I have also used them as a way to measure tiny resistances. I would connect the object under test in place of the tip, make a 4-wire Kelvin connection to it using a multimeter to measure the voltage drop across just the portion I cared about, and then use a clamp-on AC current meter to measure the current. Record both AC volts and AC amps and divide to get resistance. On the high setting, the current was about 180 Amps rms and so I was able to measure resistances down to about 10 microOhms fairly easily. Sean On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 2:31 PM, Dwayne Reid wrote: > My experience is that the entire tip gets hot. =A0The big, thick tubes > that the tip connects into serves as a heatsink which keeps the wire > temperature at that point at a touchable level. > > In other words, there is a temperature gradient from the end of the > tip to the connections. =A0The temperature on the wire close to the end > of the tip is almost as high as the temperature on the end of the tip. > > Back when I was a kid, I used to make my own tips from #14 or #12 > copper house wire (solid core) that I had stripped the insulation > from. =A0Worked nearly as well as the official tips, except they > weren't as rigid. > > dwayne > > > PS - I also used to use the soldering gun as a power supply for > making magnetizing and de-magnetizing steel objects - I wound a small > solenoid coil of a few turns with really thick wire. =A0If you energize > the gun with an object inside the coil and then withdraw the object > slowly, the item becomes de-magnetized. =A0If you leave the item inside > the coil and quickly click, then release the gun trigger, eventually, > you will turn the coil off somewhere near an AC peak. =A0You can get a > healthy amount of magnetism into a screw-driver tip that way. > > dwayne > > -- > Dwayne Reid =A0 > Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd =A0 =A0Edmonton, AB, CANADA > (780) 489-3199 voice =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0(780) 487-6397 fax > www.trinity-electronics.com > Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- = http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist