[Boatanchors] Y'all are right, the Harbor Fright Soldering gun is a piece of cr*p

[Phil]

Well, when I tried to stand up for the HF soldering gun Y'all tried to 
tell me they aren't any good.  The tips burn out very quickly and HF 
doesn't sell any replacement tips for it.  Think somebody here said 
theirs melted the plastic the first time they used it.

Today, preparatory to getting an ESD static mat, I was grounding my 
metal workbench and the bar stool I sit on at the bench (yeah I'm aware 
of the safety ramifications and plan to getting an isolation xformer 
too).  I haven't worked on any AC/DC sets in a long time, but it pays to 
be safe.  There is a foam mat glued on the bench top as well as on the 
floor in front of the bench, but they are NOT ESD safe as they generate 
static electricity themselves (didn't realize that when I glued it to 
the new bench top back in March).  I'm thinking about building a 
SoftRock SDR receiver as my next project and I don't want to fry 
everything on it while building it. . .

Anyway, I was putting some solder lugs on wires to interconnect 
everything when the "Harbor Fright" Soldering gun gave out with a loud 
"sizzle" and let a bit of the "Magic Smoke" out!  Results, one dead 
soldering gun.  I opened it up and it appears that the primary is open, 
no continuity across it at all.

Think I bought it sometime around April, give or take.  It was shortly 
after I installed the HF workbench in March (now, the workbench is a 
real jewel, I love it).

I can't find the receipt, but I AM going to try to exchange it at the 
store.  I know that they DO warrant their hand-tools (screwdrivers, 
pliers etc) for life.  But likely a Soldering gun doesn't fall into that 
category, but it's worth a try.  All my purchases are in their computer 
(I've had to exchange a couple things shortly after buying them).

IF they DO exchange it, I'll probably give it to some hapless local ham 
who doesn't know any better ;-)  I intend to buy a new Weller this next 
week, either the 100/140W model or the next size up, maybe both IF my 
pockets are deep enough and I find a good price on them.  I use the temp 
controlled solder station for all my regular electronics work (that new 
X-Tronic dual iron station wifey bought be is a real beauty).  But there 
are times that a soldering gun is MUCH better, quick connections like 
wire splicing, outdoor antenna/ground work etc (I WON'T take the 
X-Tronic station outside).

-- 
73 de Phil,  KO6BB
http://www.qsl.net/ko6bb/  (Web Page)

PRESENT RADIOS:
Grundigs:    S-350 (~2006), G6 (2011) & S450DLX (2014).
HOMEBREW:    7 Tube+Rect Regenerative RX for LF (built 2015)
Icom:        R-75 With Cascaded 250 & 125Hz CW Filters. (~2005)
Icom:        IC-7200 Transceiver (~2015).
Radio Shack: DX-380 digital portable (~1990).
Zenith:      Royal-7000 Transoceanic Portable (~1968).

ACCESSORIES: HOMEBREW LF-MF Pre-Amp, MFJ-993B HF Auto-Tuner.
              HOMEBREW 8 Hz Audio Filter.

ANTENNAS:  88 foot Long Ladder-line fed dipole at 35 feet AGL for MW/SW.
            HOMEBREW Active Mini-Whip at 36 Feet AGL for LF/MW/SW.
            HOMEBREW 37 foot "Low Noise Vertical" at 11 feet AGL for LF/MW/SW.

Merced, Central California, 37, 18, 37N   120, 30, 6W CM97rh