a quiz about AC power

[jneutron]

Originally posted by poobah
This is getting complicated rapidly.

Nah..

What about the thermostatic device? If it's one of those magnetic styles that use the curie temperature to disconnect the heat path to the tip, that is indeed an issue. It would try to maintain the proper tip temperature, but dwell below temp would (of course) be longer..ie, the duty cycle would be extended by the lower power capability.

How much energy is involved in the magnetic domain conversion?? Or do we consider it as a lossless system, thereby introducing an unknown variance..

Stand orientation is another issue. What angle, what is the convection cooling rate...that needs room temp number..and the density, so the altitude of the workshop is an issue, as well as the barometric pressure. And, the barrel diameter. Is the tip conical or does it have flat surfaces...

Cheers, John.

PS..heard new riders of the purple sage last night..they are good...

Almost duct taped the sound board operator to a door of a bathroom stall, man did he butcher the vocals..(as in..what vocals)

[poobah]

Now consider if the iron had been used for any period of time, on symmetric AC, and had established true bi-directionality in conduction properties of the filament. How long would it require for the expected adirectionality of the filament to develop when using the diode?

[dnsey]

But from what I've read, once burned in, a length of wire has superior conductivity properties for ANY signal, symmetrical or assymetric (otherwise, far from improving its sound, the resulting non-linearity of a cable would result in increased distortion).
The real question is whether the iron is rated at 50W when brand new or after x hours of running in.

[poobah]

You're dismissing the pioneering works of B. Alderdash (a Brit BTW), N. Onsense and others...

[Tony]

can't believe that this thread is now 3pages long, so mr threadstater, would you mind telling us who passed your quiz?

[smoking-amp]

You all failed! Have to take into account the sag in the power line voltage when plugged in. 24.5 Watts unless you bought one of those $500 silver power cords, then 24.6 Watts.

No cheating allowed by putting the iron on the floor so the electrons role down the hill easier!

Don

[smoking-amp]

Of course, some irons have an SCR temp control, so one will either get 0% power with a diode or 100%, depending on polarity. And some better irons have an xfmr, in which case you will get smoke too! (and 1000% power)

Don

[KBK]

Originally posted by tubelab.com
DON'T try this on ANY device that uses a power transformer. The resulting DC offset will cause saturation in the transformer, followed by smoke in the transformer. The smoke will not stay in the transformer for long!

Would there not also be just a touch of the 'inductive collapse' coming down the pike as a thermal buildup issue? Just musing a bit, gotta morning coffee in me (so far) , being adventerous.

[KBK]

Originally posted by poobah
You're dismissing the pioneering works of B. Alderdash (a Brit BTW), and others...

N. Onsense , isn't he from Pakistan or was that India?

What color is this soldering iron, anyway?

[DigitalJunkie]

Now the REAL question is,Which sounds better?
Joints soldered with an iron with a diode
or
Joints soldered with an iron without a diode