How to clean and re tin your soldering iron
2018 ж. 20 Ақп.
1 645 851 Рет қаралды
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How to clean and re tin your soldering iron
I was skimming through Instructables yesterday when I came across an article on how to "restore" your soldering iron tip. I almost spit my drink on the computer when the author reccomended chucking your tip into a drill and using sandpaper to clean it up.
That's is the fastest way to destroy the tip. Let me show you the correct way to do it, no power tools are required.
You're so right...LOL, I have daily use tips over 30 years old that I still use. Other than regular tip tinner, I also use plumbers flux as a hot tip dip.
Rose Hannah Mae i like the wire brush
Rose so regular plumber's flux is ok to use, but not plumber's solder?
What if I have a brown flux / soldering paste that seems to immediately oxidize on my rear of the tip?
Do I need such a bright flux?
@@nibrocnoel3240 He is using the plumers flux to clean the tip, not to apply to the electronics. The plumers flux will never touch the electronics because after you clean the tip, you tin the tip with your rosin solder.
Been pulling apart electronics ever since I was old enough to hold a screw driver, I think it's about time I learned to put them back together.
@MrAmberol I started with opening and reassembling laptops.
The inner me
Wow, me too and now the curse has spread to one of my Son's. Now I get to practice by putting the things he takes apart back together lol. I now understand why my Mom was so mad when I took apart the living room tv way back in 1985!
Sean Schofield lol we have a saying at my house concerning me “ you could destroy a tank with a rubber hammer” another one is “ you could destroy anything, even without meaning too”( because often times I’ll accidentally break something soon after using it for the first time even though I believe I’m using the object right and have read the instructions it never fails eventually I somehow break it even though I’m really careful.) I’m also really stubborn and if I want to do something then I’m going to try my best to do it ( when I was like 10 or 12 I built a table... without any power tools just screws, some wood boards my dad was done using and they were scraps, screwdriver, and a hammer and I took those screws and kept hammering and screwing them until I made a hole in the wood for them to go into, I started at 8 something in the morning and by 3 o’clock that day I had built a table and I showed my mom and dad and they were shocked lol.) my dad still tells people about how I made holes into the wood without power tools, using screws and made a table all by myself.
I’ve been pulling apart electronics too, but desoldering the parts so I can make random stuff. I have about 15 big capacitors ready for a coil gun.
Ouroboros is the self-eating snake. Thanks for this tutorial.
Does the ouroboros represent time ?
Snakes actually do that when they overheat or with other problems. Somehow it became a symbol for the circle of life.
Ouroboros ate itself with sand paper from within a hand drill? Thanks for the history re-buff.
Great video. I'm new to soldering. Wish I saw this video before I tried my first solder. It would have saved me a bunch of grief.
Yeah, me too. I think i destroyed it by cleaning it with sandpaper
Finally a youtuber who's not afraid to show me his tip
Thanks for the clear, complete instructions. My tip looks "like that", not because I'm lazy but because I didn't know any better. Oh, and: ouroboros.
Yes, having left a naked tip in the closet a long time, this isn't helpful, is it. >:\
You aren't lazy because you're here watching the video friend! He said that more for the people who do know better and still dont do
Add me to the group of "didn't know any better". Better soldering is a part of my #Coronalearning...
RobMacKendrick The tip on the new inexpensive soldering iron I bought this week already looks “like that” after soldering only a dozen or so LED connections. The tip has a huge crater and is almost worn thru. I cleaned the tip on a sponge and a wire mesh after every solder and tinned it with solder (not with pure flux as shown) before beginning. I also used a soldering gun that I’ve had for 30 years and never had pitting. It’s tip is now also shot from just soldering a few LED connections. I’m wondering if it’s the composition of the tip or the 3M solder I was using. I made a number of replacement tips for the pencil iron from copper. We’ll see how they work.
Is there any way to revive it? Edit: well as I had an old soldering iron lying around, I did the unthinkable... I sanded it with very very light sandpaper and.... It's back alive!! Works good as new, I'll just make sure it's tinned and I reckon it'll be fine... (It's better than throwing it in the bin)... If it goes kaput I'll post an update... But for now I'm a happy camper! I rarely use a soldering iron so for now I don't see the point in spending £50-100 for a decent one.. perhaps I will get one in future with the rosin flux to properly maintain it.
lessens: - don't trust the internet. and - always keep your tip coated and clean.
...especially when it comes to spelling "lessons"
@@danielrubinow9674 yeah, english sucks.
Bruh you are writing this on the internet
@@muhammadridho7680 and, he's trying to speak english even though he said it sucks
Yep, that sums it up
Thankfully when I got into electronics and soldering my old buddy at the time was into rc cars and told me how to keep my soldering tip clean and how to re-tin it. Don't speak to old mate anymore, but his advice stays with me to this day.
Thank you, I've been doing this same method since high school. My first job i needed to do some soldering there, and their iron was so bad and until i could convince them to get me a new tip, i had to use that sandpaper method because there was no way to bring it back. Finally got the new tip, next day somebody used it and it was destroyed. From then on i bought my own tip, whenever i was done I'd but the destroyed one back
As a repairer myself, Thank you soooo much for covering this!! This has been at the back of my mind for decades and I tell everyone I meet about how not to destroy your soldering tips! hats off for this video I cannot give it enough likes! My soldering iron station tip is over four years old and only the color has changed due to the heating+cooling over the years, apart from that it still looks like new, no pitting or corrosion :D
Good tip, I liked the way you wrapped solder around your new tip in a previous video. I’ve never seen that done but I’m going to try it.
