this post was submitted on 15 Mar 2025
1008 points (99.7% liked)

Microblog Memes

7001 readers
3287 users here now

A place to share screenshots of Microblog posts, whether from Mastodon, tumblr, ~~Twitter~~ X, KBin, Threads or elsewhere.

Created as an evolution of White People Twitter and other tweet-capture subreddits.

Rules:

  1. Please put at least one word relevant to the post in the post title.
  2. Be nice.
  3. No advertising, brand promotion or guerilla marketing.
  4. Posters are encouraged to link to the toot or tweet etc in the description of posts.

Related communities:

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] oldfart@lemm.ee 26 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Finally, an usecase for USB irons!

[–] Bronzie@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

I just got one, and it’s so practical with a PD battery bank. Can now solder inside or outside on my car/bike with zero hazzle

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I love my Pinecil. I recommend them to kids as a beginner iron cause of the low price and sleep function.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 210 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

Shoudn't it be 25%?

Current is not controlled here, resistance (aka the soldering iron) and voltage are.

Power = Voltage ^ 2 / Resistance. Double the voltage, that quadruples the power. So you only want to plug in 25% of the time to get the equivalent power of 120V.

But it might not melt at double power? Maybe the extra heat helps, I can't find a resistance/temperature curve for a soldering iron...

Source: EE dropout.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 116 points 2 days ago

nnnNNEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRd!

[–] ch00f@lemmy.world 47 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee 18 points 2 days ago (2 children)

If only the oop was here to see this 😔

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] uneatable@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Ok. I was acountless on lemmy for a long time, your comment made me finally register. Thanks!

So, yeah, with double the voltage you get 4x the power. But you you put 4 times the power at 50% of the time, you get only 2x the power. And the other half of the time, you get 0 power. On the average you get the same power output.

[–] ch00f@lemmy.world 23 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You double counted there.

You said 4x power 50% of the time and then said “the other half of the time.”

So you’re calculating 50% of 50% which is 25% duty cycle.

[–] uneatable@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Oh no, I didn't. Should I draw a graph? Pop out some equations?

Let's say P is the nominal power. When I said "The other half" I meant when the solder iron is not plugged. So:

50% of the time at 4xP 50% of the time at 0...

Oh shizzzz, you're right!

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Cenotaph@mander.xyz 16 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I sure hope someone will be fired for this obvious blunder

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] affenlehrer@feddit.org 19 points 1 day ago

I've had a similar experience as a child. I live in Germany and found this voltage switch on a hair dryer. My thoughts were like: Switching it to less couldn't possibly hurt, could it? Well it could. It was super efficient though but only for a few seconds before it self destructed.

[–] Xatolos@reddthat.com 56 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Should have just left it in, and been able to get the soldering done twice as fast.

[–] betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

New manufacturing hack unlocked: Install 240v outlets at workstations and fire half of the workforce. Golden parachute and douchey, hand-wavey TED Talk, please!

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] jpreston2005@lemmy.world 62 points 2 days ago (3 children)

It's only stupid if it doesn't work

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 44 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

there's the STEM bell curve. XKCD shows the axes as 'how well your computer works' vs 'how well you know computers'. that is accurate.

but if you've ever known serious engineers who didn't just live boring white collar work-home-work-and-some-marvel-shit lives, you'll have seen things that make this look mild.

edit: and it gets really crazy when you're talking about a civil engineer. closest thing you'll ever find to an eldritch location.

[–] anton@lemmy.blahaj.zone 52 points 2 days ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works 80 points 2 days ago (1 children)

There are gas powered soldering irons that are essentially lighters with metal around the flame. Real life savers

[–] zaphod@sopuli.xyz 71 points 2 days ago (3 children)

There are also battery powered soldering irons.

[–] BastingChemina@slrpnk.net 39 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

I like the pinecil, usb-c powered soldering iron with temperature control. If you are not doing anything intensive any fast smartphone charger will power it.

load more comments (3 replies)

yes but that sounds boring and doesn't require having a functionally super-hot piece right near a reserve of acetylene.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] RangerJosey@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 day ago

Hey. If it works, it works.

Any port in a storm right?

[–] tfowinder@lemmy.ml 25 points 2 days ago (6 children)
[–] leisesprecher@feddit.org 60 points 2 days ago (2 children)

No.

Seriously, many soldering irons don't have a switch. Fancy soldering stations have switches, temperature dials, etc. But basic ones are just a resistive load wired directly to the plug.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] farcaster@lemmy.world 25 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Sounds like a cheap portable soldering iron, which just heats up to some roughly usable temperature whenever it's plugged in.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] TomMasz@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

Reminds me of the time when I helped install some 120 VAC ceiling fans and the electrician* wired them to the 220 VAC line. They spun like a helicopter trying to take off.

*Worked for the local electric utility, we trusted him, foolishly.

[–] observantTrapezium@lemmy.ca 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I had the opposite problem, I brought a soldering iron from Europe to Canada, and despite using a step up transformer, it just couldn't get hot enough to melt the solder!

[–] lauha@lemmy.one 26 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You should have used 200% duty cycle

[–] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 20 points 2 days ago (10 children)

Splice on a second plug, so you can use two outlets at the same time.

(/s, mostly... this can actually work, if you can find two outlets on opposite phases.)

load more comments (10 replies)
[–] RisingSwell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Why plug and unplug? Doesn't the wall outlet have a switch?

[–] Azzu@lemm.ee 39 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I have actually never met a wall outlet with a switch.

[–] RisingSwell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Really? Where are you for that? I don't have a wall outlet without a switch, and I've never seen one because why would it just be live all the time?

I'm in Australia for reference.

We're the exception, most places don't have switches on their outlets.

[–] nik9000@programming.dev 14 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Looks like it's mostly a UK, Australia, and New Zealand thing.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] Azzu@lemm.ee 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Germany. It's just live all the time, because why wouldn't it? If you plug something in, you want it to work. If you don't want it to work, you either plug it out (which works just as well as a switch, with the same convenience), OR you use the switch at the appliance because why would you try to reach the hypothetical switch at the wall outlet if the wall outlet is behind a drawer, under a table, or whatever inconvenient place? I use my remote control to turn the TV on or off, I don't physically walk to the wall power outlet.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Johanno@feddit.org 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Afaik it is a safety thing that is handled differently in different countries.

Uk and their colonised countries have this. The reason is that the fuses are in each plug. But no (or almost no) fuses in the power grid of the house. In Europe most countries have a single GFCI and several fuses for power grid sectors in a single place in the house where the power comes in.

I assume the switches on the power outlets are for turning off a switch because there is no GFCI in the house.

[–] jeeva@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I think in the UK at least this view might be a little outdated - every house I've ever lived in has had GFCI sectors across the house, or had to be updated to have it when work was done.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›