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Sunday, May 16, 2021

Automatic Electric Clothes Iron Not Heating Up

 

This Maspion clothes iron repair procedure can be applied to other clothes irons that use the same working principles, especially dry (no steam) clothes iron made by manufacturers such as: Philips, Miyako, Panasonic, Kirin, Electrolux, Sanken, Cosmos, and others. This procedure uses a Maspion HA-110 and also Miyako EI-1009 M clothes irons. This procedure is quite easy and can be done in your spare time, on Sunday or holidays.

Before disassembling the iron, first check the cord. Because the iron is often moved, check the iron cable for twisting.  Twisted wires can cause the copper wire to break in the cable. Sometimes the twisted cable has damaged isolation, so that the cable opens.

Shown in the photo above, the heat-protective outer sheath, insulating blue rubber, and exposed copper are very dangerous. Because that open copper can be touched by human body when tidying clothes, so that the body gets electrocuted.

After using the iron, avoid winding the cord. When the cord is coiled on the iron body, the heat of the iron can damage the cord. And the coiled cord can be twisted.  The photo above is a wrong example.

We recommend that you leave the cord dangling on the ironing board. So that the cord can straighten by itself.


To repair the components in the iron, it is necessary to disassemble the back of the iron by removing 1 (one) screw.
 

In the photo above, there are 3 (three) wire connectors on the back of the iron.

The center wire is connected to the iron body, and to the ground of the home power grid. Its function is to dispose of the electric charge on the iron body, reducing the risk of electric shock if there is a current leak.

The left and right wires are connected to the home electric power grid.


Test continuity with a multimeter to check if any broken wires. To open the iron, all wires must be removed from their connectors.

On the back of the iron there are 2 (two) screws holding the iron handle.


Pull up the temperature control knob to release it. As the photo above. Under the knob, there are 2 (two) iron handle screws. Total 4 (four) screws are holding the iron handle.


Seen in the photo above. If all the screws are removed, the handle can be pulled out. Under the handle, there are 2 (two) bolts that hold the iron body.


By removing the two bolts, the iron body can be opened, as the photo above. Brush the inner of the iron to remove the accumulated dust of clothes.  

On the iron base plate (soleplate), there is a V-shaped heating element. At the center there is a bimetal circuit as an automatic temperature control.


The temperature control is sometimes dirty.  It can be cleaned by spraying WD-40, but should be wiped dry completely. Because WD-40 can burn if it is hot.

If the temperature controller is broken, it can be purchased and is widely available online (Amazon, Ebay, Alibaba, Shopee, and others). In the market it is also known as an automatic iron or iron thermostat.

The thermostat in the iron uses a bimetallic circuit, which is 2 (two) types of metal plates with different length expansion coefficients. Due to the difference in the length expansion when heated, when a certain temperature is reached, the bimetallic will warp because one plate is longer than the other.  So that cuts off the electric current to the heating element. If the temperature drops, the bimetallic will straighten again and the heating element will be connected to the mains again.

The setting on the thermostat regulates the pressure on the bimetal plate, thereby regulating the bimetal curvature at a certain temperature.

Between the iron element and the thermostat, a thermal fuse is connected in series. If the iron is too hot, this fuse will blow and will need to be replaced. This can happen when the thermostat is damaged and the iron is too hot. 


But sometimes the small bolt that secures the thermal fuse is corroded, especially the bolt in the heating element. As in the photo above.

So to replace the thermal fuse, cut the old fuse wire and connect it to the new fuse by twisting it. If necessary, solder it with a lead that has a high melting temperature. Lead that is low melt temperature will loose when the iron is hot.

The iron indicator light is a mini fluorescent lamp that is connected parallel to the iron element. This lamp has a resistor of about 120 to 200 kiloohms. This is not an LED lamp, because the LED body is made of plastic so it is not heat resistant.



The iron handle can come off the iron body, because the plastic of the base is broken. This problem can be tricked by adding a plate to the iron body bolt. In the photo above, the blue and white plate of a used tin of Pocari Sweat is tucked under the bolt.


For the Miyako EI-1009 M iron, there are 3 (three) screws to secure the plastic body.

 

The photo above is showing Miyako iron already opened. In the center of the photo, there are 2 (two) screws to secure plastic body at the back of the iron. And 1 (one) screw at the front of the iron, covered with a plastic handle that can be removed by prying with a flat head screwdriver.

The cable clamp screws must be removed to separate the plastic body. There are 2 (two) screws but not shown in the photo.

Iron base plate (soleplate) can be seen on the right of the photo, it is removed by opening 3 (three) bolts. The bolts have spacers made of plastic cylinder. The red and blue wires have to be removed from their connectors attached to the plastic body.

 

In the photo above, this Miyako iron has a heating element that is permanently attached to the iron soleplate. If the heating element is broken, it must be replaced with the iron soleplate.

Meanwhile, the thermostat, fuse and indicator light are similar to a Maspion iron. The indicator light (mini AC neon) Miyako iron has a resistor of 150 kiloohms.










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