I'm new to soldering and the constant beading was getting really irritating. I found the article you're referencing, and I almost tried it before I went to double check KZhead, and I'm glad I did. Thank you for saving my iron and teaching me something new and most helpful, you've got yourself a subscriber my friend 🤙
I will always be thankful to my colleagues who went through apprentice training and taught me how to solder properly. It always amazes me how little some people know. I’ve seen people try to drip solder on to joints! Thanks for a great video.
Do the screws, nails, and straws help the flux perform better?
Only if they are oxygen free.
Learning everyday... thank you very much!
@Nicolas Broszky Thanks for the tip, I was wondering also if they were there just for fun, I'm gonna purchase another flux and do this.
Does it matter what type of screws they are? Metric ones better than imperial?
@@pflernak Metric ones work better, because the metric system is superior and the imperial system is for scrubs.
I always appreciate your tutorials because they are so simple and thorough. Also learned something from this one too- thanks and keep em coming!
Everyone : Don't believe what you read / see online. Me : Downloads video for offline play.
Yaaasssss XD
I did the sandpaper treatment once to thank my neighbor for lending me his soldering iron and I wanted to return it in A+ condition. 🤣 He was not happy, of course I bought him a new tip. This was before KZhead existed. Great video, I laughed a lot.
There are so many people that just destroy their soldering iron tips by not properly cleaning them... Thank you for a decent video on proper care of your soldering iron tip.
Thank you.
Well never knew about cleaning the soldering iron tip till after it was all oxidized like that when I had first started soldering. Good thing it was a harbor freight cheepie
Same i never heard about this even in soldering tips video, having said that i have a Mustool they are so cheap and i use it to weld plastic from 3d prints at lowest temperature as well.
I didn’t even know that cleaning was a thing
REPAIRING Electronic Multimeters
Well put. That looked like the first soldering iron, and/or wood burner my grandma got me as a child. Ba-goo. Simple things like this are so important to learn early, allowing you to focus on building skill.
Man, you changed my life. Have been using this wisdom for like six months and I haven't changed my tip since that. Thank you.
Great tutorial. I just did my first soldering project today, and I wish I could have watched this first. Thanks a lot! 👍🏻
Excellent piece !! and very well presented.. It is refreshing to see someone on KZhead who actually knows how to care for the tools they use. By the way, My Father taught me the very same method. Excellent vid..
I found that tinning the tip after every soldering session, and wiping it occasionally with brass wool during work, keeps it clean and shiny without resorting to flux. The flux can then be saved for the worse cases of oxidation. [P.S. Regardless, thanks for this important video!]
Thank you very much!
The White Byte I do the same technique with the brass wool
same here. only use the brass wool; soon as it gets hot, after a few solders, and at the end. Have been clean tipped since I bought it.
Brass wool eh, i only heard of steel wool! Would steel wool work too? Ive been wanting to make the switch from a damp sponge to steel wool. No matter how wet the sponge is it seems to melt a bit... Probably not the ideal sponge. But steel wool makes good sense to me. Brass is probably even better eh?
Careful, steel may scratch the soldering iron tip and ruin it. Brass is softer and safer.
Thanks man. Just started soldering recently as I’ve never needed to do so that often, but when I do need to it helps to know how. Still learning but this is good info for keeping things in good working order.
You do it exactly like I do. Another thing you're doing right, is running the iron at a controlled temperature. Too hot, invites oxidation. Storing the iron tip tinned also helps. I don't use a sponge, I have a piece of aluminum I can shake it off on to. (Never tap, or strike the iron on anything, you can damage the heating element) Solder will not stick to aluminum, so the beads just wipe right off. The ONLY time I've ever used an abrasive on a tip is if the tip is already shot, and I'm just polishing up the copper base metal. You have to tin it immediately, because the copper will oxidize as soon as it comes up to temperature. Have the solder right against it, so it melts onto it as soon as possible. When I'm tinning, I hold the tip straight down, and let the solder bead, then drip right off the point. That makes the tip usable for that soldering session. If you loose that coating, the tip can be used, but it needs MUCH more maintenance. Oxides just don't conduct heat, nor will it hold solder. I can't get that rosin flux anymore, I have to rely on the flux in the solder core. Cheap fixed wattage pencil irons have a tendency to get way too hot. No matter what, if you don't solder enough joints often enough, they overheat and oxidize. Tips just don't last long under those conditions.
I agree with you that you should never sand a modern plated soldering iron tip. I use tip restorer which is a combination of flux and solder particles. It does the same job as separate flux and solder in one hit. What I must say though is the soldering iron shown in the instructable is not a plated tip. This is the same as the soldering iron I had back in the 70s. The tip is just a copper rod, at best it might have some thin tin plating which burns off after many uses. Then you have a plain copper rod that oxides very quickly. The flux from soldering would also pit and corrode the tip. I used to use a file and sandpaper to reform the tip after it was too deformed or oxidized. I also bought a copper rod that was the correct diameter to make new tips when the old ones became too short. I used to tin the tip at the end of every soldering session to try and get more life out of it, but the oxidization would always win in the end.
Thank you so much for making this video. I've been destroying the tip this whole time and not understanding why. I really appreciate your help.
