sudomod

Hey everyone!

A few weeks back I asked about tools and since then have acquired quite a few including a new soldering iron. The other night I took my first shot at soldering and got a few joints done before making a rookie mistake. I got a call and didn't tin the tip of the iron before stepping away. When I came back the tip was pretty black and oxidized. I've tried everything I can find to clean it aside from sandpaper. Wet sponge, hakko brass solder tip cleaner, lowering the temperature, tip tinner. None of that has worked. This tip refuses to take any solder onto it and the solder just balls up when touching it.

Any advice on how to get a new, yet extremely oxidized, tip clean?

Easy, get a new tip and use only leaded resin core solder (63/47). I leave the iron on for hours sometimes, never oxidised.

The lead free solder is bad for the tips.

Thanks
Thanos

Hmmm, I was initially using lead free solder which is why the temperature was higher. But surely a brand new tip can't be ruined off hardly any use?

tronicgr wrote:Easy, get a new tip and use only leaded resin core solder (63/47).

100% agree, I never have a problem tips either using lead solder. Just get a new tip and save yourself a ball of hardship.

The product you want is "solder tip tinner/cleaner". You stick the hot iron into it and wipe it off on your wet sponge. Good as new.

You can also use some fine wet&dry paper to remove the oxidization.

Tip cleaner, wet and dry (fine) and perseverance. Tip cleaner is also pretty nasty stuff, hot iron and keep using the cleaner, alternate between flowing solder and cleaning until it is clear.

Failing that get a new tip and learn from it.

The operators where I work use lead free, rosin free so tip care is important. If you're using leaded solder with rosin, make sure you are in a well ventilated area, ideally with some sort of extraction. It's nasty stuff.

Thanks for all the replies! I tried regular tip tinner and I couldn't get any progress with it. Then I found out about this stuff called Sal Ammoniac:

https://www.amazon.com/Large-Sal-Ammoni ... l+ammoniac

This stuff is amazing! It took a little bit of work, but I got the tip completely re-tinned and working smooth. I highly recommend this stuff if you guys have any issues.