "spring" concentrates heat back onto the element section of the iron and, as you have so graphically illustrated, causes them to burn out.

My recommendation is to buy a new iron but use the holder that comes in the box; there's a reason it's in there.

Jerry

Mo>For years now, I've only used the Weller 100w Pro iron with the Temp

SNIP