I learned how to do basic soldering back in high school, but have forgotten all but the simplest "soldering iron melts the solder" level of information. I really appreciate videos like this working as a stop-gap between me and some stupid, destructive mistake that might come up as I relearn the skillset for fixing up and tinkering with retro games.
Bingo! A LONG time ago when i was young and stupid i did just that...take sandpaper to the iron tip. And i quickly realized it oxidizes the metal once the protective coating is removed (exactly what u said). I tin it now just like u do, every time i solder with success. I'll also mention to turn off or lower heat on iron when not using for 5 mins or more...this will further prevent oxidation and prolong tip life. Happy soldering!
Michael Padovani I once forgot my iron on for a week. the tip was very dull but the coating was intact and with some love I'm still using the same tip months later.. Not really sure how bad leaving it hot is.
Great video and keep the tips coming
how hot is hot? Tips are known to last much longer with low melt solders than with high melt. Especially if the high melt is combined with high thermal mass parts so the iron must be set higher to supply enough heat.
I left my iron on for 5 days straight at 350C on accident once. The tip was no worse for wear. I poke flux, retin, then stab brass wool before I hang the soldering iron when finished.
@Gigs wow, and i thought it was bad for mine when i forgot it for a day, although it was no soldering station thingy, just a cheap 30W 15$ soldering iron
Thank you for this Video! There are thousands who teach how to solder, but seldom they talk about Equipment maintenance. More of this kind would be appreceated!
Glad I stumbled on this video. Now I KNOW how to tin and care for the tip of my soldering iron. Thank you.
Thank you so much, I was able to save my grandpa's 30+ year old Ungar soldering iron that was super dirty by just using this method and thicker solder wire to "scrape off" the old chazz after dipping it in the flux. Thanks again!
Thank goodness I saw it video cause I have been doing this since my early days of soldering Now I just have chuck the soldering tip away and replace it with a new one
tip corrosion depends on temperature. Run your iron on 230-260 C and your tip lasts for months. Actually I make my own tips that are not nickel coated: 4mm round copper stock thread one end, cut it off and put it in a power drill to make a pencil tip with a file. So 5$ for 35 tips. Worst thing to do is forgetting to turn your iron off and letting it smoulder over night!
If it's been working since you started soldering clearly it's not a big deal...
@@Tore_Lund yes.... been there :) works perfectly
Temperature-controlled iron with good quality tips and frequent cleaning/tinning the tips last almost forever. I've done many thousands of solder joints with the same tip and it is still in great shape. Back when I started out a couple decades ago, I had a cheap non-temperature-controlled iron. That thing ate through tips like no tomorrow, no matter what I did to it. Basically the temperature would reach excessive levels after it was plugged in for a while and that would basically destroy the very thin) plating on the tips.
I made a solder stand with a switched outlet attached to it. So I could flip the iron off and not leave it running. I know unplugging an iron all the time can be a bit much. Flipping a switch ain't too bad though. Here's a picture of my homemade stand next to a commercial one Notice how close I got the angle of the dangle i.imgur.com/3mV47yO.jpg I made the one stand before I got the other one too. So I couldn't just copy it.
Man I honestly did not realize how essential flux is. Mind you, I'm a novice at soldering, so go easy on me. Thank you for this video. Worked like a charm on my little cheap Weller.
I bought a pack of these generic Hakko 907 replacement tips from a random seller. I noticed that no matter what I do it never chars irreversibly, nothing a rub of sponge and a quick dip of flux can't clean. In my mind, that was one hell of a coasted tip. It was intriguing! Out of curiosity I sanded it like a criminal. To my surprise that certain tip didn't have a coat, it was an alloy and didn't have a copper core. I'm no chemist but I'm still curious what that thing was made off. Two years and it's still as sharp as a needle.
Years ago, in or about 1947, there was a guy who sold iron soldering tips in Chicago. I bought one for my 100 watt iron that lasted until the soldering iron died in 1974. The tip might be Nickle iron, which was what the guy said he was selling when I bought it for two dollars.
@@johnhansen2187 Two dollars for a soldering iron tip in 1947? Sheesh, it better be quality at that price!
What’s flux
@@johnhansen2187 Your soldering iron died a year before I was born. Could I be a reincarnated soldering iron as I am quite hot headed and love electronics. lol
@@jimmyneutron8702 it’s what’s inside the Flux Capacitor that’s the heart of the Delorean time machine. …
And, don't have your wiping sponge too wet as the sudden temperature change will break the bond between the coating metal and the copper core and cause rot from the inside through cracks in the coating.
Definitely don't use it regularly, but the very same thermal shock can help remove heavy oxidation. Of course at that point you're better off using one of those “tip refreshers” (basically small solder particles mixed with strong acidic flux-don't forget to re-tin several times before soldering electronics!), but if you allowed your tip to get to that state, you probably don't have something like that lying around.
Heavy ox is better removed with purpose made tip cleaning flux [tinner] or even straight sal ammoniac followed by solder. These aren't acid fluxes but (like many highly activity fluxes used for reliable rapid production) they are either conductive or mildly corrosive in the long term if not rinsed from the solder joint and PCB. So give the tip a good wipe with 90%+ alcohol after it has cooled. Because these tinning pastes all seem to be some lead-free formula, before the next solder job tin the tip with the actual solder and flux to be used.
That is true David, I know about what you are talking, good advice :)
so that's what happened. I kept my sponges soaking, so i finally stopped using them cause i concluded it was killing my tips.
