Soldering Tip Care from Weller & Bondline Static Control Solutions
Quality Soldering Tips can be costly, so it is important to get the best possible life from them. Here is some advice to help improve tip life and soldering quality.
The best protection for a soldering iron tip, Hot or Cold is a coating of solder.
At the start of any soldering operation the tip should be wiped in Dry Cleaner Metal Wool or on a damp (NOT WET) sponge to remove any old, oxidised solder as well as any flux residues. Then a coating of fresh solder should be applied to the tip. When the soldering operation is completed, more solder should be applied to the tip to protect it until the tool is required again. … read more here …
Soldering tips deteriorate rapidly at elevated temperatures.
Tools should be switched off during periods of inactivity. Some tools are fitted with a set-back function that will automatically reduce the tip temperature after a period of inactivity. It is also important to consider the soldering temperature being used as excessive tip temperature will greatly reduce tip life and may damage costly components.
Solid copper tips have a very short life, often measured in only hours. To extend the life of soldering tips, they are plated with Nickel and then Iron.
- The thickness of the iron plating varies with both the geometry of the tip and with the cost of the tip.
- Low cost tips made with thin plating have a reduced life expectancy.
- Very fine tips cannot have heavier plating due to their geometry and thus also have reduced life.
Tips are finally plated with Chromium in the non-soldering areas.
Plated tips should never be cleaned with a file or abrasive paper. Weller recommends using a Dry Cleaner Metal Wool over damp sponge during use. The main benefits of dry wool over a damp sponge are:
- The risk of inducing a thermal shock is much less.
- The risk of completely stripping the protective coat of solder off a tip is reduced.
Two common problems with using sponges are:
- The use of tap water introduces contaminates that degrade the tip & reduce its life expectancy … use demineralized water only.
- Too much water in the sponge … having it “wet” as opposed to “damp” increases the risk of inducing thermal shock & subsequent “micro-cracks” in the tip surface.
If serious cleaning is required, a Weller Polishing Bar or a brass wire brush can be used. However, once the Copper Core is exposed the tip will expire within a few hours
If a hot, plated tip is plunged into flux, or any other cool liquid or paste then the plating on the tip is placed under extreme stress due to thermal shock and will eventually crack, exposing the copper core and reducing the life of the tip. This is also true if a wet rather than damp sponge is used to wipe the soldering iron tip. If the Copper core of a tip is exposed to solder then the Copper can be dissolved away quite quickly, leaving a shell of only the plating.
The tip of any soldering tool should be removed and cleaned with a damp sponge on a regular basis to prevent the tip from seizing inside the barrel of the soldering iron. When a soldering tool is in daily use the tip should be removed from the tool once per week. Longer intervals are acceptable for tools used less frequently. A very small quantity of “Neverseize” paste or a similar “anti-seize” product applied to the thread of the tip nut or barrel nut will make the tip easier to remove and prevent damage to the tool.
Fluxes vary in acidity; those used with Lead-Free solders are particularly aggressive. Acids attack metal much more rapidly at higher temperatures; flux will also attack a soldering tip at room temperature, but the action is very slow as opposed to the accelerated effect at elevated working temperatures. Tip life will be optimized if flux is removed as soon as possible after soldering, followed by a coating of fresh solder.
If the above recommendations are followed, then your Weller soldering tool will give many years of good service.