Weller failure

[Craig]

That looks like the cable has been made up with fake wires in a good sheath.
Contact Weller and see what they have to say. It won't do any harm.
All my Weller irons were made up from several broken ones and none of the leads are like that. Some date back to the 1980s.
Your ohms law is playing up too.
12 ohms at 24V gives 2 amps and 48W.

Already contacted them. They were less than sympathetic. I lost patience after I sent them the photos and they went quiet.

I reckon that it is possible they procured a bunch of leads from supplier X - probably in the Orient - that were made with inappropriate insulation. If that were they case, they should have just fessed up and won everlasting customer loyalty by doing a product recall. Or an exchange.

And yes - slip of the finger on the numbers - the Weller is a 50W iron, and of course all the numbers stack up.