Anyone have an opinion about whether periodic testing of irons is warranted,
and if so,
how often?  Newer specs and handbooks don't address this.

For the record, we still apply an old military requirement, and test each
iron every 3
months for tip-to-ground resistance (<2 ohms), potential from tip to ground
(<2 millivolts),
and temperature variation at rest (+/- 10 degrees).  Most of ours are
Metcal, and the
pass rate is better than 98%.  Those that fail usually do so for tip
resistance slightly OHL.

Iron manufacturers have told me (off the record) that these limits don't
mean a whole
lot in practice; when DOD came after them years ago, the manufacturers
proposed these
numbers because they knew they could meet them.

Joe Kane
BAE Systems Controls
Johnson City, NY

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