What the hell! My el-cheapo soldering iron was on today, I was busy whipping up some experimental thingy by ansil but my breadboard is cluttered with little conductive wires so I decided to perf it up. I was halfway through, and about to grab my iron when BANG all the blue smoke came out :( Now why did that happen?
Oh by the way the iron has ceased to work ;)
Looks like your old iron's heating element failed and shorted. Better irons are designed so that when the element fails, it's less likely to short to another part of the device. And you can replace the element (which all eventually fail) in the better ones.
I guess it's time to graduate to a better iron!
But I'm poor :( I can't afford an expensive iron I only get 25 euros a month :cry: Oh well. B-day in march. I guess I could get my parents to give me a large sum of money then. But if it's shorting, wouldn't that blow the fuse of the mains group that my room's attached to?
I got a really nice xytronics for like $50 shipped on ebay. Never turned back to my radioshack pencil.
-Colin
:D
Dear dad,
My soldering iron exploded today. Can I have 40 euros for a new (better) one?
Love, Ben
Well I could at least try ;)
I suppose it's safe but that sounds like a drag...I Hate when stuff blowz down... when I didn't tell it to...
Well it isn't heating up so it's unplugged anyway. :( Damn this is a pain. I was gonna do a photoessay of the woody next week :(
Quote from: smoguzbenjaminBut I'm poor :( I can't afford an expensive iron I only get 25 euros a month :cry: Oh well. B-day in march. I guess I could get my parents to give me a large sum of money then. But if it's shorting, wouldn't that blow the fuse of the mains group that my room's attached to?
probably not, and you probably have breaekrs not fuses unless your house is more than 40 years old. I dont know about the electical code in europe, but here in the US the smallest branch circut breaker in residetnial is 15 amps. Now a 15 amp breaker doesnt actually trip right at 15 amps. it has two methods of tripping. instantaneous, or overload (inverse time) This is becasue lots of things we use every day draw a lot of current when they first start up. anything with a motor will typically draw 4 to 10 times its rated current at start up for a brief time, and slowly draw less current as they get up to full speed.
To trip instantaneously a circuit breaker (or a fuse)usually has to see a current of 10 times its rating. your soldering iron probably did not take much current to blow up. Also the lentgh of the wire from the circuit breaker to your outlet to your iron will create some resitsance as well. I know you guys are at a higher voltage, so it's probably not as big of a deal. my guess is 15 amps through a shorted element for less than half a seccond (especially since it was already hot) was probalby enough to blow it up. the breaker just thinks someone turned a hair drier on.
(not that breakers think, they are actually very uncomplicated as far as operation)
Brian
Quote from: smoguzbenjaminBut I'm poor :( I can't afford an expensive iron I only get 25 euros a month :cry: Oh well. B-day in march. I guess I could get my parents to give me a large sum of money then. But if it's shorting, wouldn't that blow the fuse of the mains group that my room's attached to?
hey there little buddy i got your package all ready to go and i got my check cashed so i will drop you in my old iron in there. its beat up kind of bad, and its a mamoth 40watt iron. but its better than waiting till march
yeah, it iwll be 80 watts when it sees 240 volt. at least for aa little while.
Quote from: Brian Marshallyeah, it iwll be 80 watts when it sees 240 volt. at least for aa little while.
hmm you could always canablize the end piece from his current one to match it up to the voltage source
or maybe adaptor. i dont know i am just trying to be nice.
Quote from: smoguzbenjaminBut I'm poor :( I can't afford an expensive iron I only get 25 euros a month :cry: Oh well. B-day in march. I guess I could get my parents to give me a large sum of money then.
Well, my boy, it's time to hit the boards and get a JOB like the rest of us. :P :P :P
Just Kidding(I've been drinking :shock:)(though then you don't have to beg your dad anymore)
RDV
Quote from: AnsilQuote from: Brian Marshallyeah, it iwll be 80 watts when it sees 240 volt. at least for aa little while.
hmm you could always canablize the end piece from his current one to match it up to the voltage source
or maybe adaptor. i dont know i am just trying to be nice.
that's cool, i just dont want to see anyone get hurt.
theoretically, you could put a single 500 volt 1N-type rectifier in series with one side of the 240 VAC supply to halve the voltage for a cheapie 120 VAC iron.
