Electronic workbench fire

[IanMacdonald]

That looks like a certain popular heat gun.  Although these things are cheap and useful I'd strongly advise against leaving them on standby unattended.

In fact after seeing that I think I'll investigate fitting a thermal fuse to mine.

Though I'm wondering if there should be a recall on them.

[CopperCone]

I leave that piece of shit unplugged. Fucking classic chinese engineering. That yihua is the shadiest thing on my bench.

I love when people argue with me about flame retardant plastics and call me paranoid. Should be built to prevent fire in any short that can occur and not trigger the fuse, otherwise you can reasonably blame the fuse. In any mode of operation. It should be glowing red fucking hot but not catch on fire.

Also if you have a hot air station, I highly recommend experimenting with it at maximum settings to see where you can place it incase the heater and fan turn on, so you don't torch something with the hot air.

[langwadt]

The reason why I've got all my gear hooked up to a single circuit breaker such that I can turn off my whole bench when I'm out.

Ofcourse the point is to then actually use it..

get one of those timers where you push a button and it'll be on for xx minutes

[james_s]

and most annoying, i have had a regular lamp bulb explode when i switched it on.
worst part about that was it was on the staircase, so i had to climb a ladder to use long-nose pliers to try to extract the lamp base from the holder afterwards!!

My grandpa had something similar to that happen, the bulb came unglued from the base and the lead wires crossed. He flipped the switch and something hit him in the back of the head. The wires had vaporized and dropped the bulb which happened to be directly above.

The flash and bang failure mode is one of the things I miss least about incandescent lamps. When it happens when walking into a dark room at night or when turning on the bathroom light in the middle of the night it would almost give me a heart attack.

[aargee]

It looks like the fan failed in the handle of the hot air gun, the element just did it’s thing.
It should have been off when on its holder, I try and keep my Chinese one manually off when I’m not at the bench.

Nope, as written in description, station does not have power switch. It just started heating by itself. I guess triac failed short.

Err, nope, even the Russian translation via Google of the Youtube description doesn't make it clear if there is a power switch, but looking at stock photos of the unit - it does not appear to have one. Either way, no fan = incendiary device if the heater is on.

[IanMacdonald]

Just had a look inside my Atten 858D and the front panel switch is definitely in the mains lead. Also, the barrel of the wand has what looks like a thermal cutout just inside the end of the cover. 

I tried obstructing the fan inlet (Much the same as a failed fan)  and nothing untoward happened. The regulator just cut the heating power back to keep the same temp.

So, this one seems relatively safe. I'd advise switching off when not in use though, once it's gone through its cooling cycle. (The cooling cycle is probably there to ensure it doesn't trip the thermal cutout through residual heat seepage along the handle.)

[wraper]

Lukey 852D+FAN

[wraper]

It looks like the fan failed in the handle of the hot air gun, the element just did it’s thing.
It should have been off when on its holder, I try and keep my Chinese one manually off when I’m not at the bench.

Nope, as written in description, station does not have power switch. It just started heating by itself. I guess triac failed short.

Err, nope, even the Russian translation via Google of the Youtube description doesn't make it clear if there is a power switch, but looking at stock photos of the unit - it does not appear to have one. Either way, no fan = incendiary device if the heater is on.

I rechecked it, it is explicitly written in comments. Description says switches were off. I do speak Russian.

[stj]

then it was the older type with the pump in the base - those use soft switching for the cooldown cycle to function.
that's the type i'v seen the triac latch and melt the handpiece - i still have the base.

[aargee]

It looks like the fan failed in the handle of the hot air gun, the element just did it’s thing.
It should have been off when on its holder, I try and keep my Chinese one manually off when I’m not at the bench.

Nope, as written in description, station does not have power switch. It just started heating by itself. I guess triac failed short.

Err, nope, even the Russian translation via Google of the Youtube description doesn't make it clear if there is a power switch, but looking at stock photos of the unit - it does not appear to have one. Either way, no fan = incendiary device if the heater is on.

I rechecked it, it is explicitly written in comments. Description says switches were off. I do speak Russian.

Advantage Wraper - to use a tennis parlance. :-)

[wraper]

then it was the older type with the pump in the base - those use soft switching for the cooldown cycle to function.
that's the type i'v seen the triac latch and melt the handpiece - i still have the base.

Both Luckey 702 and 852D+FAN have blower fan in the handle.

[richnormand]

Both Luckey 702 and 852D+FAN have blower fan in the handle.
[/quote]

OK it has a fan integrated in the handle.
Are these units adjustable for air speed and heating separately?
If it has a similar control circuit for the fan and a separate similar circuit for the heater and a soft line switch could you not look at a similar failure mode? 

[metrologist]

I think I shall unplug mine, even though it has a hard switch. I don't use it enough to leave such potential connected.

[richnormand]

I think I shall unplug mine, even though it has a hard switch. I don't use it enough to leave such potential connected.

Go inside and see how the on/off switch is wired...
Don't turn it on take it apart....

[metrologist]

did that and the hot is routed through the fuse and switch. Still don't trust it.

[TheNewLab]

hum, more power strips, check my fire extinguisher, etc
on positive side I have a smoke alarm in the room linked inti the building and direckly to the FD, about 6 blocks away.

already set it off just from splices and a lot of heat shrink - detects excessive heat too

A restraruant in a very old building requires all that..but no AFCI circuit...

Thanks for this topic, I have so many of econo-Chinese equip