What to do with soldering iron before turning it off

[HiTech]

yeah, you know... asbestos goes right along with inhaling lead and rosin fumes!

 

[transistor495]

Yeah, sorry..asbestos fibres are very dangerous if inhaled..I'll replace it with another material soon. Thanks dudes

 

[Roff]

I'll leave the iron as it is. Probably no solder left. Next time when taking there I can see some black dust on the tip. I will scratch it using a sandpaper and apply solder sometimes it refuses to catch try again and when a small ball catches, scratch the tip on the asbestos sheet to make it a uniform distribution over the tip. It's OK! I'm using my iron as a driller also for making holes on plastic boxes. After drilling I'll clean it using a dry cloth keeping the iron ON then again sand paper it. Clean! Again the process repeats for next soldering. My iron is almost 7yrs old. I haven't replaced the tip till now. Occasional use only.
How to know that the iron is getting hot.
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When my iron is switched ON I'll be on a confused state that whether it is getting warm or not. After a few seconds I'll take it close to my face and u know our face can sense heat easily. Not recommended!

A few times I've taken the iron at its hot end without knowing.

Sanding the tip is one of the worst things you can do. Tips are made of copper. Copper will alloy with solder if it is in direct contact, causing the tip to get pitted. For this reason, tips are plated with a metal (e.g., iron) that does not easily dissolve (alloy) in solder. Sanding will remove the plating, ruining your tip.
Electronics Tips: Soldering Techniques

 

[Boncuk]

When my iron is switched ON I'll be on a confused state that whether it is getting warm or not. After a few seconds I'll take it close to my face and u know our face can sense heat easily.

Oh, I didn't think of that: Shaving with a torch.

 

[Thunderchild]

I'm hardly an expert but I found this, so that's what I do:

Soldering Iron Tip Care & Maintenance

as the tip is made of copper it will hardly oxidate (rust) or corrode much, I think the issue is more with how soft the metal is, last place I worked at i made a new tip for my iron and the metals a damn site harder than my old tip

 

[3v0]

as the tip is made of copper it will hardly oxidate (rust) or corrode much...

Copper loves to oxidize when hot. As soon as I heat my nice bright PCB with hot air or reflow skillet they oxidize.

 

[Thunderchild]

hm it may be coroding ?

 

[Roff]

As I said, copper slowly dissolves in solder. The (good) tips are plated to prevent this.

 

[audioguru]

You wipe the 700 degrees F tip with a plastic sponge?

 

[Mikebits]

I melt solder onto it and then dunk it once into a brass sponge thing to even out the solder coat and turn it off. I don't use a moist sponge. Don't like it. Steals the heat and never seems to behave the way it should.

Steals the heat? What kind of iron do you use?
Solder stations have that little sponge tray for a reason.

**broken link removed**

 

[audioguru]

You know the cheap little soldering iron that is powered from four AA batteries?
It gets cooled down just by looking at it.
If it is wiped on a damp sponge then you would need to replace the battery for it to get hot again.

 

[Speakerguy]

Brass coils are way better than sponges, although I use both.

Why such concern over tip life? The tips that get used the most are often the cheapest. My most commonly used tip is only $13 US. The tweezer tips and specialty tips cost enough you want to take care of them, but they get used very infrequently and even then I haven't had a problem with any of them. Minor cost unless you are running an assembly or rework facility.

 

[dknguyen]

Steals the heat? What kind of iron do you use?
Solder stations have that little sponge tray for a reason.

**broken link removed**

So you're saying that if you wipe your tip on your moist sponge, the solder on the tip doesn't solidify? Because I find that a little hard to believe.

 

[Mikebits]

What I am saying is this. PACE, Weller, and many others have decades of experience. The wet sponge is a time tested and proven method and works well. When a soldering iron with the proper temp is used, the wiping the iron across the wet sponge leaves a bright clean tip. If you do not see these results, then I suspect your iron temp range is too low or you have a crappy iron.

I have worked in several companies with factory assemblers, and I have seen their process. Take a walk down any assembly line and you will see wet sponges on the rework stations.

Also read section 5.5.1 of Mil-STD-2000.
MIL-STD (2000 - 2999) Documents and Specifications

 

[Boncuk]

So you're saying that if you wipe your tip on your moist sponge, the solder on the tip doesn't solidify? Because I find that a little hard to believe.

You are not supposed to give the soldering tip a bath, just wipe the solder off. It solidifies on the sponge, not on the tip. My iron just looses 5deg/C when wiping it. The heating element reacts very fast and the temperature is regained before the next soldering joint.

Soldering at 300deg/C is overtemperature anyway. You can get along well applying 270 deg/C.

The usually sold soldering tin (60% tin, 40% lead) has a melting point of exactly 183deg/C. From there to 270 there is a lot to play.

And, I doubt your brass sponge has no influence on the tip temperature. Brass conducts heat super good!

 

[dknguyen]

Maybe I was doing it wrong when I started out and moved onto brass sponges and never looked back. Either way, I'm too lazy to find distilled water now.

 

[Mikebits]

Maybe I was doing it wrong when I started out and moved onto brass sponges and never looked back. Either way, I'm too lazy to find distilled water now.

In my many years of soldering, I have never used distilled water. It makes sense that this may be better, but a moistened sponge with tap water works just fine.

 

[Boncuk]

In my many years of soldering, I have never used distilled water. It makes sense that this may be better, but a moistened sponge with tap water works just fine.

Is distilled water the stuff contained in battery "water"? If so, I can't use it, because I don't get them separated.

 

[Mikebits]

Is distilled water the stuff contained in battery "water"? If so, I can't use it, because I don't get them separated.

Make a still

**broken link removed**

 

[transistor495]

Question

Is that a cold moisture applying on a very hot iron may cause it to bend its shape gradually