Soldering iron help!

I just bought an iron off ebay, and i plugged it in and after a minute or 2, it started to smoke. Is this normal? its a 60 watt iron. Ive never done this or seen this before. Any kind of help would be apprciated. Thanks

Is it smoking from the tip?

Is it brand new? A 60 watt iron is a lot off heat and if there is anything left over on the tip, it may just be burning whatever crap is still on there.

If it is new, it may just be burning some of the oils that come on the tips sometimes. I don't think there is anything to worry about, IF it's smoking from the tip. Otherwise, I have never had a soldering iron smoke from near the handle. Might be bad.

yeaaah, its brand new. The tip has never touched anything yet. I pluuged it in, and around a minute later, it was really warm, and smoke started coming out from near the handles...might have seen some sparks as well, but i should check that out again.

I could see it perhaps, maybe, possibly smoking the first time you turn it on. Something could be on the heated part inside the handle. Im not sure about that though. I know mine never did, but I could see it happening. Try leaving it on longer, but keep an eye on it.

Cameron

how long does it take to warm up so then i could use it?

hey no problem i just used a brand new one the other day and it smoked a little bit on it's first warmup....it should be fine

I started it up again guys....still smokin. i trashed it, i think its time for a new one...
Any recommendations?!

It's REALLY REALLY hard to trash a soldering iron. It's probably just oils, protective finishes and the like burning off of it.

Here is what I would do. Turn it off, wait for it to cool down. Now, take some solder, and wrap the TIP of the iron, oh say, for the first 1/4-3/8". Pu the iron in it's stand, and plug it in. Within a few minutes (say 5 - watch the clock), the solder will melt (YES the tip will now REALLY be smoking - as the rosin burns off)

If it does that - you have a working iron, and I wouldn't worry about too much else unless it's a serious soldering station - then you have to check temp control and grounding

I have a weller 60/100 watt gun i use for wire soldering, it never smokes or anything, i love it. And i have a little 35wattt iron for everything else. Niether one smokes other than as KC2IXE, from rosin flux from the solder itself.

Shane

I've never had one smoke from the handle before so I don't know about your situation.

I also have a 100watt gun Shane. It's hot enough that I rarely use it for "work". It is fun just to take it out and see what I can melt with it though.

[ QUOTE ]
KC2IXE said:
It's REALLY REALLY hard to trash a soldering iron. It's probably just oils, protective finishes and the like burning off of it.

Here is what I would do. Turn it off, wait for it to cool down. Now, take some solder, and wrap the TIP of the iron, oh say, for the first 1/4-3/8". Pu the iron in it's stand, and plug it in. Within a few minutes (say 5 - watch the clock), the solder will melt (YES the tip will now REALLY be smoking - as the rosin burns off)

If it does that - you have a working iron, and I wouldn't worry about too much else unless it's a serious soldering station - then you have to check temp control and grounding

[/ QUOTE ]

It seems to be coming out of the wiring, near the handles. It does get hot thats for sure. And it never did come with an ironing stand /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I think i'll just grab a new one, i dont want to be hurt with electricity /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

If smoke is issuing from or near the handle-end, that is definitely not good at all. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif

Yeah - rear of handle - sounds trashed