Daughter says her curling tongs are knackered (for the incogniscenti,
this is an electrical appliance looking like a large pink soldering
iron, which apparently you wind your hair round for some reason).

Had a look at the fuse - OK - then dismantled it to look for obvious
problems: none that I could see. Measured the resistance across the L
and N pins of the plug - it was 2.5 kohms; ie there was continuity in
the heating element. That resistance corresponds to a power of 23W if I
remember my O-level physics correctly. There's no power rating on the
tongs themselves. AFAICS the things aren't heating up at all.

Does this make any sense to anyone?

Thanks
David

On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 22:11:53 GMT, Lobster
had this to say:

Daughter says her curling tongs are knackered (for the incogniscenti,
this is an electrical appliance looking like a large pink soldering
iron, which apparently you wind your hair round for some reason).

Had a look at the fuse - OK - then dismantled it to look for obvious
problems: none that I could see. Measured the resistance across the L
and N pins of the plug - it was 2.5 kohms; ie there was continuity in
the heating element. That resistance corresponds to a power of 23W if I
remember my O-level physics correctly. There's no power rating on the
tongs themselves. AFAICS the things aren't heating up at all.

Is the mains supply reaching the socket?

Check that the screws are tight in the plug. It may be that as you
measure the resistance the circuit is ok, but when you plug it in the
wires are coming adrift of the pins, IYSWIM.

--
Frank Erskine

Lobster wrote:
Daughter says her curling tongs are knackered (for the incogniscenti,
this is an electrical appliance looking like a large pink soldering
iron, which apparently you wind your hair round for some reason).

Had a look at the fuse - OK - then dismantled it to look for obvious
problems: none that I could see. Measured the resistance across the L
and N pins of the plug - it was 2.5 kohms; ie there was continuity in
the heating element. That resistance corresponds to a power of 23W
if I remember my O-level physics correctly. There's no power rating
on the tongs themselves. AFAICS the things aren't heating up at all.

Does this make any sense to anyone?

Thanks
David

Probably a breakdown in that stuff(name escapes me) that insulates the
element.

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Lobster wrote:


Does this make any sense to anyone?

Curling tongs don't make any sense whatsoever to any of the male species.
Purchase a large garden shed and hide in it, claiming the complete inability
to repair anything girlie. Any repair attempt will inevitably fail and
cause endless agro which will be your fault. Make her waste even more money
on a new set.

I know about these things - I have a wife & two
daughters.....................


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 22:48:56 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Lobster wrote:


Does this make any sense to anyone?

Curling tongs don't make any sense whatsoever to any of the male species.
Purchase a large garden shed and hide in it, claiming the complete inability
to repair anything girlie. Any repair attempt will inevitably fail and
cause endless agro which will be your fault. Make her waste even more money
on a new set.

I know about these things - I have a wife & two
daughters.....................

You can't have!

The proper course of action is to study the tongs for a few days. Then
announce he needs a workshop to go further. Nip out and get a decent
garden shed. Equip it lavishly with power and heating. Then say he
can't do anything with it.

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:
Lobster wrote:

Daughter says her curling tongs are knackered (for the incogniscenti,
this is an electrical appliance looking like a large pink soldering
iron, which apparently you wind your hair round for some reason).

Had a look at the fuse - OK - then dismantled it to look for obvious
problems: none that I could see. Measured the resistance across the L
and N pins of the plug - it was 2.5 kohms; ie there was continuity in
the heating element. That resistance corresponds to a power of 23W
if I remember my O-level physics correctly. There's no power rating
on the tongs themselves. AFAICS the things aren't heating up at all.

Does this make any sense to anyone?

Probably a breakdown in that stuff(name escapes me) that insulates the
element.

But surely that would cause a short within the heating area, and
presumably therefore localised extra-hot heating of the element and/or
blowing a fuse, wouldn't it? Seems very curious to me.

Haven't a clue whether the 2.5kohms I measured is 'normal' or not. That
equates to 100mA; the device comes with a pre-fitted 3A fuse which ties
in with that.

Anybody able to measure the resistance of their own, working tongs, maybe?!

