[Elecraft] Desoldering

[Tom Hammond]

Hi Matt:

At 04:38 PM 10/3/2005, Matt Osborn wrote:
>I have the tip tinning problem with my Hakko 808. The 808 works great,
>but the tip won't accept solder.  The manual says that is an
>indication of a worn tip, but mine was brand new.  I though I just had
>the wrong expectations.
>
>I'll have to order a new tip before I try stripping and tinning toroid
>leads again.  That was my only disappointment.

You should NOT be experiencing much (if ANY) tip tinning problems with the 
Hakko 808...

What steps have you attempted to clean/re-tin the tip so far?

I have a spiral-wrapped stainless steel ribbon kitchen scrubbie which I use 
for cleaning my soldering iron (and Hakko 808) tips. It does a great job of 
scraping off oxidation and leaves the tips ready to accept solder. See my 
web  site at www.n0ss.net, just about to the bottom of the"Files Related To 
Building" section (3rd line from bottom), you'll find a PDF related to the 
Kitchen Scrubbie Soldering Iron Tip Cleaner.

Some of the Hakko 808's came with their thermostats (little blue [if I 
recall] pot inset into the handle of the 808, but NOT the CAL pot) set 
pretty 'hot'. This tended to allow the tips to oxidize all too quickly. It 
also contributed to a tendency to over-heat a joint being desoldered, 
resulting in occasional lifting of a trace or pad. I backed the temp down a 
bit and both the trace and oxidation problems all but disappeared.

The Hakko 808 tips are IRON-plated, so they should clean up pretty easily, 
even if you are a bit 'aggressive' with the cleaning... though NEVER file 
or sandpaper the tips... that's the BEST WAY to remove all traces of the 
iron plating... guaranteed... been there... did just that! But you should 
be able to clean them up in order to get them to take solder.

73,

Tom   N0SS