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Model Forum / General / Models / October 2007Indicator plug
I often forget to turn off my electric soldering iron when I leave the workshop. Quite apart from the waste of power I am worried about the fire risk, so I have been looking for a plug fitted with an indicator light that would be visible when the overhead lights are turned off, but to my surprise I haven't been able to find anything. Does anybody know of a source for such a plug, or a way to adapt an ordinary plug? I thought of changing the sockets to the type with indicators, but that would entail changing all 16 double sockets, an expensive solution and one that wouldn't solve the problem as other equipment is left on overnight. Cliff Coggin > I often forget to turn off my electric soldering iron when I leave the > workshop. Quite apart from the waste of power I am worried about the fire [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > double sockets, an expensive solution and one that wouldn't solve the > problem as other equipment is left on overnight. Something like this came up recently on a local freecycle discussion. These were suggested : http://www.expertverdict.com/ProductDetails.aspx?language=en-GB&product=timerPlu gSwitches Or these are much cheaper, but a bit more clumsy : http://tinyurl.com/2xzbzx (ebay) Apparently Ikea have something similar, too. -adrian > I often forget to turn off my electric soldering iron when I leave the > workshop. Quite apart from the waste of power I am worried about the fire [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > double sockets, an expensive solution and one that wouldn't solve the > problem as other equipment is left on overnight. Wire a plug for the iron to the light switch. > I often forget to turn off my electric soldering iron when I leave the > workshop. Quite apart from the waste of power I am worried about the fire [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Cliff Coggin Cliff, these used to be easily available but now that we are not supposed to even fit our own plugs any more getting a standard 13amp plug can be a pain. To stop me leaving things on I use one of those very cheap (?10 or so) 4 way extension leads that are individually switched and have neon "on" indicators. They only have a metre of cable so aren't too messy and I've mounted mine on the wall behind the bench. I plug the things I don't want left on into this and a quick scan as I leave the shop shows if I have turned it off or not. A flick of the switch where it is plugged in to the wall socket kills everything. No help if you have things plugged in all round the shop but the one 4 way is enough for my workbench. Obviously you have to ensure that the total load doesn't exceed 13 amps but it has been fine for my needs. Keith Keith On 25 Oct, 11:27, "Cliff Coggin" <clifford.cog...@virgin.net> wrote: > I often forget to turn off my electric soldering iron when I leave the > workshop. Quite apart from the waste of power I am worried about the fire [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Cliff Coggin Cliff, these used to be easily available but now that we are not supposed to even fit our own plugs any more getting a standard 13amp plug can be a pain. To stop me leaving things on I use one of those very cheap (£10 or so) 4 way extension leads that are individually switched and have neon "on" indicators. They only have a metre of cable so aren't too messy and I've mounted mine on the wall behind the bench. I plug the things I don't want left on into this and a quick scan as I leave the shop shows if I have turned it off or not. A flick of the switch where it is plugged in to the wall socket kills everything. No help if you have things plugged in all round the shop but the one 4 way is enough for my workbench. Obviously you have to ensure that the total load doesn't exceed 13 amps but it has been fine for my needs. Keith Keith All power in my (now empty!!) workshop is routed through a breaker, and as I leave I pop the emergancy stop button and know that everything is turned off bar the lights. This is also the way I will wire my new workshop in the next few months. AWEM On 25 Oct, 11:27, "Cliff Coggin" <clifford.cog...@virgin.net> wrote: > I often forget to turn off my electric soldering iron when I leave the > workshop. Quite apart from the waste of power I am worried about the fire [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Cliff Coggin Cliff, these used to be easily available but now that we are not supposed to even fit our own plugs any more getting a standard 13amp plug can be a pain. To stop me leaving things on I use one of those very cheap (£10 or so) 4 way extension leads that are individually switched and have neon "on" indicators. They only have a metre of cable so aren't too messy and I've mounted mine on the wall behind the bench. I plug the things I don't want left on into this and a quick scan as I leave the shop shows if I have turned it off or not. A flick of the switch where it is plugged in to the wall socket kills everything. No help if you have things plugged in all round the shop but the one 4 way is enough for my workbench. Obviously you have to ensure that the total load doesn't exceed 13 amps but it has been fine for my needs. Keith ............................................................................ ................ Keith, that's one solution I am not keen on as I have an unreasonable hatred of extension cables. I have fitted so many outlets to avoid such things. I shall experiment with a neon fitted to the plug if I can find one. Cliff. > Keith, that's one solution I am not keen on as I have an > unreasonable hatred of extension cables. I have fitted so many > outlets to avoid such things. I shall experiment with a neon fitted > to the plug if I can find one. Possibly not a solution but one which does work. The mechanical workshop and the electronics(!) workshop have individual master switches. When I leave I turn off one switch and everything else goes off. Lighting is on a separate supply. hth  SignatureA T (Sandy) Morton on the Bicycle Island In the Global Village http://www.millport.net > I often forget to turn off my electric soldering iron when I leave the > workshop. Quite apart from the waste of power I am worried about the fire [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Cliff Coggin you would have thought someone would have brought out a three pin plug that is translucent and glows by now wouldn't you .. all Ive seen are the children's glow plugs for bedrooms ... after a search on ebay ... i found this any good ? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-Way-Switched-Plug-Adaptor-with-3-Neon-Switches_W0QQitemZ 110184832575QQihZ001QQcategoryZ96942QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem All the best.mark >>I often forget to turn off my electric soldering iron when I leave the >>workshop. Quite apart from the waste of power I am worried about the fire [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > you would have thought someone would have brought out a three pin plug > that is translucent and glows by now wouldn't you .. ........ > All the best.mark They do down here. However, ours don't have to have "100" amp rating so they are not compatible with UK sockets. :-( om > any good ? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-Way-Switched-Plug-Adaptor-with-3-Neon-Switches_W0QQitemZ 110184832575QQihZ001QQcategoryZ96942QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem > All the best.mark Not really, but thanks all the same for looking. I could just as easily forget to plug the iron into the adapter. I guess I'll have to tinker with something like a neon lamp stuffed into the plug. Cliff. > I often forget to turn off my electric soldering iron when I leave the > workshop. Quite apart from the waste of power I am worried about the fire [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Cliff Coggin This the kind of thing? http://www.ryness.co.uk/ProductDetails.aspx?categoryID=670&productID=3309&catego ry4ID=1 Plan B that I used for a while was to wire it through one of these... http://www.ryness.co.uk/ProductDetails.aspx?categoryID=679&category4ID=1&product ID=2057 Cheers John >> I often forget to turn off my electric soldering iron when I leave the >> workshop. Quite apart from the waste of power I am worried about the fire [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > http://www.ryness.co.uk/ProductDetails.aspx?categoryID=679&category4ID=1&product ID=2057 Wire an unswitched desk lamp to the same plug as the soldering iron? Will use a bit of lekky, but one of the low-power-fluorescent ones the \Government insists we all use should do, and it makes an iron into a "solder station". The nice thing in this case is that both the lamp and the iron take time to warm up ... :) Epoxy the iron's plug and a kid's neon nightlight in position on a two-way adapter? I don't know whether there would be enough room, and anyway soldering a neon indicator bulb and resistor inside one of these would probably be illegal: http://www.rapidonline.com/productinfo.aspx?&tier1=Electrical+%26+Power&tier2=El ect+Prod+%26+Lighting&tier3=Mains+Plugs+%26+Switches&tier4=13A+Transparent+fast+ fit+plugs&moduleno=71521&catRef=23-0346l As I suspect would dismantling one of these, wiring the iron to it, and remantling: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BNIP-NURSERY-NEON-NIGHT-LIGHT-LASTS-UP-TO-10-000HRS_W0QQit emZ290175484021QQihZ019QQcategoryZ20428QQcmdZViewItem (they also do Thomas the Tank Engine ones, yum) Glue a neon indicator (eg maplins) to the outside of the plug? Finding someone who sells "indicator plugs" - they do exist - might even be possible too, but I don't know of a UK supplier, or if rewireable 13A ones are made. -- Peter Fairbrother > > I often forget to turn off my electric soldering iron when I leave the > > workshop. Quite apart from the waste of power I am worried about the fire [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > > This the kind of thing? http://www.ryness.co.uk/ProductDetails.aspx?categoryID=670&productID=3309&catego ry4ID=1 > Plan B that I used for a while was to wire it through one of these... http://www.ryness.co.uk/ProductDetails.aspx?categoryID=679&category4ID=1&product ID=2057 > Cheers > > John Many thanks John, that is exactly what I need. I have ordered three of them and some energy saving light bulbs of a form I haven't seen before. Cliff. |
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