# Is my soldering iron tip ruined?



## kuksul08 (Feb 20, 2010)

This is my first soldering iron, and I've been using it for about a year now since I bought it.

Just recently, I noticed this black spot that will not tin. Looks like the chrome plating is flaking off. The very tip is breaking apart in a similar manner. Is my only option to buy a new tip now?

What tip would you suggest for general use? This one was a tad big for smaller projects. It's a Weller soldering iron. Also how can I prevent this from happening?

If it's salvageable, what can I do?

Thanks


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## KC2IXE (Feb 20, 2010)

tips are a disposable item. That tip isn't too bad, as you usually don't work with that spot on the tip (or at least I don't)

The idea is buy a few different ones, and use the right size for the job


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## leeleefocus (Feb 20, 2010)

That tip is for the bin. Buy a new tip and be amazed at the difference it will make.

One of the jobs i get to do at work sometimes when it's quiet is rework PCB,s
I can get a tip to look like that in a couple of days of heavy usage.

I can't recommend a decent Weller tip as i dislike almost all of the Weller tip profiles. I find the Pace tips much more versatile but you will need a Pace iron for that.


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## T0RN4D0 (Feb 20, 2010)

Uh you should see my tips. Anyone using the solder iron properly would probably get sick  Well the one on the iron i got yesterday is still ok


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## jasonck08 (Feb 20, 2010)

My last two weller tips literally broke after a while. It's like the metal on the tip gradually disintegrated and the metal became pitted. I ended up grinding the tip down a bit using a bench grinder and now it works ok again. I don't understand why these tips are so crappy. Are there any good ones that will actually last more than a 10x use?


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## gadget_lover (Feb 20, 2010)

They get pitted because they are allowed to sit while hot after the solder is wiped or scraped off. The underlying metal becomes oxidized. After each use, always put a fresh blob of solder on the tip to protect it.


There is a technique used to re-tin it if it's become oxidized. 

Quoted from http://yarchive.net/metal/soldering_iron_tinning.html


> The proper procedure is to geat a tinner's block. This is a block of sal
> ammoniac which is the common name name for the chemical compound ammonium
> chloride. It looks like a salt lick used for farm animals. With the
> soldering tip hot and with alot of solder adhearing, the tip is scrubbed on
> ...



I included the quote because I could not remember how to spell Sal Ammoniac.

Daniel


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## kuksul08 (Feb 20, 2010)

So I guess I'm lucky it lasted me a year!

I make it common practice to keep the tip tinned in between uses, as well as before storage (basically I try to keep it tinned always).

This tip (.125" x .750") is a bit big but worked surprisingly well for most things I've had to work on. I think I'll get the .9375" or .625" width version next.


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## StrikerDown (Feb 20, 2010)

I have an old Weller with some tips over 20 years old! All the tips are over 20 years but some are still unused. The key to long life is using a lot more solder to tin the tip than you solder parts with. Each time you pick it up to solder it gets cleaned, solder the joint/s, tin and put in the rack. if it does not get used for 20-30 minutes it gets re-tinned or if I know it won't be used for that long it gets turned off and hit with a little more solder before it is too cool. always drown the tip with solder before you store it, even if for just over night. Keeping the tip covered with solder prevents the plating on the tip from oxidizing and going away. Once that happens you might as well replace it. It is considered a consumable. 

When I was in depot level maintenance, with the Weller runnng 8 hours a day and the government buying all the tips I could use they would last weeks with proper care, or hours or even minutes without.

With your tip, try thermal shocking it by wiping on a wet sponge when it is really hot then hit it with flux core solder. Try it a few times and if it does not help toss it.


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## csa (Feb 20, 2010)

Some good advice here. I always knew tips were disposable, but I have been lazy about replacing them. Now I've got some ideas for how to help them last a bit longer...


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## Beamhead (Feb 20, 2010)

StrikerDown said:


> always drown the tip with solder before you store it, even if for just over night. Keeping the tip covered with solder prevents the plating on the tip from oxidizing and going away. Once that happens you might as well replace it.


 
Words to solder by. My Weller's are from the 80's and I have only replaced 4-5 tips. The heating elements are another animal.:tinfoil:


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## darkzero (Feb 20, 2010)

Aside from those who have experience with rework, many people use too high of a temperature for the size tip being used or application. The excessive heat leads to faster tip degradation. If you need excessive heat to get the job done chances are you have other factors/issues that need to be addressed.

