Posted by Gary Dodge on February 11, 2003 at 23:56:58:
In Reply to: temperature posted by Chris on February 10, 2003 at 20:41:53:
Hi Chris,
First, do you know what type of temperature control you have? There are three types:
Rheostatic (most common), pulse timed (rare) and thermostatic (Very rare).
You can tell if it's rheostatic by plugging a lamp into it. If when you turn the switch higher and lower the lamp gets brighter and dimmer, it is rheostatic. If it is a rheostatic control, just leaving a lamp on for 10 minutes or so and seeing if it gets brighter and dimmer when you don't turn the knob will tell you if the control is the problem. (It should not change brightness unless you turn the knob.)
A lamp plugged into either a thermostatic or pulse timed control will go on and off. It will stay on longer between off cycles the higher you turn the control.
It is possible that what you are experiencing is the result of using a pulse timed control in a very cold room. Since it is not thermostatic, (responding to a temperature sensor), it doesn't know that the room is cold, so on it's lower settings the iron gives up all of it's heat to the room between pulses. There still may be a happy medium but it might be hard to find.
If it is a rheostatic control you may be able to tell if it's the electricity by plugging a lamp into the adjacent outlet (assuming that they are in pairs as is usual) next to the temperature control. If there are fluctuations in the current flow the lamp will get bright and dim. This tends to be more easily observed with lower wattage light bulbs. This test will not work well with the other types of controllers as they will cause a surge in the current when they cycle on and off that may cause the bulb to change brightness.
If all else fails, ask the teacher to check the equipment out for you.
GaryD
: Hi Angel, Here's the scoop....The iron is brand new eccept for a few uses at class and it was fine on those projects. So is the temp control. I've tried the iron in every outlet in the basement and it's not working right. As for turning it higher I have no problem with that. I have done so. When I notice it dragging I turn it up until I get a smoother run but, then I get black marks, yellow marks, solder running through to other side and a cruddy burnt iron. The iron is obviously too hot. The way it happens is it's as though the iron just stops and cools down and then goes back up to hot again. I tried my old iron and the same thing happened. I think it has something to do with the electricity. But what do I do about that?