Soldering Iron tip covered in crud

guitarify · October 21, 2010, 11:33:42 AM

So my new Weller 25W soldering iron is suddenly not working well. Seemingly because the tip has a coating of scale, or corrosion or something. It also looks rather 'eaten away' with craters in it. I only built a few pedals with it, is this normal?
I tried filing the crud off but it came right back.I do wipe the tip off on a damp sponge regularly while working.

Govmnt_Lacky · October 21, 2010, 11:38:50 AM

Always put a large blob of solder large enough to cover the entire tip on your iron prior to shutting it off. This will prevent corrosion as well as give it a good tinning.

joegagan · October 21, 2010, 11:52:37 AM

clean clean clean. i like quality pro irons with the higher quality tips, the guys at the supply house tell me that since rohs, everyone is complaining that they don't last nearly as long.

also, if you let the tip touch plastic, it seems to really speed up the contamination & demise.

Ronsonic · October 21, 2010, 12:27:30 PM

Don't run the iron any hotter than necessary to get a good, fast, clean joint. Excess heat eats tips faster. Turn it down or off when not using it.

jkokura · October 21, 2010, 12:41:40 PM

Tip tinner will help. So will rosin.

What I do when my tip is bad is make sure my sponge is the right level of wetness and clean the tip as best I can. Use some rosin on the tip (watch the fumes on that stuff... yuck) and then clean it again on the sponge. Then use your tip tinner and let that fully coat the tip. I leave it on for a minute or so. Once you clean it a third time you'll have a shiny silver new looking tip.

Jacob

Mark Hammer · October 21, 2010, 01:35:05 PM

+1 on tip tinner. One little can of it will last quite a while.

Having a little sponge to wipe excess off is helpful. I also find that excessive desoldering of parts also tends to produce erosion of solder tips.

Once in a while I'll scrape the crud off the tip with a utility/X-acto knife while its warming up, then re-tin once it's hot enough.

waltk · October 21, 2010, 01:38:39 PM

What they said...

Plus

QuoteI tried filing the crud off but it came right back

The tips are copper in the middle with plating on the surface. Once the plating is removed, the copper underneath will continue to erode at a high rate. So if you filed your tip, you need a new one.

Also, is that the bright orange Weller 25W iron? I went through 3 of the orange Weller 40W irons. They lasted between a few weeks and a couple years. I believe the heating element just burnt out. The package says they are "medium duty" - and I think that's a euphemism for "don't expect it to last too long".

You'll find lots of recommendations here on the forum for soldering irons (and everybody has an opinion). The pricier ones tend to last longer, and they are also a joy to work with.

jefe · October 21, 2010, 01:53:56 PM

Does anyone else clean their tips with the "brass wool" stuff?

I've been using it instead of a wet sponge, it seems to work much better (YMMV, of course).

John Lyons · October 21, 2010, 02:24:32 PM

+1 on the brass pot scrubby thingy.
Why get the tip wet and cool it down?
Seems that the constant expansion/contraction would wear out the tip
even more.

frank_p · October 21, 2010, 02:44:02 PM

This will re-tin a dammaged tip for real ?
http://www.platoproducts.com/page13a.htm

http://www.platoproducts.com/howtotin.htm

defaced · October 21, 2010, 02:45:39 PM

QuoteSeems that the constant expansion/contraction would wear out the tip
even more.

Wha? I'm not seeing how this would affect anything. Even the act of melting solder on it will cool down the tip.

All you have to do is find a way to remove the oxide. How you do it, wet sponge, banding solder off the tip, or brass wool is preference. I use a sponge or my work bench if that's not around. Metal oxides = poor wetting of molten metal.

BoxOfSnoo · October 21, 2010, 04:04:25 PM

Quote from: jefe on October 21, 2010, 01:53:56 PM
Does anyone else clean their tips with the "brass wool" stuff?

Yep I love mine, it leaves just enough solder on the tip so that it remains tinned.

guitarify · October 21, 2010, 04:34:29 PM

Hey, thx for all the advice!

Quote
Also, is that the bright orange Weller 25W iron? I went through 3 of the orange Weller 40W irons. They lasted between a few weeks and a couple years. I believe the heating element just burnt out. The package says they are "medium duty" - and I think that's a euphemism for "don't expect it to last too long".

Yeah, thats the one. I thought I was buying a decent iron by going Weller. Though it was pretty cheap.
I didn't want to spend too much cause I didn't know how much of this pedal stuff I was going to do. But now that I have modded 4-5 pedals, built 3 and breadboarded another 3-4, ordered 2500 resistors and capacitors from Hong Kong.....maybe it's time I invest in a good one.

jkokura · October 21, 2010, 07:13:04 PM

Get a 25W or 30W blue Weller iron. Or you can get a unit with temperature control and such. More money for the latter.

Jacob

BadIdeas · October 21, 2010, 07:43:45 PM

Quote from: jefe on October 21, 2010, 01:53:56 PM
Does anyone else clean their tips with the "brass wool" stuff?

I was just about to post that.

I started using the 40W Weller station recently and I love it very much. Of course, what I have to compare it to is a cheap little toy that was part of a tool kit. The "automatic wire stripper" that came in it broke before a single use if that tells you anything. Solder would not even adhere to the tip, but just roll off. In fact, it literally took HALF AN HOUR just to melt one solder pad.

Anything functional is pure gold next to that thing.

Question about rosin:
Do you recommend using it even though I use rosin-core solder?

frank_p · October 21, 2010, 10:28:20 PM

An other +1 for the brass wool stand. I tought one of my tips was finished. I had one stand like this in it's package and today I used it.

Still curious about the tinning compoud Jacob and Mark are talking about...

jkokura · October 22, 2010, 12:35:45 AM

Tip tinner... it comes in a little tin, like 1 inch across. I think it's sometimes called tip cleaner. I have some stuff from Kester I think...

The rosin in the rosin core solder is great for new componants. It won't de-oxide your whole tip unless you use a lot. Better to just get rosin IMHO. It also really, really helps when you're trying to desolder something.

Jacob

jefe · October 22, 2010, 08:02:10 AM

Quote from: BadIdeas on October 21, 2010, 07:43:45 PM
Question about rosin:
Do you recommend using it even though I use rosin-core solder?

I rarely need extra rosin, the rosin in the core is usually enough for me. Sometimes, when trying to solder to cheap jacks or old & cruddy surfaces, extra rosin comes in handy.. but even then, you can sometimes sand the surface a little to clean it up and get rid of the oxidation to avoid using rosin.

Earthscum · October 22, 2010, 08:34:55 AM

Another +1 to the brass brillo. My local 'tronics guy recommended it, and I love it... works way better than any damp sponge, and lasts what is seeming to be forever. Just plunge your tip a couple times and you're good to go. With a sponge I could never get any of the bad solder off the tip, it would just roll around to the warm side. I have a good collection of solder splashes from the top of the table that I don't make anymore, lol.

guitarify · October 22, 2010, 08:09:20 PM

Just ran to ratshack and got some tip tinner, also grabbed a desoldering iron based on another thread I read recently.
There was so much oxidation on the tip that the tinner beaded up all over it. So I tried jkokura's advice and dipped it in some rosin then wiped it on a sponge. Had to do it a few times but I finally got the tinner to coat the tip. And it melts solder again!
I'll probably get a better iron rather then just a new tip but at least this should hold me over til I get it.
I think the tip tinner will always be out when I'm soldering now. Maybe I'll try one of those brass brillo things too.
Thanks again.

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Soldering Iron tip covered in crud