For irons that don't have heat adjustability, too small of a tip for a high wattage iron is not a good combo, ie using a very fine tip on a 40W iron for fine PCB rework is not a good idea. It's best to have the right size iron for the job. Before I got my own soldering station I had two seperate irons, a 15W & a 30W.

Once a tip starts to pit it's time to replace it, don't be cheap. I would also never file, grind, or sand a tip although you can get away with very minor polishing. Replace it or buy the suitable profile of your preference. Old degraded tips also need more heat to get the job done. You'll be amazed how much better a new fresh tip performs along with the need for less heat compared to your old tip & the dial cranked up.


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## 65535 (Feb 20, 2010)

By cutting down the heat I have tips that are 4-5 years old going strong.


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## jasonck08 (Feb 20, 2010)

Where can you actually buy cheap tips. Home depot and lowes don't have any, and I checked ebay and stuff and they all seem crappy or expensive...


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## Torque1st (Feb 21, 2010)

I am like Ray. I have tips that are 20 years old. They don't get used regularly. I always clean them with a wet sponge before use and afterward then load them up with solder. I have filed the tips also or used sandpaper with no problems. The OP's tip can be salvad with a little sandpaper and re-tinning. The copper tips also seem to dissolve into the solder slowly with use. Some tips are made of plated iron or steel. Personally I dislike them. 

I always use the normal white thermal heatsink compound on the threads. It makes changing tips much easier.


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## 65535 (Feb 21, 2010)

Fry's electronics should, depending on what unit you have. Though they are being phased out my ET* tips are still available around $5 a tip plus shipping.


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## HighLight (Feb 21, 2010)

My tips looks just like yours after awhile. I just very lightly go over that dark spot with very fine sandpaper and then i re-tin the tip with lots of solder. I then unplug the iron and wipe all over the tip with a wet paper towel concentrating on the area with the dark spot. I keep on brushing over the tip with the wet paper towel until its almost cooled off. This works for me.ymmv


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## Illum (Feb 21, 2010)

heh, I've been really bad on my tips, but they seem to hold up well.

I've never seen something like that before, when my tips gets dull I usually chuck them on the drill press and "work it out" using a fine file at an angle, then proceed to tin. hasn't failed me yet


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## Lynx_Arc (Feb 21, 2010)

my iron is an old Ungar and I use iron plated copper tips on it, I have had to replace 1 tip only because it broke off after 20 years of use and the heating element died but I had an element with a tip from my late fathers iron I swapped into it. I don't know if you can find iron plated tips any more but they hold up a lot better than others.


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## Norm (Feb 21, 2010)

StrikerDown said:


> I have an old Weller with some tips over 20 years old!


 Same here, to me your tip looks fine, I would't be worrying too much about it.
Norm


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## Aircraft800 (Feb 21, 2010)

Dam, your tip last that long? I replace mine 2-3 times a year on my 25w iron. I wish there were nice ones like the one you have available for mine.


I really need a quality iron!


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## darkzero (Feb 21, 2010)

HighLight said:


> My tips looks just like yours after awhile. I just very lightly go over that dark spot with very fine sandpaper and then i re-tin the tip with lots of solder.


 
Can't tell for sure but that dark spot looks like the plating has flaked off in that area as he has suspected? Then again the entire tip almost looks like it has been sanded before. If the spot is not from the coating flaking off you may be able to just lightly scrap it off with a razor blade.




Illum said:


> when my tips gets dull I usually chuck them on the drill press and "work it out" using a fine file at an angle, then proceed to tin. hasn't failed me yet


 
Many tips are plated so sanding them would ruin those tips. They might still tin ok but won't continue to stay tinned after use after oxidizing until resanding again. A light sanding or polishing might be ok on plated tips but eventually the plating will be gone.


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## Illum (Feb 21, 2010)

darkzero said:


> Many tips are plated so sanding them would ruin those tips. They might still tin ok but won't continue to stay tinned after use after oxidizing until resanding again. A light sanding or polishing might be ok on plated tips but eventually the plating will be gone.



thats the only option when no stores stock weller tips, I either have to buy a new iron, or buy it online and spend more than just buying another iron for a new tip


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## StrikerDown (Feb 21, 2010)

What Will said! 

