[Boatanchors] Weller Iron Frustrations

[Robert Nickels]

On 5/14/2013 7:17 AM, Dave Harmon wrote:
> Mine never get loose and never go hi-z.
I have to say that mine do loosen up, but it's part of normal use to 
tighten the nuts down once in a while.  Geez, this design has stood the 
test of time, guys!  Carl Weller invented and filed for a patent on his 
"Electrical Heating Apparatus"  (U.S. Patent 2,405,866) in 1941, and he 
started a company to make them after WWII.   Look at the patent drawings 
and you will see that the curve-ended tip held in place with two nuts 
has been there since the very beginning, and if it was such a problem it 
would have been redesigned.     Cooper Industries and Danaher combined 
their hand tool holdings to create Apex Tool Group two years ago, so 
Weller and many other tool brands are once again owned by a company 
focused on nothing but tools (acquired last year by Bain Capital).

A little PM is a small price to pay for such a useful tool - I've got 
one Weller gun that has been dropped and broken so many times (not even 
by me!) that the housing is more black electrical tape than plastic, yet 
it keeps on working as well as a brand-new one.

73, Bob W9RAN