Thanks
David

Frank Erskine wrote:
On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 22:11:53 GMT, Lobster
had this to say:


Daughter says her curling tongs are knackered (for the incogniscenti,
this is an electrical appliance looking like a large pink soldering
iron, which apparently you wind your hair round for some reason).

Had a look at the fuse - OK - then dismantled it to look for obvious
problems: none that I could see. Measured the resistance across the L
and N pins of the plug - it was 2.5 kohms; ie there was continuity in
the heating element. That resistance corresponds to a power of 23W if I
remember my O-level physics correctly. There's no power rating on the
tongs themselves. AFAICS the things aren't heating up at all.


Is the mains supply reaching the socket?

Check that the screws are tight in the plug. It may be that as you
measure the resistance the circuit is ok, but when you plug it in the
wires are coming adrift of the pins, IYSWIM.

That's a 'yes' on both counts!
Thanks
David

EricP wrote:
On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 22:48:56 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Lobster wrote:


Does this make any sense to anyone?

Curling tongs don't make any sense whatsoever to any of the male
species. Purchase a large garden shed and hide in it, claiming the
complete inability to repair anything girlie. Any repair attempt
will inevitably fail and cause endless agro which will be your
fault. Make her waste even more money on a new set.

I know about these things - I have a wife & two
daughters.....................

You can't have!

The proper course of action is to study the tongs for a few days. Then
announce he needs a workshop to go further. Nip out and get a decent
garden shed. Equip it lavishly with power and heating. Then say he
can't do anything with it.

*Nods in agreement and profers an oil-stained hand to a fellow sheddi*

Si

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
Daughter says her curling tongs are knackered (for the incogniscenti,
this is an electrical appliance looking like a large pink soldering
iron, which apparently you wind your hair round for some reason).

Had a look at the fuse - OK - then dismantled it to look for obvious
problems: none that I could see. Measured the resistance across the L
and N pins of the plug - it was 2.5 kohms; ie there was continuity in
the heating element. That resistance corresponds to a power of 23W if I
remember my O-level physics correctly. There's no power rating on the
tongs themselves. AFAICS the things aren't heating up at all.

Does this make any sense to anyone?

Curling tongs don't make sense.

Mary

On Fri, 09 Jun 2006 07:07:07 GMT, Lobster
wrote:


That's a 'yes' on both counts!
Thanks

You've got a situation there any service engineer would find familiar.

Everything's OK but it still doesn't bloody work.

Seriously, examine the flex at the point where it enters the
appliance. The heat can cause the flex to harden and become brittle.
Then the whirly twirling movements can cause it to crack and then it's
only held together by the conductors which will fail by work
hardening. The contact might still be made in some orientations of the
curler / flex. Alternatively your test meter might have been measuring
a path through the carbon at the break, which burns away when plugged
into the mains.

My daughter had a pair of these :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/4991792.stm

Which had an US standard flex which failed in the manner I described
above. I reported them to Leeds trading standards who took away the
defective straighteners saying only the importers, Jemella, (who were
local to us both) could determine whether or not they were
counterfeit. They'd be bound to be totally honest and impartial
wouldn't they.

Seems trading standards in Gloucestershire were more assertive.

Wonder why?

HTH

DG

"Derek ^" wrote in message
My daughter had a pair of these :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/4991792.stm

Which had an US standard flex which failed in the manner I described
above. I reported them to Leeds trading standards who took away the
defective straighteners saying only the importers, Jemella, (who were
local to us both) could determine whether or not they were
counterfeit. They'd be bound to be totally honest and impartial
wouldn't they.

Seems trading standards in Gloucestershire were more assertive.

Wonder why?

In my experience the West Yorkshire TS were more on the ball than the Leeds
ones, who seem to be more interested in second hand cars than anything else.

They might have changed over the years ...

Mary

On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 22:11:53 GMT, Lobster
wrote:

That resistance corresponds to a power of 23W if I
remember my O-level physics correctly. There's no power rating on the
tongs themselves. AFAICS the things aren't heating up at all.

Does this make any sense to anyone?

Common failure mode is for the wire to break inside the sheath,
usually within an inch or so of the plug or the appliance. When you
put it on the bench to measure resistance the law of Sod says the
wire ends will touch giving you the correct reading. When you move
them the wires separate. Try holding the test meter on the plug
while someone else moves the tongs and lead around.


--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/