That $40 hot air station from Amazon almost set my bench on fire

I was fixing a broken Xbox controller last week and needed to swap a tiny capacitor. Grabbed that cheap hot air station I bought on a whim, cranked it to 400 degrees, and within 30 seconds the handle started smoking. Turns out the heating element was touching the plastic shell - no insulation at all. I tossed it outside and went back to using my soldering iron like a caveman. Anyone else get burned by those bargain bin rework stations?

2 comments

2 Comments

angelas7821d ago

Did you check if the thing had any kind of certification mark on it? I mean, a lot of those super cheap tools skip UL or CE testing entirely, so there's no one making sure the plastic they use is even fire retardant. Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather spend a little more on a brand that at least pretends to care about safety, even if it's still made in China. The scary part is someone could leave that thing running and walk away, not knowing the handle is already melting.

linda_murphy21d ago

Oh man, that "not knowing the handle is already melting" part hit way too close to home. I literally had the same thing happen with a cheap station I bought off some random site, the plastic got so soft it started drooping like a sad candle. I was too cheap to toss it and actually tried to use it one more time with gloves on, which is probably the dumbest thing I've done in my workshop all year. The thing caught fire for real on the second use and I just stood there staring at it like an idiot before I realized I should probably unplug it.