Been soldering professionally for over 30-years. Never had that happen, but then I don't purchase cheap soldering irons. I have Hakko and Weller stations, and have never once seen a tip be damaged by cooling it down. In fact, if I need high heat for a stubborn solder job, when I'm done I turn the heat down and use the sponge to cool the head quickly so it doesn't oxidize from the high heat I was using. Of course, many newer stations brag about how quickly they heat up and cool down, so that really goes against what you are saying. The only time I have seen a wrecked solder tip is when someone was using the tip to lever out a part and they cause a pit that goes through the outer coating.
NOTE: old school soldering iron tips wern't coated, it was a doped alloy, You COULD sand them.
@Karl Pfistenhammer i still file and sand them and then do the tinning procedure shown in this video ... works perfectly
Mine used to be copper. But you heated them in a fire.
@@Richard_Ashton Easiest way I clean the tips of my old fashioned copper tipped soldering iron is on a wire wheel on a bench grinder and if it is really pitted then on the grinding wheel.
well who gives a fuck. modern tips are Nickel Plated. All of them.
ever used amonia salts?
I'm new to electronics and appreciate all the tips I can get and this is a good one.
I just used a grindstone to clean my tips of any corrosion 😂
I have several soldering irons, I have some very old ones that have pure copper tips. Sandpaper works fine for them as they never had a coating to begin with. I also make new tips from underground transmission cable cores. My good weller on the other hand - I'd never to that to it, especially as it's a steel coated magnetic tip - and it gets cleaned between tasks in a copper brillo pad in a holder.
Looking at the photos, the "soldering iron" in the imstructable looks similar to the type that i used to(and on occasion, still do) use. The entire iron costs less than a proper iron's replaceable tip lol. I don't even think the tips on these are properly coated, just tinned copper (if even copper!). When I was in my early teens, I would make new tips out of whatever 1/8" round metal I had available. Copper was the best, but a nail would work as well....
this is indeed the kind of irons that you buy for almost nothing and you won't be able to get the tip tinned at all. My home made copper tips would work better however they would get eaten away really fast. I think everybody should have used one of these once to really appreciate a decent iron lol
@@bringamosa8480 My first and current iron is really cheaply made. The company name is Welson(seems like a mix of Weller and Nelson).
I've always cleaned my sodering (intentionally misspelled) iron that way, although now I use the Brillo pad thingy, and never in about 54 years of soldering have I had a tip that looked like the Instructable. Thanks for showing everyone the proper way to clean a tip!
George, I saw that instructable and went "arrrggghhhh" first how could you let your iron get to the state? I can't imagine it would solder anything... And then sandpaper???? What's this guy brush his teeth With? A weed eater?
That's rich! But I could believe it. I can't even remember seeing a tip that bad, looks like salvage from the ocean.
Don't use a scotch pad. It's plastic covered steel wool. It melts.
Watch some of those diy videos, especially from Asia, he definitly abused it for melting plastic. My oldest iron is older than me, dont even know how old, at least 40 years, it is one from Russia and my dad used it there for a long time, since we moved to Germany he exchanged the cable and the plug and now the third generation got it, my nephew, but it still don't look like that.
The instructable tip looks like the one I have at work. I suppose everyone is different, but when I'm trying to make money I ain't thinking about how to maintain a cheap tool I seldom use for small engine repair.
Sir you can really say funny things about being lazy and using sand paper , but you show people who doesn't know how to do it , the right way . This is a good site, where you can laugh , pay attention and learn at the same time.
Thanks for posting this video, I didn't know you're supposed to dip the soldering iron into the flux, I thought it was just for making solder run more smoothly; I've been practicing on a junk cassette player. Two weeks ago I made the lead and started my adventure into the world of electronics and it's really quite exciting. I ordered a starter kit and multimeter from Amazon, so I'm super excited for it to arrive.
Good for you! Keep it up!
That’s how my dad taught me almost six decades ago. His tin of flux lasted him over 20 years, because I took it. He kept spare solder in the lid.
late reply... i have my dads old tin of flux ive been using for some years now. it looks to be from the 70s/80s. He never showed me how to do anything at all in life though. obsessive curiosity plus trial and error and lots of help from men like this guy and forums and im getting there. just ordered my first Hakko, now my old station can go on my 6 year olds bench next to mine and we can learn together :)
Great video! I'd suggest that some burned-on flux residue can be a bit trickier to remove than just dipping in more flux. It's obvious to me that you are experienced enough not to crank the station temperature to the moon. Nothing makes it harder to keep a tip in good shape than nuclear-hot temperatures. My cheap 25w iron will turn a protective glob of solder into an oxidized disaster in about 10 seconds. My Hakko 951 never seems to be anything but shiny because it's never just sitting there getting hotter-- it's either in the holder (resting at lower temp) or it's being used. That's a big part of why I love these newer cartridge-style stations that have the heater and temp sensor all integrated into the tip. It's like just-in-time delivery of heat. Heat when you need it, and not when you don't. My tips seem to last forever and stay shiny effortlessly. By contrast, my cheap 25W "deluxe" Radio Shack pencil requires a ton of time and attention for tip maintenance. I find I have to unplug and plug it in really if I'm not going to be using it all the time. I think it was made by Hakko as it looks just like their cheaper models and takes the same tips as the FX888 does. Not bad as cheap pencils go, but every cheap pencil sucks, even a "deluxe" radio shack one.
