[Elecraft] cleaning pad

[Don Wilhelm]

Jerry and all,

I have been using the 'Chore Boy' type of cleaner with my soldering station
for about 2 years now and have not noticed any problems with wear on the
tip plating.  I would think one would have to REALLY scrub hard to wear the
plating thin enough to do any damage.  More tip damage is caused by heat
than by even vigorous scrubbing.  I always make certain that there is a blob
of solder on my tip before I put it into the holder - that keeps the surface
of the plating from eroding while the iron sits idle and heated.

Plunging my tinned tip into the steel 'sponge' and then extracting it will
just remove the excess solder - no real scrubbing action here, just light
contact.  Maybe the difference is that I plunge the tip in rather than
scrubbing it over the surface - but I find it easier, faster and more
effective than the damp sponge.

73,
Don W3FPR

----- Original Message ----- 

| The tips of most soldering irons are not copper, they are plated
| steel...Using metallic scouring pads gradually wears the plating off your
| expensive tips...Once the plating is gone, the tip will turn black, start
| to burn, and you will not be able to tin it...Steel wool is magnetic and
| can leave tiny steel shards clinging to the tip that can transfer to the
| joint and cause a short...The wet sponge is the time honored tip cleaner,
| and the best in the long run...If one holds the tip on the sponge too
| long, that might cool it down, but you are supposed to just swipe the tip
| across the sponge...I've never experienced tip cool down from that...
|