What on *earth* did I do to my soldering iron tip?!

[Maxifig]

Hiya,

I recently got a soldering iron kit for simple electronics work. After using it one evening, the tip was clearly damaged. After using it a second time it had clearly been "eaten" away further, I'm guessing where the blob of solder had been resting:-

**broken link removed**

(Damaged tip at top with unused one for comparison. It's now in a worse state, as I've used it again).

Being relatively inexperienced in soldering, I assume that this was my fault, but what could have caused this? The only thing I could think of is that acid-core solder can damage the tip if not removed, but the kit was marked for electronics work (which acid core isn't suitable for) so it's unlikely they supplied that type of solder anyway.

Any ideas? Thanks.

- Maxifig

 

[hackableFM]

Was it cheap?

Burning incorrect materials can damage soldering irons I do know (Such as melting plastic etc etc) but after 2 uses it's that bad? I think it's just a seriously poor quality metal tip.

 

[audioguru]

A cheap soldering iron gets too hot.
My Weller soldering iron is about 43 years old and has automatic temperature control. They still make it the same today. Its tips last for years. It never burns away the rosin in solder and it never burns the adhesive holding the copper traces on pcbs.

 

[spiffitz]

I've seen that happen to tips, even on a high-end Weller digital, after they've been scratched past the outer coating. Clean only with wet sponge, and use tip cleaner only when the iron is hot so the tip isn't dragged across a solid sharp surface. As audioguru says the non-auto ones tend to just sit there and overheat, which my $10 iron does. Do you have one of those coil-spring holders? Sometimes the iron (if it's a pen-type) sits loose enough that it contacts the coil and the coil acts as a heatsink while you're not using the iron. Perhaps your tips don't have the coating at all which looks to be the case in the pictures.

 

[paparts]

which is which

Burning incorrect materials can damage soldering irons

Is this really true? i'm using my soldering iron for drilling holes in plastic, until now its still working. I've using it for 5 years. Hahaha if its true can I ask the reason for this? Leads don't ruin soldering irons then plastics can?
That could be cheap soldering tip...

 

[hackableFM]

Is this really true? i'm using my soldering iron for drilling holes in plastic, until now its still working. I've using it for 5 years. Hahaha if its true can I ask the reason for this? Leads don't ruin soldering irons then plastics can?
That could be cheap soldering tip...

Having read the other replies in this thread about scraping the surface coating from the tip, I may have been wrong with this. I used to use my iron to burn through plastic when I was a kid using my old mans sordering iron. Maybe what was happening is more like the cleaning method used to remove the burning plastic from the tip caused the damage, But I was always told off for burning plastic with the iron "Because it damages the iron tip" Although I was never really told the reason why, I always assumed there was some sort of chemical reaction..

 

[Krumlink]

My cheap soldering iron can last 6+ months if you take care of the tip. Radioshack tips disintegrate in about a month. Plastic will oxidize to the tip of the iron and "cook" on there leaving a cold spot in the tip. It will become damaged as the surrounding metal heats up. Solder heats up and melts evenly and quickly while plastics just bake onto the tip.

 

[hackableFM]

My cheap soldering iron can last 6+ months if you take care of the tip. Radioshack tips disintegrate in about a month. Plastic will oxidize to the tip of the iron and "cook" on there leaving a cold spot in the tip. It will become damaged as the surrounding metal heats up. Solder heats up and melts evenly and quickly while plastics just bake onto the tip.

Maybe I was a little hasty in saying I could have been wrong in my post above, It looks like someone else supports the theory of plastic damaging tips.

Paul...

 

[Hero999]

You need a temperature controlled iron.

You can build a simple one yourself by connecting a lamp dimmer switch in series with the live wire of the soldering iron.

 

[Muhammad89]

Hi there,


Quality Of solder also plays a role in the damage of the Iron Tip!that I suppose depend to a big part on the amount of Flux Filled in.
My 60w power soldering iron was fairly good Japanese made and i had to replace its damaged tip only after 11 days of use! later i started using a differnrt kind of solder and it has been in a good working order ever since!


Muhammad89

 

[Boncuk]

Is this really true? i'm using my soldering iron for drilling holes in plastic, until now its still working. I've using it for 5 years. Hahaha if its true can I ask the reason for this? Leads don't ruin soldering irons then plastics can?
That could be cheap soldering tip...

Not really true. I use to carve into plastic with the pencil type tip. When it turns black from plastic leftovers I heat it up to 350deg for some time and wipe it with a damp sponge. Looks like new after that.

 

[Hero999]

I would think it depends on the type of plastic, not all plastics are the same some will be more corrosive than others.

 

[crutschow]

Copper disolves into molten solder. That's why copper tips are coated. If you leave a blob of solder on a hot iron it will accelerate the erosion, thus you should wipe off excess solder between uses. Some solders have a small amount of copper added to reduce this effect.

 

[HATHA]

Man, did you peel your soldering tip when it hot!!!!!!!!!!!
how this happen? is the tip made up Cu, if so it is impossible isn't that?

 

[Externet]

Made-in-China.

 

[wmmullaney]

Made-in-China.

Like that's big news, everything is made in China.

 

[Maxifig]

Was it cheap? Burning incorrect materials can damage soldering irons I do know (Such as melting plastic etc etc) but after 2 uses it's that bad? I think it's just a seriously poor quality metal tip.

Yeah, it was relatively inexpensive, though not dirt cheap (about UK £10 or US $18.50 ex. postage):-

**broken link removed**

(This one)

The only plastic anywhere near it was the small amounts the outside of the wire being soldered (yes, I stripped the ends first).

A cheap soldering iron gets too hot.

It's not temperature controlled.

I've seen that happen to tips [..] after they've been scratched past the outer coating. Clean only with wet sponge [..] Sometimes the iron (if it's a pen-type) sits loose enough that it contacts the coil

I just used the sponge in the picture above, though it didn't seem that "smooth" when I was wiping it (possibly because it was already damaged). The "stand" is a piece of metal with a fold out flap(!), not a coil.

Copper disolves into molten solder. That's why copper tips are coated. If you leave a blob of solder on a hot iron it will accelerate the erosion, thus you should wipe off excess solder between uses. Some solders have a small amount of copper added to reduce this effect.

It certainly doesn't *look* like a copper tip (the one at the bottom shows what it looked like originally, the change in colour came with use).

Anyway, I appreciate the feedback and it was very interesting and informative (thanks to everyone, including those I didn't reply individually to). Though I must admit I'm pretty surprised that this *hasn't* been as easy-to-diagnose a case of straightforward newbie incompetence as I'd expected(!)

 

[audioguru]

Like that's big news, everything is made in China.

Just things that don't work properly are made in China.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Buy yourself an Antex iron, far better quality at a reasonable price - temperature control is nice, but not essential.

 

[wmmullaney]

Just things that don't work properly are made in China.

How are things in Canada? In the USA %90 of everything is made in China.