It really depends on what you are soldering weather you need to replace the tip. If you are soldering non critical wires and don't care if the wire gets excessively hot than a substandard tip condition is okay (with you anyway). If you are soldering on parts you want to have better quality solder connection or wiring that can flex as designed then a tip in good condition and properly tinned is a necessity.

To achieve a good solder connection the parts you want soldered have to be heated up above the melting temp of the particular solder for the surface to be whetted by the solder and a good electrical and mechanical bond to be achieved. 

With a crappy tip the heat does not transfer rapidly so the parts heat slowly and the heat has time to spread throughout the components when the component eventually gets hot enough to melt the solder it carries the solder farther onto or into the component or wiring strands. With some components heat can cause damage and with PC boards the bond between the trace and the board can delaminate ruining the board. With wires the solder can flow back up the strands causing the wire to not be flexible as it should be making it prone to breakage.

With a good tip that is properly tinned and the correct size the heat transfers rapidly to the immediate area and solder can be applied and flow right where it is needed and the iron withdrawn so the connection can cool. Slam bam! you're done! 

So you be the judge if you can live with the results you get. The tip in the pic above can still be used almost as effectively as when it was new as long as the damaged areas can be avoided while using it. Usually when the plating on the tip wears through the substrate begins to erode rapidly so that tip is probably not going to last for long.

Hope this helps.


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## DIWdiver (Feb 21, 2010)

A lot of good advice here. I'll summarize, and add some of my own, IN CAPS:

1. Good tips allow for lower temperatures.
2. Lower temperatures help preserve tips.
3. Keep the tip bathed in solder (tinned), especially when turned OFF.
4. Tips are disposable. When bad, bin them.
5. The life of a tip is between hours and years, depending on use and care.
6. Good tips are plated with iron and then nickel. Sanding, filing, or grinding removes the plating. The plating is there to protect the core.
7. Nearly all tips have a copper alloy core. Copper and its alloys are soluable in solder, so unplated tips literally disolve. I've had a plated tip dissolve from the inside while the plating remained intact!
8. A GOOD TIP MAY BE RESTORED USING TIP CLEANER. THIS IS A NON-ABRASIVE SOLID AND USUALLY COMES IN A SMALL TIN. THE TIP WILL MELT INTO IT, AND HOPEFULLY COME OUT CLEANER.
9. A BAD TIP CANNOT BE RECOVERED BY USING TIP CLEANER.

D


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## precisionworks (Feb 21, 2010)

> Looks like the chrome plating is flaking off.


Tips are usually iron plated, although some advertising mentions nickel plate. If there's a plating shop near where you live, they can be replated ... but that costs more than a new tip


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## GMLRS (Feb 22, 2010)

Sand or file the part of the tip you want the lead to stick to the whole tip does not need lead actually you want less for oxidation purposes.
Keep the tip clean by putting extra solder on it then shaking it off, often and more than once, then rubbing it with a wet paper towel or wet sponge. Wet the tip again (with solder) when ready to use, I try to get the flux dripping off the bottom of the melted solder onto the part first. Heat the part not the solder let the solder flow to the iron. A properly soldered joint is very shiny, spend as little time heating part as possible. Cleaning and or proper fluxing of the part essential.


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## wyager (Feb 22, 2010)

You can get re-plating chemical on dealextreme. Never used it though. My weller tip has been flaking off, but it appears to be copper under the surface. I just re-tin it every time I use it.


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## 65535 (Feb 22, 2010)

I just pulled out the Weller WESD51 and set the temp to 666F on lockout solder melts clean comes out shiny with no overheating. Tips love it too.


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## GMLRS (Feb 23, 2010)

Oh yeah proper wattage is essential. those big soldering guns heat up quickly, but are probably overkill (size and wattage) for most soldering jobs, I like to use a Weller 4XAA soldering tool because its convenient, portable, safe, and warms up in about 15 seconds (it is not a carbon tip, its copper:twothumbs ). was about 12$ at home depot.


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## LuxLuthor (Feb 23, 2010)

I think I'm going on 3 years and about 8-10 spools of solder, with the original Hako 936 tip almost always used @ 800° F. I bought a bunch of spares, but now I feel like I wasted money on replacement tips due to their extremely high quality.


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## jzmtl (Feb 23, 2010)

I don't solder a lot, but when my iron tip is messed up I put it to belt sander and reshape a new one then tin it. Works as well as when it was new.


