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Step 16Temp #3
I got 310+ degrees centigrade. Could have got more but wasn't needed for what I intended to use this baby for. Also was getting too paranoid about watching those numbers rise...rofl
OVERVIEW: I turned on the blower and found several air leaks. I sealed them up with solid setting putty. The moment of truth is near. Now I needed a a power source. I thought of small transformers but wanted variable supply of voltage and amperage, so I could figure out peak operating conditions. I retrieved my old AUSTRALIAN MADE voltage regulator (ex R.A.A.F. stock) and hooked her up to my iron. All the stuff made today that we get is made in China and is unreliable as all hell. This baby was made to last and work. I had the fan connected to my battery pack separate to the solder heating element. The reasons were obvious :) I lit up a smoke and prepared for the worst....
I started at low DC voltage...the amps are automatically calibrated by the regulator. I had my multimeter set aside to measure temperature of hot air. To make a long story short (lol), at 16volts DC and just over 2 amps...temperature reached was 275 degrees centigrade...KEWLIES!!! I reached my target temperature. I cut through 1mm solder wire like swiss cheese. I was able to remove LED's from a PCB board without even frying them or my fingers which held the LED's from the other side of the board. The metal shaft on the soldering iron was much COOLER than it was when running under 240 volts. I could touch the metal shaft without burning my fingers. It was rather hot where the element is though, but still cooler substantially. What makes mine different from the other creations I saw on the WWW? I have a coiled heating element with a huge surface area of good hotness (lol) that has cold air passing directly through them. The other units I saw use the heating element from the original solder iron, a copper conductor rod that absorbs heat from the element and sends the heat to the tip, some wire mesh in the air cavity to increase surface exposure to cold air exposed to heat. I removed all those conductive barriers and increased efficiency by heaps.
OVERVIEW: I turned on the blower and found several air leaks. I sealed them up with solid setting putty. The moment of truth is near. Now I needed a a power source. I thought of small transformers but wanted variable supply of voltage and amperage, so I could figure out peak operating conditions. I retrieved my old AUSTRALIAN MADE voltage regulator (ex R.A.A.F. stock) and hooked her up to my iron. All the stuff made today that we get is made in China and is unreliable as all hell. This baby was made to last and work. I had the fan connected to my battery pack separate to the solder heating element. The reasons were obvious :) I lit up a smoke and prepared for the worst....
I started at low DC voltage...the amps are automatically calibrated by the regulator. I had my multimeter set aside to measure temperature of hot air. To make a long story short (lol), at 16volts DC and just over 2 amps...temperature reached was 275 degrees centigrade...KEWLIES!!! I reached my target temperature. I cut through 1mm solder wire like swiss cheese. I was able to remove LED's from a PCB board without even frying them or my fingers which held the LED's from the other side of the board. The metal shaft on the soldering iron was much COOLER than it was when running under 240 volts. I could touch the metal shaft without burning my fingers. It was rather hot where the element is though, but still cooler substantially. What makes mine different from the other creations I saw on the WWW? I have a coiled heating element with a huge surface area of good hotness (lol) that has cold air passing directly through them. The other units I saw use the heating element from the original solder iron, a copper conductor rod that absorbs heat from the element and sends the heat to the tip, some wire mesh in the air cavity to increase surface exposure to cold air exposed to heat. I removed all those conductive barriers and increased efficiency by heaps.
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