ELECTRICITY AND THE GIRF GUIDE

Evening Star, Issue 19923, 20 July 1928, Page 2

ELECTRICITY AND THE GIRF GUIDE

FIRST AID FDR THE IRON The electric ii'on is one of the iimst popular electrical appliances, and is invariably one of tile first laoour-s.ivnig devices the housewife introduces into nor home. As with every i.v-g else in an imperfect world, howovei. there are times when toi some obscure reason it refuses to function, and this is where the handy woman Guide can tome to the rescue.

The origin of the trouble is always in some trivial displacement, which can lie very easiiv remedied when we know where to look for it.

As a rule the fault is not in the actual iron at all, hut somewhere in the flexible connection. Begin at the very root of things. We know ' i.at the'current supply is there i.ecause th. lamp which has just been taken out lights up. Should wo use our iron from a wall ping instead ci tlm lamp socket, the easiest method of testing would be by means of a lamp I older wired to one end of a piece of (lex, and a wall plug at the ■•the” ena li the lamp lights up when the wall | lag is inserted into its socket then v/e know that everything so far is in woramg order.

Uy applying this test lamp to the connector end of the flexible cord of the iron, and switching on, we know if the lamp lights that the trouble is in the iron and not in the ilex; should the lamp fail to light, then the fault must lie somewhere between the connector and the test lamp, if this is so carefully examine the connection lor kinkc, which may T indicate that there is a break in the w.re in side. Should tiie wire be brokm, the correct thing to do is to put in a i.ew flexible cord—but if it is a case ol lust aid in n hurry, then a temporary joint can be made.

Clean back the braid or übber covering and pull out the two ends ol rim broken wire The break nay oe in both sides of the flex or only in on"; in any case clean the strands tan-1 j-nn them together again with a very tight twisted knot. If twisted tightly enougn it is not necessary to solder the joint. Cover this with insulating material such as cotton, silk, or rubber, so that there is no chance of stray copper wires touching any other metal or one's person, and especially so that there -s no chance of the two sides of the flex touching each other. Make a bandage of the rubberised tape, keeping the two sides of the flex well apart, with i-k ntv of insulation between (hem. In most cases, however, whan t lie iron fails the fault lies in the i‘Opp:’i of the flex having broken from the attachment which is plugged on to the iron. With a small screwdriver take off the attachment and examine the ends of the flex. Cut off the broken piece, dean back the flex a little, end screw it up in the attachment, exactly as before. Remember, as always, -o keep the bared ends of the Ilex clean and screwed well together. If the break is not there the next most likelv place to find it is close to the lamp or plug adaptor which fits into the lampholder or wall pb:g_ as the case may be Treat this in a similar manner. If the trouble really lies in the iron itself and not in the connection the iron must come to pieces. Usually this only means loosening two screws, when the whole iron comes apart. Careful handling is most necessary Imre, as the mica and fine wire heating . ,-nient- are easily broken. If the element is melted owing to the iron having bem left on too long nothing can be done mill a new element is procured. If, however, the fault is just at the point where the plug terminals are connected to the resistance wire of the element a repair can be effected. Carefully examine the connection, the screws, nuts, wire, etc. If the resistance wire has broken off by the terminal draw out an inch or more and screw that tightly in. Should the strip of copper which presses against the bottom of the terminal be cracked or flattened out, carefully lever this a little further up with a penknife, replace the top, and put the iron together again. _ As in everything else, it is the little things that count, and attention to these details should result in any ironing hitch being overcome without the necessity and delay of sending to the local electricians