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Soldering questions

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If you have had your tips for a while and managed to turn them black so the solder just balls up and won't tin and it's hard to melt the solder that has already been laid down, is it possible to repair the tip so it works the way it was intended?
What about letting the tip sit in a bath of solder, similar to solder pot, I made one out of an electrolytic capacitor can and it has about 3/8" of solder in it and the iron stands in the solder and melts it. So far, I'm not impressed with the results. I seems to cook the solder and it goes grainy, plus I used all three types of solder, 60/40, 63/37, and no lead.
 
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If you have had your tips for a while and managed to turn them black so the solder just balls up and won't tin and it's hard to melt the solder that has already been laid down, is it possible to repair the tip so it works the way it was intended?

When that happens it's really best to just buy a new tip. There may be ways to clean it, but it would be far easier to get a new one and tin it properly on the first use, and throughout soldering sessions.
 
You are probably right, especially when the tips are less the $4 each - I edited the post
 
What about letting the tip sit in a bath of solder, similar to solder pot, I made one out of an electrolytic capacitor can and it has about 3/8" of solder in it and the iron stands in the solder and melts it. So far, I'm not impressed with the results. I seems to cook the solder and it goes grainy, plus I used all three types of solder, 60/40, 63/37, and no lead.

Setting the iron in a bath of solder most likely would not help. What you would definitely need is flux, and if you just leave the iron in the solder it will just burn off the flux (assuming your solder had a flux core) and won't do much good at all.

Your best bet, if you really don't want to buy a new tip, would be to get a bottle of flux and dip the iron in it. If that doesn't help you're pretty much out of luck.
 
I had two tips that were giving me problem and figured I had nothing to lose, so I put them in my drill and spun them as I held the against the wire wheel on my grinder. One got grabbed the wire wheel and broke, the other buffed up ok and I tinned it and left extra solder on it as it cooled and put it away for later.
 
My temperature controlled Weller soldering iron is about 48 years old and still works perfectly. The tip and its tinning lasts for many years even when it is hot for many hours every day.
It makes an excellent solder joint in 1 second.
The soldering iron and its tips are still made and sold today.
 
My temperature controlled Weller soldering iron is about 48 years old and still works perfectly. The tip and its tinning lasts for many years even when it is hot for many hours every day.
It makes an excellent solder joint in 1 second.
The soldering iron and its tips are still made and sold today.

I have one about half that age but it is still very reliable. Never had a single issue with it. Makes perfect joints every time, and like yours the tinning lasts quite a while. Obviously I have to apply a bit of solder each time just to be safe, but it is still very clean considering its age.

If you can get your hands on a Weller station it is definitely worth it!
 
Mine is a HexaCon with 650, 800, and 900 and uses Weller tips and I have to confess to not cleaning them well and using too high of heat, leaving them on for hours at a time while I'm working it, but they did last for years except breaking the one I just mentioned, but if the tip is really bad, this may be a way of reviving it.
 
Mine is a HexaCon with 650, 800, and 900 and uses Weller tips and I have to confess to not cleaning them well and using too high of heat, leaving them on for hours at a time while I'm working it, but they did last for years except breaking the one I just mentioned, but if the tip is really bad, this may be a way of reviving it.

Personally I wouldn't recommend using something as abrasive as a wire wheel on a soldering tip. The same goes for sandpaper and files. They can lead to microscopic fissures on the tip and even if you try to tin it they will not fill in. This causes the heat to burn up the tip from the inside (inside the fissures, anyway) and kills it much faster. I do know of some people who were able to do this and did not notice any problems, but it is certainly not a good practice to get into.
 
My temperature controlled Weller soldering iron is about 48 years old and still works perfectly. The tip and its tinning lasts for many years even when it is hot for many hours every day.
It makes an excellent solder joint in 1 second.
The soldering iron and its tips are still made and sold today.

Unless that's a family heirloom, this means that you predate the Integrated Circuit era?:wideyed:
Have u met many 12AX7's?:D
 
Personally I wouldn't recommend using something as abrasive as a wire wheel on a soldering tip. The same goes for sandpaper and files. They can lead to microscopic fissures on the tip and even if you try to tin it they will not fill in. This causes the heat to burn up the tip from the inside (inside the fissures, anyway) and kills it much faster. I do know of some people who were able to do this and did not notice any problems, but it is certainly not a good practice to get into.

