Caught my 20 year old soldering iron smoking at the workbench last night

I was re-tinning the tip on my old Weller iron, the one I've had since 2005. Smoke started pouring from the handle, not the tip. I unplugged it quick and found the heat shrink on the internal wires had turned to dust and cracked, letting the wires touch. Could've started a fire. Check your old soldering irons for cracked insulation near the handle, especially if you've had them forever. Has anyone else seen this happen with older tools?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_vera2d ago

Oh man, that's scary... I had the same thing happen with an old RadioShack iron I picked up at a garage sale. The wire insulation just crumbled when I moved it, like it was dust. I found out the hard way that the heat from the handle over years just bakes the plastic until it's brittle. I've started checking all my old tools now, not just irons. My heat gun's cord is getting stiff too, so I'm keeping an eye on it. It's wild how something that works fine one day can turn into a fire hazard the next...

coleman.henry2d ago

Right, and the scary part is you think you're being smart buying old tools because they're built better, but then the wiring gets you. I swear my grandpa's old drill probably has asbestos in the handle AND wiring that'd crumble if you sneezed near it. Now every time I pick up one of my dad's old tools I give the cord a little flex test first, like I'm some kind of electrical engineer. My workshop's starting to look like a museum of "yeah, that could kill me tomorrow" displays.