Warning on Soldering irons

[melmerby]

I always found it ironic that you needed a soldering iron to replace the element! 

Not so with the Adcola. It has screw terminals.

 

Keith

[N15class]

I had the opposite happen, here we are 110 so ordered irons from america as they would be 110, the bu@@ers sent me 140 ones as I was in Brazil. So by them trying to be helpful I was in the same boat as before with even more 240 irons. But now I have installed some English sockets that wont take the 110 plugs so no problems.

[rocor]

Here is resting my soldering equipment after over 2 years ownership.

 

I have not made a start yet in the delicate art of soldering. I am surprised though, with the amount of etched kits available that there is not a dedicated soldering thread on this site.

 

Edited May 12, 2018 by rocor

[57xx]

Just make thing simpler, change the thread title to "Warning - don't buy cheap electrical tat from China off eBay". They dump so much non-conforming rubbish on the market, you are playing Russian roulette with your life at times. I've seen way too many outright dangerous products with mains voltages present where they shouldn't be to bother be a cheapskate.

[melmerby]

What worries me aboutsome of this tat is such as mains sockets and light switches for house wiring which are extremely dodgy but very available at the bargain end of the high street.

 

Some have fake compiance marking and are really useless.

But people buy them because they are cheap.

 

Keith

[bertiedog]

Interesting comments, which can apply to a lot of Far Eastern goods, 

 

In this case, the irons actually work OK though, it is the rating of the elements working voltage that is at fault.

The basic type offered has an insert tip, held by screws, and can have the tip exchanged for phosphor bronze rod etc., easily.

Tne standard tip is plated steel, and if correctly tinned and maintained lasts well.

 

But there are better made irons with push on tips etc and the leading types nowadays are the soldering station types. The Chinese make copies of the Japanese originals. Again it is true the copies are sometimes miss described in both the adds and instructions, but they work.

 

The problems come from translation and lack of understanding the regulation standards by the factory.

 

Most Chinese production is based on selling goods as ordered, to a specification. They did not originate equipment, nor make copies or fakes, they made what Western Companies ordered.

 

High-quality items are made, all Apple equipment is Chinese, such production has resulted in expertise that has improved the specs of non-branded goods.

 

The high spec stuff for Western brands have strict standards and backup like instructions, the low-end clones are often identical, but sold direct from Hong Kong etc, with no effort at description or understanding of standards.

 

Ebay attracts the direct sellers and the troubles start with seemingly false statements, bad translation, and odd claims.

 

We should not run around shouting out they are all fakes etc, when it is not the product that is fake, but the marketing. However, there still lurks under all of this downright dishonest and unsafe goods as well.

 

It is a murky area and before we call in the authorities, it must be remembered the self-same factories make the respected branded goods for the West as well.

 

The Western branded manufacturers rely on cheap sourced goods to stay in business these days, they set a spec and the Chinese meet it. The troubles come as the Chinese are learning to sell direct.

 

Western makes are not going to ever compete on basic items, it must be confined to more complex and exotic goods for Western productions.

 

On soldering equipment, the current Euro makers are not, in general, better made until very expensive makers are involved.

 

The main problem we have with all soldering on models is the user, not the equipment. Lack of experience, half learnt techniques, and plain bad practices are the bane of good soldering.

 

Add in miss described FE goods and it becomes a minefield, literally so, if so bad as to make the equipment lethal in some way.

 

Stephen.

[melmerby]

Some of this "tat" is actually of Chinese instigation which is then "hawked" to buyers at the bottom end of the market, there are no originals to copy from, they are the originals.

They use Western designs for inspiration and then make an equivalent at the cheapest possible price. Quality, safety and correct operation doesn't come into the equation.

The cheap mains sockets etc. do not have a direct UK equivalent as they do not look like MK, Crabtree etc. therefore they don't have the correct materials, contact spacing etc.

A test of some Chinese origin MCBs found that only the physical size met any standards as the internals were just rubbish and exploded when tested.

 

Incidentally Apple use Foxconn for a lot of their production, a company that was known for producing budget (but usable) PC kit!

 

 

Keith

[trustytrev]

Hello,

       It is extremely difficult to purchase computer products /components that are not made in China.The same can be said about most electronic goods these days if one cares to look at circuit boards found inside. We recently got a tumble drier manufactured in the UK which has been nothing but trouble. Put bluntly it is total crap.Many have had fire and safety issues so I don't think claims  about Chinese manufacturers differ much from British products in reality.

trustytrev.

[polybear]

Just make thing simpler, change the thread title to "Warning - don't buy cheap electrical tat from China off eBay". They dump so much non-conforming rubbish on the market, you are playing Russian roulette with your life at times. I've seen way too many outright dangerous products with mains voltages present where they shouldn't be to bother be a cheapskate.

 

Mobile phone chargers off Ebay are a particular hazard, it seems....

[melmerby]

Hello,

     We recently got a tumble drier manufactured in the UK which has been nothing but trouble. Put bluntly it is total crap.Many have had fire and safety issues so I don't think claims  about Chinese manufacturers differ much from British products in reality.

trustytrev.

What make of tumble drier?

We used to buy Creda 40 odd years ago. Had a couple - absolutely fine, then they were taken over by Merloni (now part of Whirlpool) and were made abroad - absolute shite, same with the Creda spin drier. The last one we had broke down after 30 days - motor burnt out.

Merloni wouldn't replace it telling us we would have to have it repaired. The were no motors in stock so there was a three month (at least) wait to get it repaired. The place we bought it from bought another, out of their own pocket, and swapped it.

Now we buy White Knight.

 

Chinese manufacturers can roughly be put into three main categories

1, Foreign companies operating in China with a Chinese workforce, upper management will be Foreign (Sony, Canon, etc.)

2, Independent Chinese companies making products for or to a Foreign specification. (Foxconn, Acer etc.) This applies to the model train manufacturers.

3, Chinese companies making products at the lowest possible price, quite often to no standard at all.

 

Most products fall into the first two categories, which is fine, unfortunately there is a significant amount of the third supplying products of dubious quality.

 

Keith

[57xx]

Mobile phone chargers off Ebay are a particular hazard, it seems....

 

They are churning out all sorts of rubbish, there are some horrific videos on Youtube dissecting some of the items. My dad bought a load of LED spotlight bulbs from eBay. When one failed he asked me to swap it out - the thing fell apart in my hand as I tried to remove it from the fitting and bare wires were exposed. Thankfully I'd checked to make sure the light switch was definitely in the off position beforehand!