On Sunday, 25 March 2018 16:34:36 UTC+1, critcher wrote:
On 24/03/2018 12:52, tabbypurr wrote:
On Saturday, 24 March 2018 10:40:24 UTC, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp wrote:
On Sat, 24 Mar 2018 07:31:43 +0000, Scott M wrote:
Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp wrote:
On Fri, 23 Mar 2018 21:42:57 +0000, Scott M
wrote:

I've got a 25W Antex iron with, on the recommendations of those here,
the silicone cable.

Silicone cable sounds good, but if you are in danger of burning the
cable, it suggests a problem with technique, not materials.

Que? It's mechanical wear and tear to the conductors, nothing to do with
wrapping the cable round the hot bit!

Exactly, but if contact with heat is not a worry, why silicone cable?

PVC is fine, if you look hard you can find some that will set like a
poker in cold weather, and maybe a 15W litesold might be too light for
PVC, but a 25W iron is o/k with the cable supplied if the
manufacturers choice is PVC.

I have used just about every available 25W iron and used them in all
temperatures with no problem. I suppose some workshops were a bit
frosty first thing, but if it was cold enough to stiffen the mains
cable to the iron, the shivering of the operator would ensure a
multitude of dry joints anyway. Better to wait for the heating to kick
in.

Weller only supplied their soldering stations with silicone cable, but
this was never a factor in choosing the equipment. Should another
maker produce the same with PVC cable, if the cost saving was
channeled through to the final price, then the Weller wouldn't have
been ordered.

AB

PVC is fine. At least until the tip touches it and you have exposed conductors. I suppose cotton covered rubber, the old iron flex, would beat rubber alone.


NT

I have never known an old clothes iron flex that lasted more than 18
months, they all seem to twist inside and break up the cotton and rubber.

Hmm. Perhaps you iron everything.


NT