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## Illum (Feb 24, 2010)

jzmtl said:


> I don't solder a lot, but when my iron tip is messed up I put it to belt sander and reshape a new one then tin it. Works as well as when it was new.



Be advised that some tips are copper core and on occasion its impossible to tin. I'm currently in this situation. bare copper will still solder well as usual without the solder sticking to it, but as soon as you dab it with a wet sponge black, dull colored oxidation immediately covers the region:shakehead


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## Torque1st (Feb 24, 2010)

Illum said:


> Be advised that some tips are copper core and on occasion its impossible to tin. I'm currently in this situation. bare copper will still solder well as usual without the solder sticking to it, but as soon as you dab it with a wet sponge black, dull colored oxidation immediately covers the region:shakehead


It sounds like you may be running too hot. I have never had trouble with copper tips holding a solder coating unless they are way overheated or improperly tinned.


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## StrikerDown (Feb 24, 2010)

Illum said:


> Be advised that some tips are copper core and on occasion its impossible to tin. I'm currently in this situation. bare copper will still solder well as usual without the solder sticking to it, but as soon as you dab it with a wet sponge black, dull colored oxidation immediately covers the region:shakehead




In the "Olden Days" before plated tips sal ammoniac blocks were used to rub the hot iron tip on to remove the oxidation and tin the tip. See: http://store.allstainedglass.com/salambloc.html

With the advent of plated tips tinning should be extremely easy by comparison. An un-tinned tip will still heat the parts but much more slowly and increases the chance of damage to delicate parts, insulation, traces, etc.


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## jzmtl (Feb 24, 2010)

Illum said:


> Be advised that some tips are copper core and on occasion its impossible to tin. I'm currently in this situation. bare copper will still solder well as usual without the solder sticking to it, but as soon as you dab it with a wet sponge black, dull colored oxidation immediately covers the region:shakehead



Mine seems to be copper in color, but I tin it as soon as I finish grinding and solder sticks fine.


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## 65535 (Feb 24, 2010)

Illum said:


> Be advised that some tips are copper core and on occasion its impossible to tin. I'm currently in this situation. bare copper will still solder well as usual without the solder sticking to it, but as soon as you dab it with a wet sponge black, dull colored oxidation immediately covers the region:shakehead



I have my grandpas old school soldering monster (14"+ OAL) with a large heater and a 3/8" round copper tip filled into a 4 sided pyramid patter. Solid copper, tins great.


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## Illum (Feb 24, 2010)

Torque1st said:


> It sounds like you may be running too hot. I have never had trouble with copper tips holding a solder coating unless they are way overheated or improperly tinned.



hmm...well the temperatures adjustable so I'll see if I can get it to tin at a lower setting. 

my tin comes in radioshack's "tip cleaner and tinner," is there a way to buy tin by itself?


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## 65535 (Feb 24, 2010)

Illum said:


> hmm...well the temperatures adjustable so I'll see if I can get it to tin at a lower setting.
> 
> my tin comes in radioshack's "tip cleaner and tinner," is there a way to buy tin by itself?




I've always used plain old 604/40 solder to tin my tips, then again I haven't abused any. Tinned the copper tipped monster fine too.


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## kuksul08 (Feb 25, 2010)

Well I figured I had nothing to lose, so I got some sandpaper and fully sanded the tip down so it was all uniform and smooth. I was fully expecting to break through the iron/nickel coating and expose some orange copper underneath. Instead the whole thing remained silver. I'm not sure what it's made out of. 

I heated it up and attempted to re-tin the tip with some solder wire, didn't work. It began to turn black again rather quickly due to the accelerated corrosion I am assuming. I sanded it shiny again, and put a thin layer of solder paste on the tip, then heated it up again. It tinned very uniformly, and seems to be working well again. Time will tell.


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## 65535 (Feb 25, 2010)

Solder doesn't bond well unless flux is used. It's possible you have an iron tip, which will tin pretty well. IIRC. If you keep the temp below 700F your tips will last longer. 850F (max for my iron) works fine, but seems around 666F where I have it set produces nice shiny joints without burning flux or plastic/rubber parts.


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## Simon520 (Feb 25, 2010)

Good grief!

I solder at 450-500 degrees mostly.

Rarely do I have to turn the heat up higher than that; only if the parts are pretty large and wick the heat away.

Soldering tips are plated. The TIN in the solder is corrosive; this corrosion takes place much faster at elevated temperatures. Once you lose the plating, the exposed core metal will corrode very quickly.

