How do you keep your tip clean?

[giovanni]

First of all, phrasing.

Second, I pulled out my iron yesterday and started going at it but I noticed a little bit of gunk on the very tip that I could not shake off. Also phrasing.

In seriousness, the conductivity of the tip seems a bit diminished and I had to get the right angle to enable the solder to flow (I use a small conical tip that I really like). Tinning didn’t seem to help. It does look like there is a bit of oxidation or something on one side which may be causing this. I hadn’t been able to use the iron in over a year so maybe it’s a fully oxidized piece of solder? I haven’t tried cleaning it yet, what method would you recommend? Would IPA work? Or do I need something else?

 

[Erik S]

Let’s see a picture!

My random guess is that it’s not something stuck to your iron, but a little bit of the tinning eaten away by oxidation. Heat and a brass sponge should remove any kind of gunk on the surface.

Might be time for a new tip.

 

[Laundryroom David]

Agreed re the pic.

Do you have flux on hand?

 

[Harry Klippton]

I use tip tinner and a brass sponge. I've had the same tip for close to ten years

 

[MichaelW]

First of all, phrasing.

Second, I pulled out my iron yesterday and started going at it but I noticed a little bit of gunk on the very tip that I could not shake off. Also phrasing.

In seriousness, the conductivity of the tip seems a bit diminished and I had to get the right angle to enable the solder to flow (I use a small conical tip that I really like). Tinning didn’t seem to help. It does look like there is a bit of oxidation or something on one side which may be causing this. I hadn’t been able to use the iron in over a year so maybe it’s a fully oxidized piece of solder? I haven’t tried cleaning it yet, what method would you recommend? Would IPA work? Or do I need something else?

Don't stick it anywhere skanky?.......

 

[MichaelW]

Seriously, I would lightly sand it with some 320 or 400 grit then re-tin it.

 

[steviejr92]

Get yourself this stuff


Solder Tip Cleaner

The one I just suggested has a metal sponge like material with a resin at the bottom that removes oxidization and cleans your tip. Never had a problem with this stuff.

 

[ThePanda]

In the old days i use to use a watery sponge. Nowadays, I really like the Hakko solder tip cleaner. One is built into the 888 station.

After I am done soldering. I clean it with that then coat the tip in solder to store.

 

[Alan W]

I did almost all the soldering at my shop, but other people would use the iron (and eventually, station,) on occasion and eventually I kept a stash of tips hidden so I could have a plausible tip to use. But I was able to easily rescue tips that I had tried fine sanding, etc. on, with the tiny tin that @Harry Klippton recommended. Super easily, too.

I’m probably overdoing it, but every time my iron is in the holder for more than a few minutes, I make sure to melt a nice wad of fat solder onto it. And always before turning it off.

The two most basic rules I taught students about soldering were:1. Heat the parts to melt the solder, (don’t melt the solder on the tip itself), and 2. Keep your tip shiny clean. I don’t understand the physics, but even the tiniest non-shiny part of a tip disrupts the tips ability to heat up something it’s pressed against effectively. The squiggly brass cleaners work really well. I’ve never tried the specific one that @steviejr92 linked, but my sense is that with the flux on it, it probably acts like a combination of the Thermaltronics and the plain brass sponge that @ThePanda (and I) use.

 

[Harry Klippton]

I turn my iron on right before soldering and turn it off again when I put it in the holder. I don't leave it idle for more than about 5 minutes.

 

[andare]

I always leave solder on the tip when I'm done soldering and I put a big blob of solder on it before switching the iron off.

My Pinecil cools down to 150C 20 seconds after being put down and turns itself off after 10 minutes so my tip is never oxidized.

I always clean the tip in the brass afro and then on a wet sponge before resuming/starting work.

The brass afro is better at removing solder residue (so mine is full of gunk), the sponge is better at making the tip shiny and ready to go.

 

[giovanni]

I tried tinning and using the brass with no luck. No amount of heat or solder has worked.


Not sure if you can see it from the picture, there is a little blob at the very tip that I’m not sure how to remove.

 

[Alan W]

I tried tinning and using the brass with no luck. No amount of heat or solder has worked.

View attachment 48505
Not sure if you can see it from the picture, there is a little blob at the very tip that I’m not sure how to remove.

I think it’s worth having a backup tip! And when you order it, get the tin of that Thermaltronics tip cleaning paste, to try on your old tip.

Everyone has their preferred tools. I prefer chisel shaped tips for general soldering. Sometimes the pointy type that you use has been just right, but overall, I like the greater amount of surface contact you can get with the bevel of the chisel tip.

 

[Barry]

I tried tinning and using the brass with no luck. No amount of heat or solder has worked.

View attachment 48505
Not sure if you can see it from the picture, there is a little blob at the very tip that I’m not sure how to remove.

If none of the methods above will resolve it try filing it off, but I think it may be new tip time!

 

[giovanni]

Don't stick it anywhere skanky?.......

But it feels so good!

 

[andare]

Just get another tip and make it a chisel or hoof type, to me they work a lot better than the conical tip.

 

[Betty Wont]

I use tip tinner and a brass sponge. I've had the same tip for close to ten years.

Same. I don’t use tinner though. My iron is on for several hours at a time.

 

[Laundryroom David]

Same. I don’t use tinner though. My iron is on for several hours at a time.

Brass, no tinner, lots of solder. Works for me.

 

[DGWVI]

I like to wet mine with my tongue, not dissimilar to the way a painter would their brush

 

[giovanni]

I like to wet mine with my tongue, not dissimilar to the way a painter would their brushView attachment 48527

I’m gonna have to report this inappropriate content!