Thanks mate! Just started solder. I had no idea what I was doing and botched my tip while trying to learn... Luckily your info might of just saved my tip!
Going to do my first soldering today. I saw you had to clean your soldering iron, and even saw some videos about it, but none was as straight to the point as yours. Thanks!
Seems to depend on the iron - if it's a good quality iron with a good quality tip then this is all you need (and yes, as you say sanding/filing on a "good quality" tip will destroy it really fast). The problem is the cheap ones that are just a pre-tinned (if you are lucky) piece of copper which start pitting/corroding within the first 15 minutes or so of use (and often replacement tips cost as much as the whole iron - if they are even available). Those cheap ones there is little alternative but to sand/file/machine it clean. I have a couple of these irons that came in "learn to solder" kits for free, they do work but the tips barely hold up long enough to finish building the kit. The cheap ones also bend annoyingly easily if you put any pressure on them trying to desolder. One thing that does help for the crappy plain copper tips - instead of just using plain lead-tin electrical solder when you machine it down to a smooth surface again take a propane torch and some higher temperature lead-free solder (such as for plumbing) and give it a nice pre-tinning with that to protect the base metal, wipe it, and let it cool. Then warm up the iron with the tip in it and re-tin with the softer normal electronics lead based solder and it will last 3-4x longer as long as you don't let the iron get excessively hot to the point where the lead-free higher temp solder melts/dilutes too much. Note the "sand and tin with high temp lead free" also works if you DIY your own tips, I've taken copper welding tips (which have a thread that fits my Benzomatic butane mini-torch) and cut them at an angle to get a much higher thermal-mass chisel tip than I could get anywhere else, works fairly well as long as you coat it in high temp lead free solder to protect the copper before you start using it for lower-temp electronics work.
Matthew Miller I payed one dollar for my soldering iron at the 99 cents store lol... I think sanding is ok
How in the world do you bend your tips? I have a super cheap iron and I feel like I could break a car window and it wouldn’t bend.
Matthew Miller Exactly. This all depends on the type of tip. Copper tips need a lot more TLC than coated tips.
Machining a steel tip and brass brazing might make a good tip too...have to try one day.
amazing tips Mat
A contributing factor few know about is your sponge. The sponge is usually too wet. It should be just damp and use distilled water. 2 reasons. The first is minerals in the water. The second is you drop the tip temperature excessively with an overly wet sponge. That sizzle when he wipes the tip tells me his sponge is wet not damp.
Yup, that's why I prefer tin it, flick it, use fingers to shift the crud. That's right, fingers, if you are quick you don't get burnt.
I ques wet has more water that damp. When damp you squeeze and get no water. When squeeze and get water is wet. In our business you can use slightly moistened kitchen paper to wipe the tip clean. I do that every time I poke holes on plastic. And yes I use a cheaper iron for this busines.
@@dougaltolan3017 uh..... Ok
I never really knew about flux, and I will definitely give it a go to try get my (cheap) solder iron back to life. I grew up using my dad's kick ass tools and thought I had a good handle on soldering, but they obviously just survived my negligence.
They tried to make me clean and re-tin, and I said NO NO NO.
ive been singin that all morning!!!! seen this ...rehab right? lmao. ...
Am I the only one who sees all that stuff inside the flux container 😂
It's a very special bolt he doesn't want it to oxidize
That’s a performance flux brush
I have all kinds of things in my flux too it's fucking weird.
I put a Q-tip stalk in mine for an applicator. And some dirt. that's it.
Many thanks for this helpful tip. See what I did there 😉
Hi, nice video! Is there a specific temperature range that this should/should not be performed at? Thank you!
I had no idea that you had to re-tin the iron tip. I didn't even know that you were allowed to dip the hot iron tip into the rosin flux. This is a real eye opener. Thanx a lot!
A big thank you. I was taught to solder forty years ago by an uncle who was a Royal Navy P.O. responsible radio/radar with the Fleet Air Arm back in the 50/60’s Plus, much later I did a diploma in general and electrical eng. before I swerved across into software. All this said, I’m a little ashamed to admit that you just taught me something I didn’t really know how to do correctly. I mean, I’ve seen a few methods (not all involving abrasives) but yours takes the prize for simplicity in both X’s ...ecution and planation. 👍 ☝️
Don't feel bad.Retired welder and i didn't know this way to tin as well.
«I wipe it every time I use it», good to know pal😂
You are correct, so correct, I have one of these soldering stations and I bought some tips, I thought they were junk, until I watched your videos on how to properly clean and tinned the tips. The next time I soldered I taken you advice and it turns out that not only do I enjoy soldering with this station, I now have very clean and reusable tips... Thank you kindly for this video and happy soldering...):
NICE.. I'm old... learned your exact technique in the 70s in my high school beginning electronics class, it's nice to know that the "old" techniques are still applicable..lol... and yes Kenny T. the screws and straws are highly calibrated to the exact performance of this flux..lol :) RIP Radio Shack...
The old ways still work, but only for through-hole stuff. Everything is microscopic surface-mount stuff nowadays.
I've noticed that there is quite a few shade tree mechanics on this you tube site trying to teach others how to do something , even when they have no idea how to do it themselves. I met a guy, the other day , who was teaching how to perform a tap operation. He said that the right way was to perform multiple drillings and tappings, progressively going up in size each time, until you reach the desired tap size. He stated that if you try to do the tap by drilling only one hole( the proper size hole for the tap) and then apply the tap, you will cause the tap and metal to gall and probably break off the tap in the hole. I told him that I do taps all the time with one drill hole and one tap operation. As long as you use plenty of cutting oil, and keep reversing the tap to remove the metal debris, the tap should work every time, like it does for me. He still did not believe it was possible to do a tap operation using my method even after our discussion.