Lead-free solders are even more corrosive due to the relatively higher tin percentage.

My recommendation is to buy a soldering station. The newer ones will heat up in less than 30 seconds. You can heat, solder, clean, re-tin, and turn off in about 2 minutes.

NEVER, EVER grind or sand a tip. Yes, they will work after being ground, but if you were to compare its function to a brand-new tip, you'd see how much compromise you are accepting.

I use a Hakko soldering station with the Hakko "brillo" type cleaner. I rarely run it more than 1/2 way on the temp. dial.


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## Torque1st (Feb 25, 2010)

Simon520 said:


> NEVER, EVER grind or sand a tip. Yes, they will work after being ground, but if you were to compare its function to a brand-new tip, you'd see how much compromise you are accepting.


I have been soldering for over 45 years and I have never noticed a decrease in performance with any of my tips after reshaping and tinning vs a new tip. 

I mostly tin with plain 60/40 rosin core solder but occasionally I use acid core. The problem I see most often with tinning is the operator does not pay attention and the tip gets too hot and oxidizes heavily before they apply flux and solder.


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## darkzero (Feb 25, 2010)

Agreed, some of the temps mentioned here are pretty high. I almost never go higher than 700F & I only use that temp for larger wires which is not often. 600 - 650F is more than enough to do most of the jobs for me & a bit lower for the smaller PCB work. If I ever get to the point where I need more than 700F to get the job done I toss that tip & replace it. When doing rework on lead free solder that's a different story. I also use a Hakko 936 both at home & at work with the medium size iron.




GMLRS said:


> Sand or file the part of the tip you want the lead to stick to....
> 
> Keep the tip clean by putting extra solder on it then shaking it off....
> 
> A properly soldered joint is very shiny.....


 
These are not tips that should be recommended in general. 

Again as covered here, tips should not be sanded, filed, or grinded. Most tips these days are plated & I've never had an iron that didn't have/use plated tips. This will easily ruin a nice tip.

I might be thinking of the worse case scenerio but I would would never recommend shaking solder off the iron. Perhaps maybe in a garage or shop where no one's around but that's not safe practice. I solder in my room, I would never fling solder of my iron. At work there's too many people around that can get injured from doing so. If you have excess on the tip, why not just wipe it off?

Although true, it really depends on the type of solder. A properly soldered joint won't always be shiny. This thread really hasn't covered what types of soldering applications but being in a flashlight forum I assume soldering electronics is what most are referring too. Recommending someone to get a nice shiny joint when using "lead free" solder without knowing it might drive that person crazy try to do so. :laughing: At work we are only allowed to use "lead free" solder on PCB work as the boards are used in consumer products.


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## GMLRS (Feb 26, 2010)

I shake the tip clean because thats was the way I was taught in college( a long time ago, Im old), its fast and the only way to get a lot of solder off your tip, without a sponge or without damaging the sponge. Having new clean solder on the tip has worked very well for me. very little of the tip actually needs to touch the part. 

Here is a good link to a site about different tips and soldering.

Better Soldering
(A COOPERTools Reprint)
http://www.elexp.com/t_solder.htm


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## 65535 (Feb 26, 2010)

I'll admit to shaking solder of the tip, but in my environment it's a concrete floor and I'm the only one around.


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## gadget_lover (Feb 26, 2010)

I once worked in job where we soldered all day long. We did thousands of joints per night attaching 22 gauge wire onto tinned lugs. Man, that was a boring job. The soldering irons were the foot long, 1 inch diameter pencil style with a 3 inch long tip as big as your thumb. 

If we were caught slinging solder from the tip, it was grounds for reprimand. Failure to break the habit was grounds for firing.

Hot solder that hits the eye sticks amazingly well and scars badly. And it hurts. You don't want to chance it.

A clean damp (not wet) sponge does a good job of removing excess solder as well as spreading it around the tip a little better. We used dry sponge like pads and they worked almost as well.

Daniel


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## GMLRS (Feb 26, 2010)

You can shake it very little, the solder will come off, you can tap it into a coffee can or something. You dont have to dance around with it.
:touche::whoopin:


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## gadget_lover (Feb 26, 2010)

GMLRS said:


> You can shake it very little, the solder will come off, you can tap it into a coffee can or something. You dont have to dance around with it.