Sometimes....when you have to solder something heavy, like a brass lug bolt onto a 2 0z copper low inductance plane you have to crank up the iron's wattage (mine isn't temp controlled). If I don't adjust it down within 5 min the tip is oxidized and this usually requires something more than the damp sponge before re tinning. I use 220 grit Sandpaper, and have done so for a very long time. A tip lasts me about a year until it gets a hole in the iron plating and the copper starts developing a crater due to solder solubility.

One method that works for me is to heavily tin the tip upon power down, leaving excess solder on it. Thus after heat up, I don't have to worry about the tip oxidizing at all while I am distracted ( looking for that 0805 cap that fell onto the concrete floor) ...the heavy solder layer is easily sponged off to reveal fresh surface tinning.
 
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Hi guys, sorry for dropping this, I stopped working on the project for a while.

Looks like I am going to be soldering stuff more, my monitor broke and I need to replace capacitors.

So I am going to get a soldering station.
I really liked the Hakko in the video misterT posted, but Hakko doesn't seem to be making it anymore and everywhere I find it's over 100 dollars or is unavailable.. Even at the $80 it was a bit much for me. Are there any good alternatives to it? I don't like how the Wellers look, and they're pretty big.
 
This website does have some of the cheaper soldering stuff around. e.g. https://www.circuitspecialists.com/soldering-system-bk3000lf.html

When there is soldering, there is unsoldering and that can be harder. As the stuff your repairing gets more expensive, desoldering becomes more imperative.

I did break down and bought this **broken link removed** one.

Here are some cheaper ones: https://www.circuitspecialists.com/soldering-stations but be careful because not all are rated for lead free which requires higher temperatures.

Metcal is well liked and a professional brand, but out of my price range. **broken link removed**

Edit: Fixed typo - now in bold
 
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Thanks for the links.

Some say that the temperature can go up to the same amount as the lead-free ones. Won't that work on lead free?

When there is soldering, there is soldering and that can be harder. As the stuff your repairing gets more expensive, desoldering becomes more imperative.

Soldering can be harder than soldering? what?
 
Temperature is one thing, but how fast it gets there depends on wattage and the mass of the items soldered. It's kinda like a 100 W lightbulb might warm an incubator to 78 F, but it won't warm an entire house. So lead free should depend on both temperature and wattage of the iron.

I use a butane powered iron for non PCB type soldering. Mine also came with a heat shrink attachment.

I meant to say:

When there is soldering, there is unsoldering and that can be harder. As the stuff your repairing gets more expensive, desoldering becomes more imperative.

I'll fix the typo.
 
So would a 60 watt work since it's only 10 watts down from the 70 watt lead-free ones?

How is a iron butane powered? And what kind of non PCB type soldering?

I meant to say:

When there is soldering, there is unsoldering and that can be harder. As the stuff your repairing gets more expensive, desoldering becomes more imperative.
I'll fix the typo.

Oh, okay.

People say desoldering pumps are the easiest. What do you do once you're done? Do you just leave the solder in the pump and let it fill up and then throw it away and get another one?
 
60 W is probably OK.

See https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...=OT0Do8BwG7VZZwkvXI6WUw&bvm=bv.68235269,d.aWw

Hidden is stores there are "butane refill kits" that are used for lighters and hair curling irons. So, you just refill it using the schraeder type valve.
Non-PCB soldering includes soldering wires to terminals or heat shrinking tubing and soldering stuff with a very large mass. Say, a soldered wire splice in a car.

Well, the easiest is to cut the leads on the damaged component and then take it out. Pumps that have their own source of vacuum is the easiest. Sometimes, you have to add solder to get the solder out. No matter what, they come apart. A heated vacuum assist unit will usually have a ceramic nozzle and the solder is pulled into a filter where it solidifies. So, you take apart and remove the solder.

A "manual hand tool" usually has a way to cock the air cylinder and a way to release it creating a little bit of a vacuum. As you cock the device, a rod pushes out the end pushing out some of the solder that was captured. The tip is usually Teflon or PTFE. The tip wears and is replaceable. If it wears too much, the metal plunger sticks out of the tip and then it won't work. Again, cleanable. I do prefer the metal ones.

My first was a simple bulb which I don't recommend. Then there are the ones that cock. Then there are the bulb versions attached to an electric heating element and finally the vacuum assist ones.

And then desoldering braid.
 
Thanks,

Are there metal manual pumps? I thought I'd seen them..

I have a hard time with desoldering braid. Probably not used to it though.
 
Desoldering braid is the ticket when doing surface mount. DIY PCBs often develop solder bridges across SMD ICs when assembling.
A Hakko 808 De-soldering tool is what I use now for thru hole, but it's expensive although enormously effective. Just clean the filters every 4 hours of use.
 
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