Group Actions
Engagement
  • Author Author: jw0752
  • Date Created: Date Created
  • Views 574 views
  • Likes 5 likes
  • Comments 8 comments
Related
Recommended

Shop Tips - Solder Iron Wire

jw0752

I have been fighting with the wire that connects my solder iron to its station. It is always in the way. If I have meter leads or test clips on the circuit the solder iron wire drags across them and pulls them loose. It catches on parts and hardware around the build site and makes an already bad mess worse. While there have been some attempts to produce a wireless iron I have not been impressed with them. When it comes to soldering and desoldering nothing can replace the regular wired iron.

 

Borrowing from familiar dental clinic technology I decided that I would suspend the solder iron wire above the work area. In my case I did this with a spring ( actually a series of rubber bands ) and a string cut to just the right length. The string was attached to the ceiling directly above my work area and tied to the mid-section of the solder iron wire from the solder station base. Another alternative if you do not want to mess with the ceiling would be to install a boom from the wall or shelving behind the solder station. Here is a picture of the way the wire is held over the work area.

 

 

image

 

The yellow line is the string. You can see how it holds the wire above the work area so that there is no interference with the circuit board. I may not have needed the Rubber bands but I did not want to create a situation where I needed to pull the solder iron and have a solidly attached string impede my movement. Here is a picture of the rubber bands and string attachment to the ceiling.

 

 

image

 

In my case this has proven to be a very welcome relief from fighting with the solder iron wire. Here are a couple more pictures of the way the string keeps the wire from interfering with items on the work area.

 

image

 

 

image

 

Thanks John

Parents

  • Hi John,

     

    Very nice! Your lab is great. Also how are you getting on with the AoE book I see there?

    It is easy to forget how irritating the wire is, until every time one sits at a bench and starts soldering again.

    A similar way to the boom that you mention is used in some JBC iron stands, where there is a tightly coiled spring of about 300mm length and 5mm diameter

    egressing vertically from the side of the stand, which works but would probably benefit from being longer.

     

    A straight whip type steel antenna wire (e.g. perhaps 1mm diameter) could be used to create a custom-length boom perhaps, with the end having some small clip or loop for the wire.

  • in reply to shabaz

    Those are some great ideas. I have been fighting with the wire for 50 years and just now got fed up and decided to try something. It is amazing how we get acclimated to our discomfort. I am slowly reading the AoT book. I do not have the drive to understand everything I am reading so I am reading for familiarity. That way I can come back to a subject if I have the need in the future. I have bread boarded some of the circuits in the book and I am certainly learning new things. This electronics field is very vast and I have to force myself to specialize or I bounce all over the place and accomplish nothing.

    John

Comment
  • in reply to shabaz

    Those are some great ideas. I have been fighting with the wire for 50 years and just now got fed up and decided to try something. It is amazing how we get acclimated to our discomfort. I am slowly reading the AoT book. I do not have the drive to understand everything I am reading so I am reading for familiarity. That way I can come back to a subject if I have the need in the future. I have bread boarded some of the circuits in the book and I am certainly learning new things. This electronics field is very vast and I have to force myself to specialize or I bounce all over the place and accomplish nothing.

    John

Children
No Data