Hey smogouz!
VIN sells soldering irons (ERSA)cheap.
I`d say mail him and ask if you can pay him in terms(huh?)
Greetings,Ed
Hey ansil you're in luck because I have an adapter for using US equipment in Europe ;) No issues there. Thanks Ansil! 8) Right now Ansil is the coolest guy I know. 8)
RDV, I am looking for a job but I don't like slavework. Seriously, in Holland you can't officially work until you're 16, I turn 16 in march. Otherwise there's no minimum wage and you get bananaskins for working 9 hours on saturdays. :( Gotta wait... :( But yeah then I won't have to beg my dad anymore :D
Brian, you're right they're breakers. This house is about 25 years old, and I do believe that the breakers are rated at 15 amps/240 Volts. Power here is 230v, something to do with British and mainland equipment. Not sure...
I could try the diode. Could do. But me scared of blowing anything more up.
Things blown up to date: 8)
- Many chemistry experiments
- 9V Wallwart
- 12V Wallwart
- 30W Soldering iron
What next :roll:
hhehehe,
on the topic of blowing things up, what else have you guys blown up?
i have blown 3 ic's ( one of which was the last one in the north west of england :lol: ) and a bzillion transistors :). not bad considering that i have only been doing electronics for 3 months :D
increase da peace!
callum
Quote from: smoguzbenjamin
Things blown up to date: 8)
- Many chemistry experiments
- 9V Wallwart
- 12V Wallwart
- 30W Soldering iron
What next :roll:
I think it's time to update your Sig :lol:
Howabout "My name is Ben, the little man who blows up stuff :mrgreen: "
:D lol
I was going to ask you if you had a wallwart around the iron? :)
I had a gun style weller do the same thing as I was holding it. The bang was fairly loud and I can sympathize with the lack of soldering equipment. That is a bummer.
This is a perfect opportunity to pay some attention to your girlfriend. ;)
Take care,
-Peter
Yup. Gonna grab that opportunity, and she certainly is ;) Alas she is very busy with school :(
Quotetheoretically, you could put a single 500 volt 1N-type rectifier in series with one side of the 240 VAC supply to halve the voltage for a cheapie 120 VAC iron.
Actually, no, you can't.
The RMS/heating value of a half wave rectified signal is about 70% of the full wave value. The original signal RMS (for a sine, which the AC line is, almost) is Ipk/SQRT(2). The RMS for a half wave rectified sine is Ipk/2. They differ by 1/SQRT(2), or 0.7071.
You *can* cut the current down to 70% of original this way, and that's what the "light bulb saver" wafers are - a rectifier pellet set up to be in series with the AC line. But I suspect that a 120Vac soldering iron run on 240VAC half wave rectified would have a short life.
Thanks for that RG! I love those "counterintuitive" things! Thinking about it, I changed my mind at least three times :D
Hmmm. Not that it matters, as I said I have an adaptor somewhere. Now to find it.
Right, time to go pay attention to my girlfriend ;)
Smoguzbenjamin,
I think I have a weller Soldering Station unit that you can have. I will see if I can find it and put some new parts on it for you. Of course again you would have to use your adapter. It has a 3 prong plug on the end.
go here: http://www.allspec.com/start/weller.html?s=o
It looks like this one: WESD51 Soldering Station
Peace!
Arn C.
ps. Until I get it ready and sent to you, I suggest you take ansil up on his offer, it may take me a little bit to get it ready, and first to find it!
Thanks Arn! :mrgreen: Wow, this community has proven itself again. I was just wondering why it blew up in the first place and now people are helping me out with replacements :mrgreen: Mundo cool!
3 prong would be grounded (right?), which in Europe has no use because the only grounded plugs are in the kitchen and laundry room. So that's not an issue. I don't know what it's like in the States though, do all sockets have a ground connection? :? Oh hang on, I might have to check the adapter (gotta find the bugger first :D ) if it's got a ground socket thingy. Probably is though. And even if it isn't what does an adapter cost nowadays? If I'm lucky I can get one for 5 euros or so :D