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

[audioguru]

In Canada, very cheap lousy junk used to come from China but The Dollar Store now has extremely cheap extremely lousy junk from India.

South Korea makes fairly good stuff today. It used to be horrible quality about 28 years ago.

Very good stuff is made in Canada, the US, Europe and Japan.

Cheap Chinese cars are coming. Run and hide.

 

[Wond3rboy]

i just read the post and saw the soldering iron.what kind of sldering iron was that?evern the presumably new one shown beside that. arent soldering irons supposed to be having a pointy like tip?so as not to mess the soldering up?

 

[Maxifig]

i just read the post and saw the soldering iron.what kind of sldering iron was that?evern the presumably new one shown beside that. arent soldering irons supposed to be having a pointy like tip?so as not to mess the soldering up?

Yeah, that's what I thought too. Although I later realised that I hadn't paid enough attention when ordering it- it was too big and chunky for what I'd wanted- I notice that the description on the packet says "ideal for electronics, model engineering and general uses", so that wouldn't have helped anyway.

You said exactly what I'd thought myself.

 

[ArtemisGoldfish]

I have a Weller analog non-temperature controlled station I got from Sears (50 bucks, not that bad), but I've been stupid and used it with the temperature all the way up, which probably explains the damage to the name-brand Weller tips I got. One of them even corroded to the point that it's plating broke and it started...bending.

 

[Torben]

I have a Weller analog non-temperature controlled station I got from Sears (50 bucks, not that bad), but I've been stupid and used it with the temperature all the way up, which probably explains the damage to the name-brand Weller tips I got. One of them even corroded to the point that it's plating broke and it started...bending.

I use an off-brand, uncontrolled 25W soldering iron with bog-standard Radio Shack (now The Source, in Canada) tips. If I leave the thing on too long the tips start to corrode, typically on one side and hooking the tip over a bit. Sometimes this is actually helpful as I can use the little hook as a tool, but generally I figure that if I need to use my soldering iron to position things, I'm doing something wrong.

And I am careful about tinning my iron tip before I shut it down.


Torben

 

[rezer]

Sorry for resurrecting this post. But Maxifig, you might want to view this training video on solder tip maintenance form Best Inc.

https://www.solder.net/technical/tip18.asp

They have many other training videos for soldering techniques. This is what they do.

One thing I forgot to mention, you want to be careful inhaling fumes from melted plastic. It contains carcinogens. I would use a respirator. The better choice would be a drill or dremel tool.

 

[Maxifig]

Sorry for resurrecting this post. But Maxifig, you might want to view this training video on solder tip maintenance form Best Inc.

https://www.solder.net/technical/tip18.asp

They have many other training videos for soldering techniques. This is what they do.

One thing I forgot to mention, you want to be careful inhaling fumes from melted plastic. It contains carcinogens. I would use a respirator. The better choice would be a drill or dremel tool.

Thanks for the video link. I don't know if you were addressing me specifically, but I should point out that I wasn't personally breathing in plastic fumes- the only plastic involved may have been the ends of the wire coating melting slightly, but that was pretty insignificant and I wasn't snorting it in

 

[audioguru]

If the plastic insulation on wires melt and smoke when you solder the wire then the soldering iron is much too hot and maybe you are holding it on the joint too long.
My temperature-controlled soldering iron does not melt insulation on wires and each solder joint takes about 1 second.

 

[Rolf]

Good Soldering Iron Tip Check ...............

If the plastic insulation on wires melt and smoke when you solder the wire then the soldering iron is much too hot and maybe you are holding it on the joint too long.
My temperature-controlled soldering iron does not melt insulation on wires and each solder joint takes about 1 second.

The Weller iron(s) I have used for over 50 years have a separate tip for each temperature. This type is not made any more (I think), only time it broke down it was just a matter of burnishing the switch contact before it was like new again. Have not bought a new tip in over 20 years, and here is why. The copper is plated with iron and nickel, you can check it with a magnet. This is what is protecting the copper from the corrosive reaction of the hot solder and flux. I would think most other good iron's tips are similar.
Note: When I say to check the tip with a magnet that is what mean, the other end of this type of Weller tip is part of the temperature control and is magnetic.

 

[Maxifig]

If the plastic insulation on wires melt and smoke when you solder the wire then the soldering iron is much too hot and maybe you are holding it on the joint too long.
My temperature-controlled soldering iron does not melt insulation on wires and each solder joint takes about 1 second.

Oh yeah, absolutely, I know that the wires shouldn't melt! I might be incompetent, but I'm so incompetent that I don't know that that's incompetent Oh, and I did not inhale

To be fair, the somewhat bulky and weird-shaped tip didn't help either, but it wasn't anything major I was doing, just soldering some wires to a parallel port connector (which wasn't otherwise attached to or part of anything at the time) so the overheating wasn't tragic. I'd have either been more careful or stopped before I risked overheating something if I'd been modifying a piece of working computer equipment (or whatever).

 

[audioguru]

My Weller temperature-controlled soldering iron was made about 45 years ago and still works and looks the same as new ones today.

A cheap soldering iron gets too hot and solders things very poorly.

 

[BeeBop]

My Weller temperature-controlled soldering iron was made about 45 years ago and still works and looks the same as new ones today.

A cheap soldering iron gets too hot and solders things very poorly.

So does yours have a 'lockout feature?' The manual talks about a lockout pencil, but there is no photo and I can't figure WTF they are talking about.

I thought about buying a good station when I was in Korea, but I'm glad I didn't because I'd either have to replace it, or use it on a 120V - 220V converter.

Ha, there are two, very similar threads here. I thought this was the other one.
https://www.electro-tech-online.com...ng-tips-quickly-wearing-out.41612/#post346363

I just acquired a Weller analog station, and am so happy with it.

 

[audioguru]

I don't know what you mean by "lockout".
My Weller temperature controlled soldering iron idles at 700 degrees F. When it is used then it goes full blast until its tip is again at 700 degrees F then the power turns off until the temperature drops a little.

 

[BeeBop]

Ah, mine has a temperature dial on the front. I don't have a clue what they are talking about either, but they say you can lock the temperature to one setting. No worries, though. I doubt I'll ever have a use for it, and at this point, I'm just thrilled with the way it works. I doubt I'll last as long as that iron.

 

[audioguru]

You do not need to adjust the temperature of a soldering iron. I selected a tip that has a temperature of 700 degrees F and it stays at that temperature. It is never too hot and is never too cold.

At work a Weller soldering iron with an electronic adjustable temperature failed. My simple one has never failed.

 

[HiTech]

Right here people-- these are what I use and recommend:

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Don't pi$$ around with inferior soldering tools - all they do is cause poor results, damaged components, wasted money, and frustration.