When I changed my tip on my Chinese copy of a Hakko wannabe, I saw a small amount of black powdery residue that came out. I have used the soldering around 50 times. Is that part of a carbon rod?
Thanks, Andy
Dark powdery particles from soldering iron
Jun 05, 2019
11 Replies
Carbon rods? That's just metal oxides from the heater and tip.
You are probably thinking of the old scope irons that used the "carbon" tip
I've got an old (antique) soldering system that has two carbon blocks mounted on top of a steel case fed by a transformer and series reactor that is made from a bundle of wire and some super-thick copper wound around that. I assume the work piece gets placed, bridging the carbon blocks, to heat so maybe it was for soldering pipe or tubing.
No, the heater looks the color of pencil lead.
Andy
Okey dokey.
Andy
Clean it with one of those "brillo pad" things for soldering irons. I often forget and leave mine on overnight. Looks horrible the next day, but the scrubbibg things cleans it right up.
Thanks.
Andy
This is an example of the soldering tip cleaner I use and I think is being talked about. You replace the wire when it becomes loaded but they are surprisingly effective, much better than the damp sponge things.
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On Thu, 6 Jun 2019 18:11:20 -0700 (PDT), S Deyoreo wrote as underneath :
snip
A plug-in rundown timer socket was my answer to that one! Mine is set to
30 minutes. No more used up and trashed soldering irons!! C+
They work very well and you do not get the thermo shock to the tip that a wet pad will do.
I use one just like the pic except it is stainless steel. (I think)
Andy
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