soldering iron tip

[orange]

(bit offtopic) the tip of my soldering iron has become dark, and it won't 'take' solder. just few spots are normal. so it could be that outer layer is destroyed, but I hope its just some dirt. if its the latter, how to clean it?

[alexh]

Heat it up... wet the sponge... dab it and it should be fine.

[zipper]

Something like these do wonders: http://fi.rsdelivers.com/product/mul...98.aspx#header
http://www.chsinteractive.co.uk/elec...ps-stannol.htm

[orange]

@alexh unfortunately I tried that already with no result. also used a bit of sand paper, though some are strongly against it.
@zipper thanks, I'll try to find that.

[ChrisUnionNJ]

Originally Posted by orange

@alexh unfortunately I tried that already with no result. also used a bit of sand paper, though some are strongly against it.
@zipper thanks, I'll try to find that.

I use a scuff pad for tip cleaning have never had a problem.

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by orange

@alexh unfortunately I tried that already with no result. also used a bit of sand paper, though some are strongly against it.
@zipper thanks, I'll try to find that.

Never use sandpaper on a tip, they are coated with tin/nickel to prolong tip life and prevent corrosion, once you remove the coating the tip is going to suffer a quick death. if you have liquid tin you can try to use that to restore it, otherwise buy a new tip, using an old tip will cause more grief than its worth by causing solder blobs, bridges etc.

Also some tips (Weller in particular) do not like being cleaned with a damp sponge, you should use a steel wool ball os similar to clean the tip

heres a useful link...

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5787078_cl...ring-tips.html

[pandy71]

orange... never ever sand paper! use special scrubber for cleaning irons http://guitarkitbuilder.com/content/...on-tip-cleaner .

Personally i prefer chemical solution for cleaning irons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_chloride - it can recover even "unrecoverable" tip - but it is highly corrosive so not recommended to use as normal electronic flux (but for soldering difficult thing that can be washed yes)

check also temperature of iron - to high create very fast oxidation - very bad for iron,to slow prevent iron tip to be self cleaned (in theory flux should clean iron in optimal temperature - to low prevent flux activity)

[Loedown]

Many people actually swab their iron tip when they are putting it away, just clean it when you are ready to solder something.

1. take iron out of holder
2. clean tip of debris
3. solder
4. put iron back in holder without swabbing

I use a Weller, the old blue ones, I'll be using a Metcal soon and clean it with a damp sponge. The first tip lasted around 5 years before the plating started to come away from the tip.

[cosmicfrog]

well you learn something new every day, Thanks, did`t know about the coating on the tip but it makes perfect sense once i read it