Model Railroader warning that some soldering irons can leak current through tip and destroy electronics.

I never heard of that before!

Mine is butane. I am a GM dealership technician, we were warned about electric soldering irons on air bag systems years ago. We were told the small current can deploy the bags. I have not used electric on any circuit boards or electronics since I learned this.

Any AC device can leak current if not properly insulated or damaged.

If grounded correctly the breaker or GFI should trip for safety to protect the user, but not the electronics necessary.

UL labs tests designs for fire and electric safety not user errors.

Use USA made quality tools and most problems will be avoided.

Now were are my replacement Kidde Fire Extinguisers ?

 I brought this topic up a week ago and got a couple responses to the thread. Glad the topic found some legs. Clip an AC voltmeter to the tip of your cold soldering iron and the other clip on the voltmeter to a known good ground. Now plug in your iron and look at the reading on your meter.  Many irons even some advertised as ESD safe have a tip to ground voltage of a couple of volts caused by induction between the heating element and the iron in the tip. The WELLER and other soldering GUNS are REALLY BAD I use mine a lot and the tip to ground voltage on it is 35 VOLTS. On the other hand my supposed ESD safe iron puts nearly 3 volts on the tip.  I use a set of ground bracelets when handling electronics and use a seperate ground clip on the tip of the iron just to make sure.  Look at photos of Weller gun and my 25watt iron grounded and ungrounded.  J

I have used that Weller gun to desolder some large parts and as long as the seperate ground was attached to the tip all has been OK.  However without the addition of the ground wire the tip has 35V on it.  J

Back in the day 1950-60's, I built many a Heathkit with my trusty Weller. Of course, these were vacuum tube amplifiers and they contained no printed circuit boards or chips. Kinda miss those days!

About ten years ago I sold a Heathkit Mono tube amp that I built when I was 16, to a guy in Moscow Russia for $400+ shipping. I still have an EICO Monoblock amp and an oscilloscope that I built in my early twenties along with a bunch of other test equipment.  And yes it was that same Weller gun in my photos that I used to build the kits.  J

Mine is butane. I am a GM dealership technician, we were warned about electric soldering irons on air bag systems years ago. We were told the small current can deploy the bags. I have not used electric on any circuit boards or electronics since I learned this.

A good friend is also a GM dealership mechanic. He told me that they would be help liable for the cost if they used an electric soldering tool on an air bag system and it went off. He used a butane iron on air bags too. Lots of mechanics also have Weller soldering guns for other uses.

Some of the old school Princess and Imperial soldering guns I own have a ground.

I have a couple of grounded Weller desoldering irons too. The desoldering irons have a hollow tip and a squeeze bulb to suck out the solder. Not much good to clean up terminals with excessive solder, but they work well on old printed circuit boards.

Thank you CTR for passing on this knowledge. I'm going to open up my Weller and remove the two wire cord. I have a few three prong cords I saved from things trashed. Shouldn't be too hard to attach the mechanical ground internally.

Hello,

I'd be interested in learning more about using the butane method.  What butane tool should one purchase and how does one use it?

Thanks in advance,     

Steve

You should always use an ESD Safe iron on electronics.  I personally use the Hakko FX-888D, which is certified ESD Safe, and it's never zapped any of my electronics.

John, why did you chose the 888D. I see they have 15 different models. If you needed to replace it, would you buy the same model? I'm in the market for a better iron.

Yep, I have no problems with the FX-888D.  If I were designing it, I'd add some legends to the control panel, I took the liberty of adding them myself.

My only gripe is trying to do too much with two buttons.  However, once I addressed this simply oversight, I've been nothing but pleased with my purchase.

You have a very handy calibration capability, but if you make a mistake and press the wrong button to enter the tip temperature setting mode, you end up screwing up the calibration.  Fortunately, I have the tip calibrator, so I could bring it back into calibration.

I love the idea that I can actually calibrate the tip temperature to the true tip temperature and not a guess like many soldering stations.  There's a reason that the FX-888D is used in countless industrial settings, it's a solid and reliable workstation.

Do note that the Weller gun has a transformer, which can induce a current in another circuit even without an electrical connection.

Another good reason why I like post-war trains.  No electronics to fry.  Oh and one more, my brain understands them.  

RJR posted:

Do note that the Weller gun has a transformer, which can induce a current in another circuit even without an electrical connection.

Virtually all of the quality soldering stations have a transformer, that isn't the issue.

   I have had a half dozen butane irons. My Weller lasted longest and is still kicking.

I put it's value right up there with a cordless drill.

  The two reasons for failure are usually; the heat deteriorated the screen than keeps the gas contains within the tips chamber. The usually still work, but without the red hot screen to ensure total ignition in at that point, flame can protude from the ports unexpectedly (small, hardly noticible by eye, but your piece or fingers may let you know )

....the other reason is poor quality butane plugging the filter. A pita to try and find or replace. Letting them sit valve open for a long period of time (weeks months+) may let moisture in the filter evaporate and breath new life into one. Other contaminants can plug them forever. I bought food/medical grade butane when I could.

Look for packages with multiple tip sizes, micro torch tip, & adjustible heat.

When you light one, flame will be outside the tip. Let the screen get red hot, and the flame will begin to ignite before leaving the ports. Sometimes turning the gas down is necessary to have the flame "turtle" it's way into the tip.

I also prefer a handy Bic for lighting vs. the flint/igniter wheel on the iron's caps. 

I kept one in my vehicles. You never know when you'll need flame or passive heat.

GRJ, True, but with the soldering station, the transformer is far from the item, whereas with the Weller gun, it's close.

Post is a bit misleading. First of all, who uses a soldering gun on small electronic circuit boards?

I've worked on tens of thousands of electronic items using Weller WTCP irons for over 40 years now, never had an issue. Hakko is generally the dominant and safe iron used in today's facilities. If people took a deeper dive into todays electronic BGA's & protection circuits, they wouldn't be assuming and generalizing such things.