Cord length on power tools

[PeterC]

I didn't, my father did. This was about 25 - 30 yeras ago.

Yes.

[whisky-dave]

12 Jan 2012 23:30:58 -0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrot= e:

that I'd fit my own cable. =A0A soldering iron is a heater on a stick, it = shouldn't be expensive.

We have a soldering station here for surface mount devices, it cost =A35k . Although to be honest it's more than just a " heater on a stick"

Ours is a microscope and we solder down to about 0.4mm . 0.6 being common. One problem is the effect of solder sticking to a componet that's less than a couple of milimeters across while trying to hold it in place.

[PeterC]

Silicone flex is worth having - a 10W iron that's almost positioned by a stiff flex is 'orrible. At work I had 10, 20, 25 and 65W irons and put silicone flex on all but the big one. My boss complained at the cost but I pointed out that one flex-induced wobble could cost more than the lot of irons and flex.

[David WE Roberts]

I replaced (after having the wire waiting to be fitted for n years where n is large) a stupidly short wire with a stupidly long wire on my B&D hammer drill.

A major improvement, and completely avoids that unexpected tug as you lift the extension reel off the ground when reaching upwards.

My cheap and cheerful SDS drill from Homebase came with a sensible length of flex. Which is a ba*tard to get back in the plastic box. Ho hum.

Dave R

[Dave Plowman (News)]

One that knows about soldering irons? Yes. I use one most days.

Do they make soldering irons? Or any tools with a power cord?

[PeterC]

IIf that's the case, Numatic's breaking the law by fitting 8m flex; the Nilfisk that I bought has just under 4m and is a bloody nuisance. It might go in for a lengthening operation soon.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

[John Rumm]

I must do that with my temperature controlled iron... its got a hard PVC flex that is horrible - far too stiff, and too short.

Anyone got a supplier for three core extra flexible in 0.5mm^2 or similar?

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Andy Burns escribió:

A good idea, more robust and harder to separate. I used the IECs 'cos I had them in my bits box :-)

[tony sayer]

Obviously your boss doesn't do much soldering then;?..

Still nowt to beat the Weller TCP Iron;))..

[Dave Plowman (News)]

No no no. ;-) Antex are far more comfortable to use.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Vacuum cleaners normally have quite beefy conductors because the flex needs to be long, and it needs to be strong. Also, many are double-insulated, so there's no earth in the flex, making the use of larger conductors possible without ending up with a very thick flex.

[Lieutenant Scott]

What on earth do Europeans do for lamps? Do they have huge thick cables for a little bedside lamp?

[Andrew Gabriel]

little bedside lamp?

We are Europeans. If it's a 0.5mm² flex, it's limited to some small number of metres max (something like 2 or 3, but I can't remember) to keep the resistance low.

It doesn't mean all flex has to safely pass 16A continuously, just that it has to pass enough fault current to blow the fuse within the prescribed time and before the flex overheats.

[Andy Champ]

Some of our servers (computers that is) have wire clips to hold their IEC connectors in.

And that's on systems where it's not critical anyway, because they have two. I suppose it's to stop them coming out when you pull the "drawers" out that they are mounted in.

Andy

[Stephen H]

interestingly enough, over the past few years of buying power tools, I have found in my experience that if I buy a Bosch professional power tool that is in a plastic case, you get around 3 metres of power cord. This feels like a more rubbery type of power cord.

All my other non-Bosch power tools have the stupidly short power flexes and feel very plastic.......

Regards,

Stephen

[John Rumm]

Oh, holy war!

Must admit having grown up with Antex I always preferred them, but kind of got used to the Weller magnastat jobbies as they seemed so common in industry. Only irony was how difficult it was to find a working one in an electronics development lab!)

[Steve Walker]

The Weller in my garage works beautifully, as does the Antex!

My preference is for the Weller, but maybe that's because that's what I grew up with!

SteveW

[Steve Walker]

My green Bosch is cordless ;)

SteveW

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Weller certainly lead in sales.

I couldn't find any solder station I liked at an affordable price, so I made my own. Two solder irons - Antex TC50 - and a Pace SX80 desolder handset. Also have a cheapo CPC hot air re-work unit. Which gets as much use for heat shrink sleeving as soldering. ;-)

It's not on 24/7 like some units, but gets pretty heavy use. And has been very reliable - only one new element in some 8 years. It does switch itself off after 5 hours, though. Seen to many workshops where they're on all day even when not in use. And I can wait for the very short warm up time anyway.