[modeleng] Re: Mica?
- From: Allen Messer <al_messer@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 8 Aug 2004 18:28:07 -0700 (PDT)
Hey, Len! I think that you and I were born in the
same time period---pre WWII. Our Living Room stove
also had Mica windows.
Al Messer
-- Len Smith <parnobal2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Being of a certain age, I can remember mica used as
> the "window" in black iron coke stoves. I've seen it
> overheated quite often, which was common in that
> application. It only ever went to whitish ash in my
> experience. I've seen plenty of burned out clothes
> irons too, and never seen anything that was pink,
> only blackened crusting.
> Len Smith
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Roger Mason
> To: Model Engineering List - Latest
> Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2004 8:41 AM
> Subject: [modeleng] Mica?
>
> Hi All,
>
> I've just had a disaster!
>
> I have a large electric soldering iron (300
> watts). I was using
> this the other day when a sort of Frying noise
> came from it. Shortly
> afterwards I realised that it was cooling down,
> despite still being
> plugged in and turned on. I quickly discovered
> that the element was
> open circuit.
>
> So in the "nothing ventured - nothing gained"
> spirit I opened up the
> iron. I eventually found the secret to getting
> inside it and found the
> element very easy to get to.
>
> The element was a simple coil of heater wire
> insulated in sheets of
> translucent material which I assumed was mica.
> However as I delved
> deeper into the element the sheets of mica became
> "welded" together.
> It appears that the element produced a 'hot-spot'.
> In this region the
> mica has changed in appearance and texture.
> Instead of being sheet
> material with a slippery feel, it was a pink
> brittle uniform
> substance, which looked for all the world like
> the pink plaster one
> uses on walls of a room. I carefully chipped
> this away and came to a
> hollow lump of what looked like a black glassy
> substance - very like
> silver solder flux which has melted and
> solidified. I presumed this
> is where the frying came from - a little arc
> between the element and an
> end wire.
>
> My questions are - was this insulation
> material really mica? Does
> mica behave in this way? If it was not mica what
> was it? Have the
> chemists come up with a modern alternative for
> natural mica?
>
> In the meantime I am trying to find a source
> for a new element.
> The iron was made by Goot, a Japanese company who
> have a web site, so
> I have asked if they have a U.K. dealer who can
> supply me - but maybe
> someone on this list has this knowledge.
>
> I look forward to the list's input on this
> topic.
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
> Roger Mason, in St. Agnes.
>
> MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST.
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email
> to,
> modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
> "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
>
> MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST.
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email
> to,
> modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
> "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
>
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST.
To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to,
modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
Other related posts:
