i have a 25W radioshack soldering iron that doesn't have an on/off switch. this is a PITA to reach under the desk and plug in and unplug every time, not to mention unsafe because my foot regularly hits the cord, and eventually i will get some nice scars on my scrotum from hitting the cord too hard and burning myself; and i also sometimes forget to unplug it, leaving it on for days at a time (the original tip got so hot that a little concave formed in the tip, and it hasn't soldered right since) i thought i might fit a Timer Switch, Jumbo 120V AC Neon Lamp, and a single 120V outlet inside a Radioshack Project Box could i wire the timer switch (one of those switches that you turn like an egg timer, and the light or whatever turns off when the timer reaches zero) so the outlet and neon lamp are in parallel, and use a chopped extension cord to wrap this all around my desk? the picture i linked for the timer switch isn't the exact one i wanted, I'd prefer an hour or so, so i'd have to reset it less. would this work, or should i wire the neon lamp in series with the iron?
Neons only use microamps so putting one in series will give a nice glow but no heat. Your first idea was right. Only time I've had an iron fail was after leaving it on all night.
Or, if you do a lot of electronics work, screw a power-strip to the top of your desk, no more bending, and you can easilly see if youve left something plugged in
just to be clear, wire the setup like this? L1 is the neon lamp S1 is the timer switch J1 is the power plug i'd plug the iron into (forgot the power line from the wall to the switch) i've got some 14ga. solid core copper wire for the internals, is this heavy enough?
14G would be OK for 25A, should handle anything the switch will. Useful chart for wire current-ratings
no not 25w, power= volts * amps, so amps =power / volts, therefore it's 25/220 = .11A or for 120v its would be .21A
See the "wink" smiley. Or to rephrase, "14G would be OK for 25A even, never mind a pissy little 25W, should handle anything the switch will. "
ohhh, ok... i thought 25a was a bit excessive, considering the power cord on my iron is 18ga. (i just noticed, it has small writing imprinted on the cord)
