Warning: Check your Soldering Iron, etc

[BigJ]

Hi All.

Some info that may stop another DK member from going thru the same expensive nightmare I'm facing at the moment:

This is something that sounds simple and obvious, but I overlooked it and now Im sitting with a pile of damaged clusters, a damaged R260, UPA to name only a few.

Make sure your earth leakage trip switch is working 100%

I never noticed mine was not providing earth leakage protection and is ****ed untill my R260 programmer and a customer's cluster literally exploded in my face this weekend past.
Problem was in my SMD rework station: The braided earth strap in the hot air element was touching the element itself, which uses 220v. This sending 220v thru the earth wiring to all my electronics etc. But faulty earth leakage switch never tripped!

So the tip of my normal soldering iron was 220v "hot".

To make a long story short: The soldering iron was pumping +- 70v ac into anything I was working on that was not earthed.

When I earthed to another ground source, my R260 (after soldering the wires to the board) this weekend and did a cluster, my soldering iron touched a track connected to the black wire (ground) and BANG!

Suddenly I realised why I have a few clusters that dont work any more as well as other messed up equipment and pc's.

So go check your's is working as it should a.s.a.p.

Regards
J

[Fallen]

What brank or rework station do you have?

[racin-snake]

hope its not an aoyue

[daniersms]

Soeee not good can sustain injuries to your person aswell

[BigJ]

What brank or rework station do you have?

Howdy Fallen.

Ive got a Gordak 952A. (Got a few actually).
They otherwise work very well.

[BigJ]

Soeee not good can sustain injuries to your person aswell

Howzit daniersms.

Nothing like a 220v "skop" once in a while to get you going.

[Meat-Head]

well if it makes you feel better was soldering a circuit board with the mains on & BANG.

then got a simular board to use to find what blew, then my test wire blew that board.

then was just stickihg a module back in a machine 2mm screw to long & BANG.

[BigJ]

well if it makes you feel better was soldering a circuit board with the mains on & BANG.

then got a simular board to use to find what blew, then my test wire blew that board.

then was just stickihg a module back in a machine 2mm screw to long & BANG.

Feel much better now.... can lay off the Valium at last.


(damn!)

[Meat-Head]

ON AND OFF TOPIC:-

If you buy a house in the big bad city, where the grass is green and the pritty *HOT* parts bird doesn't email you back, you can find a damp house, or even a very nice house in the country, the cooker can get damp, this trips the GFI (Ground Fault Isolator) - Emerican term.

What you do is, remove the earth off the cooker - stove if your Emerican - turn on, so it's hot, turn off, reconnect earth.

ON TOPIC:-

It is possable your iron the earth cable snapped?

[cactikid]

cheers mine are powerless.
Soldering Irons, Plastic Welding tools, Desoldering tools, Gas Torches. Portasol - Professional Technician and Service Repair Tool Specilists. Heat Shrinking tools, plumbind tools , soldering irons, Ireland

[Meat-Head]

Say catikid,

1) Put CHEAP gas in it.
2) Place the thing on a dashbaord with the exhaust towarsd the windshiled? What happens?

[BigJ]

cheers mine are powerless.
Soldering Irons, Plastic Welding tools, Desoldering tools, Gas Torches. Portasol - Professional Technician and Service Repair Tool Specilists. Heat Shrinking tools, plumbind tools , soldering irons, Ireland

Hey now we got plenty in common...... Lots of my things are also powerless now.

[BigJ]

ON AND OFF TOPIC:-


ON TOPIC:-

It is possable your iron the earth cable snapped?

The braided earth strap in the hot blower front thingy attached itself to the element.

[Meat-Head]

who fitted the braid, you or Wan Kin from China?

[BigJ]

who fitted the braid, you or Wan Kin from China?

Wan Kin: It came that way.........