I guess I could report this product to some consumer agency? I will definitely will be doing more research before I buy another iron. Rather than buying another American Beauty iron I would like to see some independent test of this product. I even checked my other irons and applied pressure to the handles and there was no movement that could dislodge a wire. They claim the pressure I used on the iron rocked the handle back and forth causing the wires to break free. According to the American Beauty investigation they said the ground wire came of first and then the hot wire came off and touched the frame. When the iron was placed back in my stand which is grounded it blew the breaker in the building. This is a feature I wanted as I work on electronic equipment. Maybe that should have been a clue that should have just returned it. The 'Little Dandy' iron looked very strange in that there were no screws or anything holding the handle on and the handle was not put on straight. I do sometimes press down on the iron to get good heat transfer but I do this with all my irons that I have been using for many, many years. I thought this was a pretty high price for just a standard non temp controlled iron but I wanted a quality iron that would just put out a lot of heat.
They have been making industrial grade soldering irons for many years. American Beauty products are made in the USA. Yes I agree I should have a top quality iron. So who is to blame? And what should I do? I fear someone may be killed by this iron. I have a Weller, an Unger, and a Radio shack iron all used for the same purpose and they are over twenty years old and have never failed. Not one of them has ever come apart like this and I have not recently changed my soldering methods. I have used all types of soldering irons.
I have worked on equipment like this for more that forty years. They did give me a refund but would not take any responsibility for what I think is a defective and dangerous product. They said I did not keep the tip properly tinned and therefore had to put too much pressure on the iron, bending the handle back and forth until the wires inside came undone. I returned the iron to American Beauty and they blamed me. I measured the tip with my Fluke and it had 120 volts on it. When I went to put the American Beauty back into the holder it sparked again because it conducted through the other irons grounded tips. I have a metal soldering iron holder where I can park three irons while working. I had only used the iron about three times when THE TIP BECAME ELECTRIFIED TO THE MAINS VOLTAGE, 120VAC! It sparked on the equipment I was working on even thought the equipment was not connected to any power source.
The tip runs very hot and it was hard to keep it tinned especially with the flux I was using.
#SOLDERING IRON DANGER PC#
It was a 50 watt with a large tip that I bought to work on pc boards with large traces and ground planes. I decided that's just the way it was and started to use it. The handle did not appear to have any means of securing it to the frame of the iron and it was put on crooked so it looked bent. I took it out of the box and noticed a couple things. I recently purchased an American Beauty 'Little Dandy' soldering iron.
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