How To Clean My Soldering Iron Tip
But for the harder to remove stuff I keep a brass wool pad handy.
How to clean my soldering iron tip. If all else fails Soldering Iron tips do not last forever. Brass wool is softer and less abrasive while the harder stainless steel wool has a longer life. Like other posters have said to make the tip last longer leave a blob of solder on the tip when you are done.
Sal ammoniac for cleaning your stained glass soldering iron tip comes in a solid block form similar to that of a bar of soap. Clean the tip immediately after the solder iron to. In both cases the cleaning provides for the roughing of tin that has thickened on the parts and which may occur with the abrasive paper a nail file or by using the specific solvents.
This should lead to a clean shiny tip ready for use. This step will coat the iron in a mixture of flux and solder. Then slide the retaining nut over the tip and sleeve and tighten it using your hands.
The flux in tip cleaner removes the oxidation and build up from the soldering iron tip and then the solder re-tins the tip ready for use. Each time you clean the soldering iron and put it away apply a fresh solder to the tip. Never use abrasives on the soldering iron tip.
Turn off your solder iron and let it cool down for 15-20 minutes before cleaning the tip. If some of the oxides are just sticking really well you could try to mildly abrade them on a brass sponge copper braid or similar but you cant be too hard or you will damage the iron plating good tips are typically copper core plated with iron then chromium everywhere but the. Use stainless steel wool flux and thick clothe to clean the tip.
The best solder for oxidation prevention is one with a high amount of flux core. You also can clean your soldering iron tip with a sponge while using it to keep it clean. How to clean and re tin your soldering iron Soldering tip cleaning how to clean solder tip easy - YouTube.