Falling asleep with the soldering iron still plugged in...

ArcadeGreg

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Falling asleep with the soldering iron still plugged in...

I know, I can't be the only one who wakes up to find a hot iron sitting on the work bench. Well that stops now. I tied my shop lights into the surge protector that powers my iron, because I never forget to turn off the lights. If you fall asleep with a hot iron, then change up the routine, because it's not worth losing all your games...or your life -- that's kind of important too:)
 
been there, done that.

I like to work on electronics in my arcade room. Why? One, ts frickin cool. TWO, all the outlets are on switches. WHen i leave that room, i hit every switch. If i forgot the iron, doesent matter because i killed all power to that room when i left.
 
I use something like this. I just plug it into the same power strip as the iron. It gives me a visual indicator the strip is still on.

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Same here, I have my desk lamp and overhead work light plugged into the same power strip as my soldering tools and test power supply/monitor. Although my soldering iron shuts off automatically after 99 minutes of inactivity, at least I know for sure it and everything else is off when I hit the switch to turn off the lights.
 
Same here, I have my desk lamp and overhead work light plugged into the same power strip as my soldering tools and test power supply/monitor. Although my soldering iron shuts off automatically after 99 minutes of inactivity, at least I know for sure it and everything else is off when I hit the switch to turn off the lights.

At which point your tip is already a burned piece of char, right? :p
 
My 2 main benches have a master switch for each on the back of the bench and the overhead lights on them are tied to it.

If I forget to turn them off then I see the light over the bench when I turn off the lights in the shop. ;)
 
I've accidentally left my iron on for three days! I don't have it turned up super hot, and the tip was fine.

But I've also accidentally left my bench test monitor turned on for a few days as well...
 
I use a thermonuclear soldering GUN, so it's only hot when I pull the trigger. ;)

Kinda wish I wasn't serious, but I am. :rolleyes:
 
My iron is plugged into the same strip as my desk lights. I still manually turn it on/off, so this is just a reminder in case I forget (since I always turn the lights off when I'm done).

LeChuck
 
In high school I would solder on my bed. Burned my sheets more than once. Young and dumb rhyme for a reason.
 
I have a dead man switch on my stool so when I get up, its off. But for the times I need it to warm up, I just set bricks on my stool. J/k.. Although a dead man switch would be cool, I get up to often to get a drink, snack, bathroom, my iron would always be cold.
 
Soldering irons.

My two year old nephew burned his foot in my garage because I left my soldering iron on. I felt horrible. I am normally very good about remembering things like this.

Oh, and the other day I left my wallet around the shop at work. It must be a sign of old age.
 
I have a checklist I go through every time I leave the garage (for the night)...

Irons
Test monitors
ISO (I use it for testing everything)
Laptop/rom burner
Thermostat (garage is heated)
Do a quick pan around..

Lights.

Sit there and fight to find the key for the garage for 10 minutes before opening the door back up...turning on the lights, finding the key, turning off the lights and closing/locking the door. Swear that some day I'll get an led light for the doorway or remember to find the key first.
 
In highschool I left one plugged in for probably a few days on my Dad's workbench. I was using a wet rag to clean the tip and apparently left the iron resting on it. When I found it, the rag was blackened and when I lifted the iron it burst into flames right where the iron had been laying. Not sure of the thermodynamics behind that, some sort of spontaneous combustion.
 
My two year old nephew burned his foot in my garage because I left my soldering iron on. I felt horrible. I am normally very good about remembering things like this.

Oh, and the other day I left my wallet around the shop at work. It must be a sign of old age.

Was the iron on the floor? How bad was the burn?? :(
 
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