While very true, it's still a practice that CAN lead to injury of one of the few things that can not be fixed very well. Solder can bounce instead of properly doing that neat splat design as it hits. Yeah, I developed the "quick tap" habit when I was in my teens and still revert to that habit when working with a large iron or when outside working on car wiring or such. But I know that I should not and try to avoid it.

We should probably avoid suggesting to newbies that they use a practice that can cause injury, even if it's an often used technique.

Daniel


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## GMLRS (Feb 26, 2010)

Tapping into a can is totally harmless, solder aint going nowhere, its very heavy lead and tin thats melted, it barely even stick to the Iron. If your shivering the solder will come off.:nana::shakehead:nana::shakehead:wave:


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## kuksul08 (Feb 26, 2010)

Well thanks for all the replies. I don't think shaking the tip would be a good thing, considering the molten metal likes to splatter.

Until now I had used the damp sponge that came with my soldering iron station. Seems to work relatively well.


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## spencer (Mar 1, 2010)

Reading this thread I realized that I left one of my tips untinned for multiple months now. I wiped it clean because I wasn't expecting use from it for awhile. I went back to tin it and it was quite difficult. Another big vote for leaving your tips tinned.


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## precisionworks (Mar 6, 2010)

I was 50 miles from the shop recently & needed a soldering iron ... the half dozen in shop weren't much good at that point :mecry: Picked up a Weller SP40L at Ace Hardware, under $20, plus a roll of rosin core solder (just like the ones back at the shop ). The iron comes with a chisel tip about the size of Texas, so I took a short piece of W1 drill rod & ground the tip to a fine point. Plugged in the iron & the tip tinned perfectly. Used it again today at a customer's office & it again worked well.

Probably not as good as the real deal but it does the job.



> Keep the tip clean by putting extra solder on it then shaking it off


I learned to solder in my Dad's shop where he'd twist a pair of #12 copper wires, clamp one end in the vise, hand me the 550 watt American Beauty Model 3198, and walk away. I probably went through twenty pounds of solder, and learned not to wear shorts around that heavy iron. I was given most of his tools when he passed away, including the American Beauty. Still works as well as it did fifty years ago


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## bluepilgrim (Mar 6, 2010)

I just used solder to repair a small steel box I keep my cigarettes in. I used my old woodburner -- old -- about 55 years. I replaced the tip once about 35 years ago -- I used a brass machine screw filed down to a point. I worked fine. 

Just file the thing down and re-tin it until it gets to small to use. I also used my old Weller gun -- that's only about 45 years old. When the tip falls apart I cut and bend a piece of heavy copper wire to use. 

Hot solder and flux eats into tips, so you need to maintain and replace them. That balck spot can be scraped off. But you also have a groove there from being eaten away, and I would file that down. 

Yes, you can get tips which are plated which will hold up longer, but why bother when it's so easy to clean or replace a tip (including sometimes detatching it from the heater to make sutre there is good contact to conduct the heat)? If the tip gets hot, and there is a coating of solder on it, and the shape is usable, and the heat goes into the joint enough to melt solder there, then what else do you need? 

BTW, if you file that tip, do at a bit of angle so you get a little point on it, so looks like a angled felt tip marker -- that way you can work on a smaller joint or a larger one by tilting the iron/pencil. I've sometimes made up a specially shaped tip for an iron or gun for some particular job, like desoldering several pins at once with a broad (maybe curved) tip, or a long skinny one to get into tight quarters (or maybe just wrapping a piece of copper wire around the tip with a 'tail' extending out). 

There really isn't anything mysterious about it all. It's just heat transfer through clean and well fitted connecting parts.

P.S. 

If you want to tap solder nto a can, put some water in the can so the solder doesn't bounce and cools off right away.

If you use sal ammoniac, acid flux, or anything like that, make sure you get it all off the tip before using it on electronics because it's corrosive and could get on your connection. 

If you like a plated tip you can make your own with a torch and some hard silver solder, or even brazing rod. 

I have to give agreement with those who said not to let the thing get too hot -- that'll eat out a tip faster than most anything else. If nothing else, have a big piece of metal to rest the iron on to sink some heat away if need be, but you can also switch off or unplug the thing for a time. If the solder on the tip starts looking 'grainy' it probably got too hot.


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## GarageBoy (Mar 16, 2010)

My dad used a tip for 15 years and hes wired dozens of tube amps. The heating element blew out before the tip failed (weller wtcp)


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