[Elecraft] Soldering tip

[Alexandra Carter]

Translation: Wipe on a wet sponge before use. 73 de Alex NS6Y.

On Apr 23, 2006, at 7:35 AM, Tom Hammond wrote:

> Ken:
>
>> There has been alot of soldering how-to on the reflector.  No matter 
>> what I do my soldering station tip does not stay shiny.  It seems 
>> that I must retin it after every connection...  What could cause 
>> this?
>
> The following comments are from my personal experience from 40+ years 
> of building. I DO NOT FANCY MYSELF  TO BE AN EXPERT ON SOLDERING... 
> particularly in the company of some of the folks here on this 
> reflector...
>
> HEAT will cause the tip to develop a thin coating of oxidized lead in 
> a very short period of time, as will burnt flux. DO NOT EXPECT the tip 
> to remain bright and shiny when it's sitting, waiting for the next 
> joint. And be sure to set your tip temperature at a level which is 
> appropriate for your soldering operations. Generally 700-725 deg. F 
> seems to work pretty well for most kit soldering. If you leave the 
> iron setting for long periods of time, TURN THE TEMP DOWN... or OFF.
>
> There's little (if any) need to clean the tip AFTER you complete a 
> soldered joint... the solder remaining on the tip will help to protect 
> it from excessive  oxidation of the iron cladding on the tip. However, 
> keep a 'cleaning pad' of some sort next to your soldering station and 
> wipe the tip on the pad each time JUST BEFORE you solder that next 
> joint.
>
> There has been some discussion with regard to what type of 'wiping 
> pad' to use. Some prefer to use a dampened sponge, others a damp rag, 
> and I personally prefer to use a coiled stainless steel kitchen 
> 'scrubbie'... similar to those offered by Hakko for its line of 
> soldering stations.
>
> From experience, I've found that rubbing the tip of my soldering iron 
> against a damp pad of any type does a nice job of cleaning off the 
> crud which has built up on the tip of the iron, but it also cools down 
> the tip just at the instant I'm wanting to use it... never quite rang 
> true for me... cool the tip just before you use it... but I found that 
> merely inserting the tip of my iron down into the coils of a stainless 
> steel kitchen scrubbie...
>
>   www.n0ss.net/soldering_iron_tip_cleaner.pdf
>
> will produce a nice clean tip with minimal tip cooling. And any 
> 'dross' scraped off the tip filters down to the bottom of the 
> enclosure I'm using to hold the scrubbie, so I can pull it out once a 
> month and dump out the crud into the wastebasket. I've used this 
> cleaning method for the past 15-20 years on all sorts of soldering 
> iron tips and have never experienced ANY evidence of excessive tip 
> wear or abrading of the plated-on iron coatings of any of my tips.
>
>> Now once I get this soldering tip matter cured,  then I'm ready to  
>> start the KX1
>
> Hope these suggestions might help a bit.
>
> Now, I'll wait for the rebuttals from those who know what they're 
> doing. <G>
>
> 73,
>
> Tom Hammond    N0SS
>
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