Soldering irons are blowing my fuses

[DanMcG]

I for one am real curious what your electrician has to say. And yes you're right about the irons, at least the ones I've used. just off the self as cheap as I can find models.
Good luck

 

[hotandcold]

Hi again ... the electrician has just been. He had a couple of special test meters with him.

Electrically, he found nothing wrong with the RCD (GFCI) or the soldering irons or the extension leads.

When I set up one of the irons and the tin can to produce smoke (which I expected to trip the RCD as it had done at least a dozen times before), all that happened was ... smoke ... and more smoke ... and on and on and on. No RCD problem.

After 20 minutes we decided to stop the test. I removed the lid from the BBQ - and saw what *could* be the explanation for experiencing no fault: carelessly I had pushed the barrel of the soldering iron only halfway into the can instead of my normal practice of all the way in. The plastic handle was cold. The electrician reckoned pushing it all the way into the can up to the plastic handle may previously have overheated the iron and short-circuited it somewhere in the inside. (He admitted he didn't know much about the inside of a soldering iron.)

That was possible solution no. 1.

Possible solution no. 2, he suggested, was that one or more appliances in our domestic electrical system (e.g. TV, computer, cooker, etc.) could be causing earth leakage (ground fault) totalling close to the RCD's 30mA limit - and the soldering iron was pushing the total beyond 30mA.

I'm going to work on possible solution no. 1 : Prepare a new can but instead of a hole large enough to take the thickness of the actual barrel of the soldering iron, I'll just make it big enough for the tip. That should ignite the wood chips but keep the handle well away from the hot can.

That's where I am now. If I come across anything of interest, I'll report back.

Thanks, guys.
 

 

[linguica]

Thanks for reporting back. This problem is really bugging several people.

 

[hotandcold]

Just about midnight here in Scotland. Will try a two-hour cheese-smoking (Cheddar) session tomorrow using the "new", modified, tip-only technique with my soldering iron.

I'll presumably have to fill the can a few times (I haven't succeeded in using the soldering-iron-and-can technique for anything at all yet). I have a nice bag of apple chips I want to try ...

Will report back.

 

[hotandcold]

Well, I'm happy to report that it looks as if the problem of the RCD/GFCI tripping has been solved!

I loosened the screw on the barrel of the soldering iron, drew the tip out an extra half an inch or so, and tightened it ... drilled a hole in my new can the same diameter as the tip ... filled the can with applewood chips ... stuck the soldering iron in (tip only) and switched on ... and the setup gave me unbroken smoke for about 2½ hours.

The RCD/GFCI behaved absolutely normally, i.e. it didn't trip once. Every half hour or so I had to move the unburned chips to the front to cover the exposed tip - but apart from that, perfection!

So the answer would seem to be (if anyone else runs into this problem) not to push more than the tip into the chips/sawdust/pellets. The handle of my soldering iron was not hot at any time - I could hold it anywhere along the handle with my bare hand.

I must admit, however, I'm puzzled that no one else appears to have had this problem - although last night I checked many online photos of soldering irons in cold-smoking situations, and it did seem that most insert only *part* of the barrel/tip. Maybe other users are just smarter than I am ...

Anyway, thank you, guys, for your advice/comments/help in arriving at a solution - the electrician was also worth every penny :)

Charles

 

[DanMcG]

That's good news Charles, now lets see a few pic's of some smoked goodies!

 

[hotandcold]

Hi DanMcG ... I'm afraid photographs were far from my mind yesterday, and today I'm getting ready for a week's trip ... but when I get back I'll see if I can master the photo thing.

Is there a guide somewhere on the forum?

 

[DanMcG]

here's one for ya.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/123288/posting-pictures

 

[bibettc]

Does anyone kno where I can buy a uds for my husband for Christmas with wv mountaineers on it ??? Thank you

 

[stovebolt]

Well, I'm happy to report that it looks as if the problem of the RCD/GFCI tripping has been solved!

I loosened the screw on the barrel of the soldering iron, drew the tip out an extra half an inch or so, and tightened it ... drilled a hole in my new can the same diameter as the tip ... filled the can with applewood chips ... stuck the soldering iron in (tip only) and switched on ... and the setup gave me unbroken smoke for about 2½ hours.

The RCD/GFCI behaved absolutely normally, i.e. it didn't trip once. Every half hour or so I had to move the unburned chips to the front to cover the exposed tip - but apart from that, perfection!

So the answer would seem to be (if anyone else runs into this problem) not to push more than the tip into the chips/sawdust/pellets. The handle of my soldering iron was not hot at any time - I could hold it anywhere along the handle with my bare hand.

I must admit, however, I'm puzzled that no one else appears to have had this problem - although last night I checked many online photos of soldering irons in cold-smoking situations, and it did seem that most insert only *part* of the barrel/tip. Maybe other users are just smarter than I am ...

Anyway, thank you, guys, for your advice/comments/help in arriving at a solution - the electrician was also worth every penny :)

Charles

 That is what I was trying to tell you in my post. Maybe I didn't word it well. I'm glad you nave a solution to your problem. I think the problem may have been a "ground loop".

Google that for some information that will make you scratch your head and say "Huh". In years past we had problems with some generators tripping GFCI outlets because of ground loops until we bonded the "ground" and "neutral" wires together in the generators.

 Chuck

 

[hotandcold]

Chuck, I've re-read your earlier message - and it makes sense to me now, with my own realisation of where my problem was: overheating within the soldering iron itself. Thanks for drawing my attention to that - I'm only sorry I didn't pick up what you were telling me earlier (but as I've said several times, I know nothing about electricity and feel rather foolish on the subject ...

 ...)

Dan McG: Thanks for the photo instructions. I've taken a couple of snaps of the "finished article", will get back to this 

Charles

 

[stovebolt]

Charles, I'm glad things are working for you. I'm looking forward to some of your smokes.

Chuck

 

[sigmo]

The thing that still does not fit the observations is: Why, if the irons all have grounded cases, did islating the cans on wood make any difference? If the heating elements or wiring was shorting to the metal casings of the irons, those grounded casings would have provided the paths to ground with or without the can being grounded.

Were you inserting the irons fully when doing the "can on wood" tests?

There must be a variable we still have not isolated in our experiment. :)

Phoned in.