Yes, there's some gold on KZhead, and instuctables, but there's some half-witted junk too. Some welding videos are downright dangerous.
And some of it is fairly high-profile. Just look at GreatScott-he got big with microcontroller projects and yet he doesn't know the first thing about embedded systems programming. His soldering tips look almost as abysmal as that instructables thing, he can't solder a component straight and makes solder blobs everywhere, but he still made a “How to Solder Properly” video.
Google "Dunning-Kruger Effect"... People of lower ability frequently overestimate their skill. Conversely, people with superior ability often doubt their own expertise, assuming that skills which seem easy to them are as easy for everyone.
James Koralewski, back in the 1980s when I worked in the milling and drilling department of a major aerospace parts manufacturer, we tapped the threads into properly sized holes in aluminum castings with a drill press set to the slowest speed and a special transmission- like clutch adaptor that had a center neutral position, reduced the speed further AND reversed the rotational direction of the tap to back it out of the hole if you pulled up on the drill press handle. With this device you could run the tap into the hole a couple of turns, back it out to clear the chips, run it a couple turns deeper etc. Of course, the drill presses also circulated a stream of oil over the tap as you worked....
Umm - I guess some people don't know about the combination drill and tap bits.
That snake that eats itself? The Midgard Serpent (Jörmungandr) from Norse mythology. Thanks for the video. I haven't done any soldering since a college electronics class years ago, but am about to try and get back into it for some personal projects I've got planned. Gonna keep this in mind when I get back into it. :)
Or Ouroboros from Greek mythology. God, ain't we nerds.
I only know of Ouroboros (thank you, Red Dwarf), I'm really not strong in Norse mythology. But I immediately screamed Ouroboros when he said he couldn't remember the snake's name. :D
Thanks
"I only know of Ouroboros (thank you, Red Dwarf)"......Same as that :D I've been cleaning my irons the same way for ages. They're normally clean but now and again I give them a touch-up to keep them going properly.
James Anthony ff7?
This is the video that opened my eyes. Now i see i knew nothing, actually nothing about soldering
True lifesaver right here. I'm new to soldering and messed up my tip early on. This video bright my tip back to life in no time!
RIP RadioShack! Is there a reason there is a hardware graveyard in your flux? I considered there could be some practical reason Paul. Nice video.
Just random stuff I've used to scoop out some flux from time to time.
It reminded me of my flux container. Sometimes you leave the tools in the mix for readiness
All workshops I worked for had a flux container with stuff left in it. I never saw anyone - me included - who'd volunteer to get the yucky screws, matches, bits of wire and leads, out of there.
Oh.... I though they were prizes.
He's lazy
A decade ago a metal work hand file and tip tinner was in every australian school, tafe and uni book list/toolbox. you should really explain the difference between tips that can and cant have a file used on them since im bad at wording so this comment might not make sence. Now days most irons have a coating over them you don't want to file off but only 10 years ago most didn't and at school and tafe they taught us to file your tip to clean the tip since them iron tips dont have a protective coating and use tip tinner on it. Our tafe checklist even had a metal work hand file for just that. Would not touch a iron with a file now days tho since they have a protective coating over them.
Yep, late to this party but a half century ago when I was 10 years old (living in Melbourne) and soldering wth a big old iron with a tip held in by a screw like the Instructables guy's, (who "refusbishes" his iron) , I would sand the b*tch until it was clean metal! Then solder with alligator clip heatsinks to avoid damaging the $3 transistor I was fixing to a lug on one of those strips (what happened to those?) The 70s are behind me, these days with my Hakko and Weller irons and their overpriced tips (but components cheaper than I could've dreamt of back in the day) I wouldn't think of it.
Great video!! One question, does this principle work the same with stained glass soldering irons? I'm a beginner and not really sure how to best care for my iron. Thank you!
just bought my first soldering iron my Dad was a big soldering iron guy swore by them.. I had a flash light that I loved the spring inside wasn't soldered well and it failed on me so I had been holding it together with electrical tape... finally got tired of that so tried my hand at soldering and it's pretty awesome and now I get why my Dad loved em' and thank you for this video I didn't know that my tip needed this but I can do it now. Thank you.
Then again, looking at the style of iron in the picture, he might have the right idea. The sooner you destroy it, the better! 😉
If that's rosin, try isopropyl alcohol. Rosin dissolves pretty well into it and you can pick it up with a syringe to use as liquid flux later.
Its a cheap iron though lol Get a Hakko or a Weller.
I have the same type of iron though. It was cheap as hell, but it gets the job done. It came in a blister pack with a big warning: DO NOT FILE IRON TIP. I guess that person was like "I can't file it? That's okay, I'll just sand it then."
Amraks unless you are doing microsoldering (which I doubt or you would know what I'm about to say) the cheap irons like this work just fine. You may have all the gear but I suspect no idea! I have expensive stuff but also the cheap stuff, it all has its place and use.
