On 29/07/12 11:06, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

It's even worse on Ebay where some idiots advertise as 120V, and the
items are clearly marked 240V.

Was only critical when it was a transformer. many manufacturers make
inverter based power supplies that will handle the full range. This
allows them to sell to a wider market and increase economies of scale.
However, I would still check before plonking down the dollars.

terryc wrote:

On 29/07/12 11:06, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

It's even worse on Ebay where some idiots advertise as 120V, and the
items are clearly marked 240V.

Was only critical when it was a transformer. many manufacturers make
inverter based power supplies that will handle the full range. This
allows them to sell to a wider market and increase economies of scale.
However, I would still check before plonking down the dollars.


How many solderig stations use a switching power supply? I've never
seen one, even though I snagged a 150W DC to DC converter for a couple
bucks on Ebay.

On 2012-07-29, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

terryc wrote:

On 29/07/12 11:06, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

It's even worse on Ebay where some idiots advertise as 120V, and the
items are clearly marked 240V.

Was only critical when it was a transformer. many manufacturers make
inverter based power supplies that will handle the full range. This
allows them to sell to a wider market and increase economies of scale.
However, I would still check before plonking down the dollars.


How many solderig stations use a switching power supply? I've never
seen one, even though I snagged a 150W DC to DC converter for a couple
bucks on Ebay.

Would you be willing to consider a duty-cycle controlled iron
heater to be switching? But it would probably get current spikes a bit
too high when run on 240 VAC instead of 120 VAC. However, some PACE
soldering stations have electronics, too. Too late at night to go down
to the electronics shop and look at the manual to see how that part of
it is powered. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

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"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2012-07-29, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

terryc wrote:

On 29/07/12 11:06, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

It's even worse on Ebay where some idiots advertise as 120V, and the
items are clearly marked 240V.

Was only critical when it was a transformer. many manufacturers make
inverter based power supplies that will handle the full range. This
allows them to sell to a wider market and increase economies of scale.
However, I would still check before plonking down the dollars.


How many solderig stations use a switching power supply? I've never
seen one, even though I snagged a 150W DC to DC converter for a couple
bucks on Ebay.

Would you be willing to consider a duty-cycle controlled iron
heater to be switching? But it would probably get current spikes a bit
too high when run on 240 VAC instead of 120 VAC. However, some PACE
soldering stations have electronics, too. Too late at night to go down
to the electronics shop and look at the manual to see how that part of
it is powered. :-)


A lot of the variable temperature controlled irons work with 24 VAC
and a phase controlled switch like a light dimmer. I'm looking at a
variable DC power supply with a thermistor in the iron to control the
feedback and maintain the temperature. That should lower the voltage
between the iron's tip and the local ground to help prevent ESD.