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Wiring a dimmer switch to a soldering iron

8K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  J. V. 
#1 ·
Hello,
First post on this site, just got my first job as an intern this summer. I have experience mostly in working with direct current. I have a question related to the wiring of the dimmer switch. I bought a standard dimmer switch at home depot, 2 black wires and a green. I want to hook it up to my soldering iron so that I can turn the heat down in between solders. I think I know how to hook it up but I don't really want to mess around with the 120volts. Could someone please clarify the correct way to wire this?
Thanks,
Greg
 
#2 ·
Split the soldering iron cable, leaving the one with the rib running along the cable intact. (neutral). Cut the hot wire in half and put the dimmer in series with the soldering iron. If you have a grounded soldering iron (not common) connect the green to the ground. Insulate all connections well. You will need to mount the dimmer in a box. In this case you can use wirenuts. You need to ground that box and dimmer.

Note: Either wire in the iron cord can be used for the dimmer connections. I just prefer to use the hot, neutral and ground as intended.

Ps....They do make soldering irons with built in temp control.
 
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