[TowerTalk] 220/240 volt soldering irons

[Jim Lux]

At 08:46 AM 5/18/2005, Tom Anderson wrote:


>Fellow tower talkians:
>
>Any one know of a source stateside for 220/240 volt soldering irons I
>can take to a friend overseas?
>
>I've found a couple Weller irons, one a 25 watt (WP25D) for $38.06 and
>the other a 100 watt (W60PD3) for $74.13 from All Spec. Heck Sears
>wanted less than $10.00 yesterday for a 25 watt iron in a store I visited.
>
>I tried several places, but few listed 220/240 volt irons.  I  figured
>that the current draw of a 25-40  watt 120 volt domesticmig  ht be a
>little much for some of those tourist voltage converters.

25-40 W isn't all that much, and the grungiest "series diode" converter 
will work just fine (you could build one yourself... 100W is less than an 
amp on 120V.)

My wife runs her 1200W hairdryer using those tourist converters.  It's not 
like you need a nice pure sinewave for these things.




>  TSA won't let
>you ship the butane irons such as Pyropen, etc., by air in either
>carryon or checked baggage, as I read their regulations.
>

You can carry this sort of thing, IF and only if, the butane is 
empty.  You'll have to buy butane when you get to where you're going.  You 
might check if there's an exception for sealed containers that are approved 
for air transport (like the old Bleuet campstove cylinders, which are 
totally sealed until installed).