DIY hair curler repair: step-by-step workshop

It is no secret that every woman wants to be unique and attractive. There are many different ways for this, for example, cosmetics, different skin procedures, manipulations with eyelashes and nails. Nothing makes a woman as special as a hairstyle. And for this there are many devices and appliances. One of such tools for beauty is - electric curling iron or “ironing”.

It is mainly intended for smoothing hair and also helps to cope with naughty curls in the formation of bangs.

The principle of operation of the curling iron.

A slightly damp hair is squeezed between two heating elements. With the advancement of the elements along the entire length, the hair dries - it evens out. Thus, from naughty "curls" you can make perfectly straight, straight styling.

You can apply the curling iron not only with wet hair, dry hairs are evened out, but not as effectively as the first ones.

Curling device

The curling iron in its design resembles a clamp. It consists of two parts fastened on one side. On each part, opposite each other, ceramic heating elements are installed.

In addition to heaters, the design includes: a switch, a power indicator, a power cord and housing parts. The heating elements are electrically connected in parallel and have the same power. Thus, the hair warms up on both sides evenly at the same temperature.

The clamping of the working surfaces to the hair is carried out by the effort of the hand, a special spring does the opposite. By default, the heating elements with this spring are pulled apart, but there are models of planes that have a special latch that holds the two parts in a reduced state.

This function simplifies the transportation and storage of this type of device. There are also models with a temperature controller, a liquid crystal display and technology that prevents the cord from twisting.

But as practice shows, the simpler the model, the less it breaks, since additional components only reduce the reliability of the device.

The simplest curling irons can also fail, either partially or completely.

Below, the article will describe the repair of a mid-level curling iron. But the method of determining the malfunction and repair can be applied in other devices of this type. In the photo (Figure 1) a curling iron in which one heating element does not work.

Of course, you can do it, but to achieve the most effective styling result is unlikely to succeed. Therefore, it makes sense to try to repair this malfunction, especially since, for today, curling irons are not so cheap and the breakdown can be easily fixed.

If the heating element does not work, this does not mean that the nichrome spiral burned inside it. Options may be different. A burnt wire is certainly the worst thing that can happen. In this case, the repair is impractical, and sometimes completely impossible.

This happens extremely rarely, and then, due to the fault of the consumer, when the element overheats due to the fact that it is not disconnected from the network after use.

So, let's start disassembling the device.

Due to the fact that the curling iron is intended mainly for the beautiful half of humanity, its design should not contain any cogs, gadgets and other spoiling the appearance of parts.

Therefore, it is sometimes very difficult to understand where to start disassembling and where the hidden screws are.

Sometimes such searches end with broken case elements. Not seeing any cogs, people begin to pick out the joints, hoping that the parts are held with plastic latches. As a result, a broken device and a bad mood.

In such a case, it is better not to rush, but to inspect the device under good lighting for the presence of elements of decorative panels that hide the mounting screws.

Since the main force from the spring is transferred to the junction of the two parts of the curling iron, it means that the main fixing screw should be somewhere there (Figure 3).

If you find the alleged hidden stub, then you do not need to make much effort to open it. It is enough to slightly move the plug, and it should show whether it can be removed.

After a short search, it was discovered - where the main fastening screw is hidden (Figure 4).

It turned out to remove the plug without much difficulty, screwing up the junction with a screwdriver. The cap was removed and under it was found the head of a plastic stud.

It is not difficult to assume that the screw is on the opposite side, under the same insert.

We remove it, and here it is - the long-awaited screw.

We unscrew this screw with a screwdriver, and carefully remove the plastic pin fastening the two working parts of the curling iron.

When removing the studs, it is advisable to squeeze the upper and lower parts of the device with your fingers, since the force of the spring will not allow the free exit of this element.

When the hairpin is removed, the two parts of the curling iron will separate, and they must be carefully laid so as not to interrupt the conductors going to the heater.

We pull out the spring and set it aside (Figure 10).

Now the access to the screw of the part fixing the input network cable is opened (Fig. 11). Unscrew this screw and remove the part.

Now the cord moves freely. Two wires come out of the cord - blue and brown, which go further under another decorative panel (Fig. 12).

It also rests on the screws, and there are two of them.

Remove these screws with a screwdriver and carefully remove the panel.

Below it is a board with a small number of electronic components (Figure 14 and 15).

There is: a switch, an indicator LED and an extinguishing LED resistance.

We examine the board from two sides. This must be done carefully, once again without bending the conductors extending to the heaters. With a strong bend, they can easily break, which will lead to even greater problems, since their length may simply not be enough, and nichrome solder is very poor.

Judging by the scheme, both wires from the power cord come to the board, and at one of its ends - brown - both leads from each heater are soldered.

Through the second wire - blue, - the mains voltage goes to the switch, and from it already to the LED and both second heater leads.

If you take into account that one heating element is working, it means that the switch and the power cord are working, and there is no special need to “ring” them.

Carefully inspecting the junction of the outputs of the inoperative heater on the board, it was found that one of them pulled out a piece of the board’s track solderingthereby breaking the power circuit.

Most likely, this happened due to the special rigidity of the nichrome wire, and of course the heating. To solder a torn off piece of the board track with the output of the heating element, it is necessary to strip the paint on a nearby passing track.

This can be done with a knife or file, until a shiny fresh copper appears.

Next, you need to tin this area, otherwise the soldering will not be strong, and the break can happen again. This can be done with rosin or its alcohol solution. We apply a flux and a soldering iron with a small amount of tin to the cleaned place, tin this area (Figure 19 and 20).

When the copper can be tinned, solder the torn track to it with the output from the heater.

After making sure that the soldering is reliable, we install the board in its place, having previously laid the conclusions of the nearby element.

Before you assemble the curling iron, check its performance. We put the switch on the board into the “ON” mode and turn on the cord to the 220 V network. The LED lights up, which means that the mains voltage went to the terminals of the heating elements.
During operation, you do not need to touch the board with your hands, since you can get a discharge of electric current. This can only be done when the voltage is removed.

After a few seconds, we try with a finger to see if both elements are warming. In this case, the soldering gave its result. Both heaters are gaining temperature. We can assume that the cause of the breakdown is found and the defect is eliminated.

Now you need to unplug the cord from the network and wait until the device cools down so as not to burn your hands when assembling it. We lay the rest of the wires so that they do not interfere during assembly, avoiding strong bends and tension. Also keep an eye on the screw seats. Wires should smoothly bypass them.

We put an additional adapter on the switch lever. We install the first decorative bar (Fig. 23).

The LED and the switch lever must fall into the corresponding holes on the plate. It is worth tightening the screws only when you are convinced that the panel has finally sat down and between its edges of gaps and protruding wires.

Next, we lay the outlet of the cord and put a clamping part on it. We twist it with a screw (Fig. 24).

We insert the spring into the corresponding socket and dock the two parts of the curling iron.

Overcoming the force of the spring with your fingers, we insert a plastic pin, connecting the elements of the curling iron to each other (Figures 26 and 27).

After the pin is in its place, we tighten the fixing screw.

We put on decorative caps on both sides, pressing them with your fingers.

We check how the spring works, squeezing the curling iron.

We turn on the device in the network and once again check the heating of both ceramic elements.

As it turned out, the problem was insignificant, and it was possible to eliminate it without much difficulty.

Now the device will last a few more years, making its mistress beautiful and attractive.

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