These big fat soldering irons are no substitute for a decent iron, which are not even expensive anymore. I would never own an iron like that unless it was for electrical or automotive use. Even then, I use a Weller soldering gun for automotive. Any electronics soldering (not just "micro soldering" deserves a half decent iron. The only excuse is if a low-income person cannot afford a $35 station, they can get a $10 el-cheapo iron.
I wish i had found this video earlier. I found it after using sandpaper on my soldering iron.
I did that too....but used the method in this video to re-tin quite easily!
Dude saw someone wrong on the internet and brough the heat. You gotta love it.
When you said sandpaper my jaw dropped and my soul was scattered into peaces. I now live with the safety of the solder gods😂
Difference here is the "bad" example shown isn't a thermostatically controlled iron and the tips will be a purer copper alloy than the new ones. It looks to be an uncontrolled 12 watt weller and mine will smelt steel!! I have an Antex 35w and a Weller 12w, and while they are good irons they get as hot as hell''s steps if you leave them on and unused for more than a few minutes. They were designed to be stuffed into a big spring shaped heatsink and regularly quenched on a smelly old wet sponge. Both my irons look like the surface of the moon when not newly filed. Its what happens when you use active flux on an old iron burning at something like 500 deg C. When I started work I used a gas fire to heat a 1 1/2 lb block of copper on a stick, cleaned it with a 10" bastard file and used borax as flux. Solder was a bar of wiping lead. Times have changed. Now my thermostatically controlled rework station ticks over at a steady 345 deg C (+ / - 1deg C) and switches itself off if not used for 30 minutes. I don't use 1/2 lb of solder and a jar of flux cleaning it either - when I've finished working I dip my tip in the brillo and switch off - job done. Last set of chisel tips I bought were 5 for £4 - the pointed ones were £3.50 for 10, that makes them cheaper than the solder. I think of them as consumables I change tips to match the current job.
Now here is a person who knows what they are talking about. I have a couple of those old irons in my tool collection. Some from my gramps, a lead body man way back. At some garage sale, I acquired another one supposedly used for repairs on big babbitt bearings. "Dont wreck the special coating and anger the pixies" This is hilarious....Tinning an iron is the process of coating the tip with metal to enable soldering. THIS IS THE SPECIAL COATING..... I suppose they may be nickel plated when new, but this is not a requirement to get them to work. You can take a brass hinge pin from a door, sharpen it, hold it with vise grips and heat it with a torch, tin it and solder with it.
I imported Antex irons to Canada for a few years in the late 80's. They didn't catch on for several reasons; one is just people not familiar with the brand and there was already enough competition. You couldn't discount like you could with Asian lines. I did well with the 12V units for car and marine installers for obvious reasons. They were miles better in heating power than anything else "portable" out there. They had some innovative products for niche markets too. I've never seen them distributed in Canada since they thought they would do better with another supposed rep who charmed them., 30 years and counting.
Thanks ! That's useful for my soldering pen of E-design
Instead of wiping it off on the sponge, i use steal wool, to wipe after i use flux and solder. It was a tips i got when i started soldering. Any thoughts on that? Can the wool damage the tip? Or is it fine?
steel wool is perfect for the job.
I just got my soldering iron dirty, and i remember i saw your video a while ago and came back to it. Thank you sir!
Everyone I know that solders has switched to the brass-wool type cleaner rather than the sponge. It works great for me to keep a clean tip, and you're not thermally shocking the tip every few seconds. What's your take on that? And yeah, I've done the sandpaper thing with poor results, obviously.
The steel wool stuff is fine. I'm old school.
I switched to the brass-wool type, it is much better than a sponge in my opinion. the best part is running your tip through the wool leaves a nice even coating of solder on it. after my first heat up on my Aoyue iron I have not had to "clean and re-tin" my tip. 5 years on the iron and tip with zero issues.
Both have their pros and cons. The brass wool is perfect if your tip is in already good condition, and you take good care of it. But eventually the wool will not be good enough to get oxides off the surface of the tip, that's where the sponge comes in. The thermal shock causes the oxides to slightly de-bond from the surface, pulling off as you wipe it across the sponge.
Radio shack was good when HAM Radio Operators were in charge.
Remember in the 80s you could build a whole radio from the parts bins at radioshack. They catered to electronics guys and girls and went under due to only selling USB and hdmi cables ...sad...
@@brandonbentley8532 It wasn't that. They'd have been fine selling USB HDMI etc. Their downfall was getting suckered into selling cellphones as a loss leader and trying to make margin on the accessories and warranties.
@@cj5939 yup. "Welcome to Radio Shack! You've got questions? We've got cellphones!"
I'm just getting started so can you talk about what's on your wiping sponge? Water or flux? I've see info for both? All advice welcomed. Also having problems with solder dis coloring which I assume is from dirty tip. I was given an iron that had sat in a basement for years advice and tips to help please.
Just water
This is a big help man! I’m starting to get into soldering, and decided to study on re-tinning also. Thank you!
I saw this same Instructable and couldn't believe someone would suggest grinding the tip away as a way of cleaning it. As you said, Don't be lazy, clean the tip as you go and it will never get to that state.
Yeah! I awmost spilled my drink too! I mean, just heat it, tin it ( and maybe put some flux into it), and use a soft paper to remove the dirt that is in there. I use toilet paper. Then when the tip is clean, tin it a bit to make it last long. You can use a soft rag too. So its cheap, dont harm the coating and you can even melt any thing you want without damaging it. My generic $5 30w chinese soldering iron is lasting 5 years with me.
