Got a cheapo soldering station for part removal. It's often used at 400C bu t never left there, also 300 & 350. The tips crud up severely very quickly, then can't even melt solder with it at 400. Going to try killed spirits, a nd if that does't work file them to copper. Any better suggestions before I do?
NT
but never left there, also 300 & 350. The tips crud up severely very quickl y, then can't even melt solder with it at 400. Going to try killed spirits, and if that does't work file them to copper. Any better suggestions before I do?
Copper is definitely not the answer. Copper will be eaten away as you use the tip.
I use a brass shaving container to clean the tip.
-- Rick C. - Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging - Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209
Cheap tools lead to shoddy work. Get an inexpensive temp controlled soldering station with a tinned tip if you want to do reasonable work on PCBs.
A Soldapullt is also highly recommended for basic work.
We use these in our shop and they last for decades! Get the real thing as the cheap Chinese knockoffs break literally in days...
John :-#(#
Might just be a cheap tip, My orange weller came with a cheap tip and once I replacee it all was well.
Cheers
Try an IR soldering iron. It doesn't stay hot to burn you when you are not looking. It may work better than a soldering iron in some cases. It is very inexpensive.
You can get the cigarette lighters on Amazon.
but never left there, also 300 & 350. The tips crud up severely very quickl y, then can't even melt solder with it at 400. Going to try killed spirits, and if that does't work file them to copper. Any better suggestions before I do?
Also, check your solder to make sure it's the right type. Flux too, if you use it. But sounds like cheap tips run too hot. Won't last.
have you tried the brass wool stuff?
killed spirits will do the trick, but it's corrosive.
-- When I tried casting out nines I made a hash of it.
Buy cheap, buy twice. used Weller for decades, but then invested in a s/hand Metcal and never looked back. Makes everything else look like a blacksmiths poker...
Chris
RA flux and brass wool.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
-- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 http://electrooptical.net http://hobbs-eo.com
On a sunny day (Thu, 01 Aug 2019 14:05:43 +0100) it happened Chris wrote in :
I am going to try that car cigarette lighter heater thing described here a few days back. One is on its way here.
On a sunny day (Thu, 1 Aug 2019 09:40:27 -0400) it happened Phil Hobbs wrote in :
No, I just use napkins to clean the tips, tips last forever. Do not use water, no sponge, and no abrasives or chemicals. Clean after every use. Buy a decent temperature controlled soldering iron with a set of plated tips in different sizes.
My Metcal tips seem to last forever. I must have a year or two on the one I usually use.
-- John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc lunatic fringe electronics
Antex, when they were made in England, were really hard to beat. I'm still using my 25W one I bought back in 1980. Nothing fancy; just keeps on going. And going. And going. More recently I bought a 15W Antex. It didn't have the same quality feel and turned out to have been made in China under licence. It went 'phut' within a year after partially melting. Why do such companies ruin their reputations just to save a few quid? :(
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They were good back then and i'm still looking for a set of the Antex hot tweezers, which are a real boon for stripping ptfe wire. The only problem with Antex was lack of temperature control and the bits sieze up if you don't free them up regularly. Weller tcp was the first decent soldering iron here and never any problem left on all day, but not subtle enough for fine work.
Made my own soldering iron at school, electric fire wire, mica sheet for insulation and heater transformer to drive it. Did work, but never quite got the temperature right. Commercial soldering irons were expensive back then..
Chris
Antexes... no heat or power control. I made my first Weller TCP from a pile of little bits. Worked great.
NT
but never left there, also 300 & 350. The tips crud up severely very quickl y, then can't even melt solder with it at 400. Going to try killed spirits, and if that does't work file them to copper. Any better suggestions before I do?
Did the job. Killed spirits got some off, but not enough. Copper scourer go t some off but not much. What worked in the end was scraping it with steel at 300C. Whatever that muck is, it's tenacious. If I get a round tuit I mig ht try getting a bulk pack of brass bits, otherwise I think it's gonna be b uy a new one time.
NT
A block of sal ammoniac works wonders for de-crudding tips. Surprised nobody has suggested it yet
My fave is the STTC-126, which has a super-useful short curved conical point.
I dislike the Metcal Talon hot tweezers, though, because they magnetically attract the nickel end caps of SMT passives.
It's bad enough hand-soldering 0402s without them sticking to the iron like momma.
Anybody got a good set of non-magnetic hot tweezers?
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
Even cold tweezers have a magnetization problem. I've found a desktop degaussing coil to be essential for fine-parts work.
If you want something that doesn't magnetize and doesn't stick to solder, titanium would be ideal. I wonder how hard it would be to fit Ti tips to a Pace tweezer?
It depends on what kind of soldering you want to do; a copper-slug-on-a-steel-stick 'iron' actually works rather well for the right job. Most tip problems can be fixed, even if it takes a jeweler's silver solder and torch to re-plate a tip, but using the wrong heat or tip size/shape or running into a variety of 'anti-flux' materials will cause the kind of bad-tip issue described here. Often a cleaner/flux/solder can be found to fix it, but buying new tips is the only easy solution.
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