This is exactly what i was going to say! I'm using a cheap soldering station for nearly 5 years with the original tip it came with and it's still nice and shiny today. just tin it, flick off the excess and wipe it quickly with soft paper like toilet paper, re-tin and enjoy a soldering with a nice clean tip :) Also tin your tip right after shutting the soldering station/iron so the tip doesn't oxidize while not in use
Thank you for the informative video, I'm a beginner on soldering various things on old video game consoles. I've had to replace some capacitors on an original xbox and this was really good to know every time I used the soldering iron that I got from Plusivo. Keep up with the great content.
OMG thank you so much for this great video. My dad has a 25W iron older than me and it took us forever to unsolder a 1/4'' connector even though it was extremely hot. After watching this I'm just going to buy him something new and take care of it
Snake that eats it's own tail: Ouroboros
build yourself a fume extractor, it doesnt need to be a 1000$ weller sucker, a 120mm pc fan and a replacement active carbon filter glued onto it will do the job very well.. maybe a third hand or mini tripod for holding it over the workpiece. under 10 bucks
I just solder outside under shade...
Finally someone here on KZhead that knows how to maintain a soldering iron. Thank youuuuuuu!!!
What excellent advice you've given us. If only you demonstrated cleaning oxide from an actually oxidized tip, and not a tip that is already perfectly clean. Maybe you should consider a part II for this video, where you cover cleaning tips like those in the instructable you were raving about.
Yeah I learned not to clean it with sandpaper back in school, you take off the iron coating and the copper core just dissolves in the solder. I usually wipe it with a sponge and use an all copper wool pad to clean it off. Also I learned to leave a blog blob of solder on the tip when Im done to protect it.
I learned how to clean soldering iron tips with sandpaper because I collect vintage soldering irons. We don't all start out with new irons. I like my irons to all be functional too.
Yup, the right way. Sandpaper was option for some old irons that did not had coating, like for soldering rain gutters. Have seen too many times people wipe before leaving iron "on deck", which is totally wrong. Like said in video, tin before leaving. Best Regards...
Thanks for the tip. I was just wondering what I needed to do to keep my iron in good working order.
What are the best brand of tips I could buy for a weller and where can I purchase them? The weller I have is the $35 solder station from Home Depot.
I notice higher wattage tips corrode worse (Especially my 40w and 300w iron), and you do have to grind them in order to get them to last your money's worth. Sometimes the thin coating just isnt really worth much haha.
I also grind the 50 year old 300w soldering iron ;)
@@danijel124 Same here , but that's usually a copper tip which seems to corrode away slowly. I usually put it on the wire wheel whilst it hot and quickly retin the tip. But the one shown here is not to be scratched in any way. I was in need of a new soldering iron, and they are still really cheap. So thanks for the recommendation. I wonder why the Americans say " soder" when in Australia we say "sol der" . Anyway. Great posting about tip cleaning.
you should use a weller temperature-controlled iron they are 60 watts, so they heat up fast but don't burn like uncontrolled tips that get too hot
As someone who uses a butane iron for soldering wires in automotive and some electronic repairs (not PCBs), the high heat is necessary most of the time and it absolutely destroys the tips. The moment the tip leaves the sponge, the whole thing turns blue, purple, then washes out to a pale grey in just few seconds. No amount of tinning ever makes it better. Once the outside layer has started pitting away, I get a new tip. They tend to last a year or two though.
Good video, but get a fume extractor. It will save your lungs.
I have a solid brick of soldering gun tip cleaner. It came in a card board box lined with wax about 35 years ago. 20 years earlier, my maternal grandfather used it while making tin cars, trains, airplanes, etc. He would dip the hot iron in the tip cleaner and it came out like new and tinned. No reason to add solder as it is in the brick. Rub it across the brick if dirty. I have mine and use it most weeks when doing electrical work. Retired ASE Master Tech.
Hi, I have a HAKKO FX-888D and I used the rosin paste flux like you did in the video then I recoated it with tip tinner for Thermaltronics first and then and I used tin solder and then I wiped it off with the wet pad and cleaning wire in the soldering machine but it got worse. The tip is silver but I got a ton of black oxidation after it on the rest of the tip and handle. Can you please help?
Thanks for the tip. I was about to buy sandpaper.
that iron looks like they been using it to melt plastic!
yes, probably from all those stupid "DIYs."
True.... That is why I am using an 30 year old iron, to melt plastic and make burn marks in wood when decorating that way. My electronics solder iron is for soldering only. A second hand iron can be used to cut and melt. Like when restoring computers from the 80's. In rare cases, you need to melt ABS. And that is what a "decomisioned" iron can be used for.
Hey thanks so much for this video. I’m very new to soldering. I got into it as some cool game system modifications need you to be able to solder. But my tips did start getting crappy. I did wipe it off after every solder I did. But it’d still start getting dark and ugly. I found tip tinner on Amazon. But didn’t know how it was supposed to be used. Saw what looked like a steel wool scrubber but was either bronze or copper and bought that as well but it didn’t really help. And considering your explanation that probably just causes the same issues as sanding it. Or maybe I’m doing it wrong. Either way I did not know how to properly care for my soldering iron tips. This was easy to understand. Clear. To the point. And even explained why sanding it would be bad. I really appreciate the info. Hopefully now with this my tips will last longer and be in much better condition going forward.
Very wise words. I do exactly the same as yourself. I have had my Antex instrument iron for over 40 years with the same tip. 👍