I have 2 "tip cleaning wire" / pot-scrubbers, and now both are full of solder, can they be cleaned some or do you just have to buy new ones ?
Doesn't sound like you are. How would you fill a tip cleaner in 2 years let alone a life time if you were following, "good soldering techniques"? There should be so little solder on the tip when you clean that it wouldn't ever show in the "scrubby", or even stick to it at all.Well I shook it out, that helped for now, this was a new 1, in a Hakko stand, and that shape sucks compared to the one I have in a soup can, I think a lot of solder falls way down, and it lasted for +2 years I'd say. It's full of nasty stuff tho, not clean at all, I'm still learning good soldering techniques.
So how in the world do u tin the tip and clean it ?Doesn't sound like you are. How would you fill a tip cleaner in 2 years let alone a life time if you were following, "good soldering techniques"? There should be so little solder on the tip when you clean that it wouldn't ever show in the "scrubby", or even stick to it at all.
You tin the tip AFTER cleaning, not before. If you don't tin it after it will just oxidize then need cleaning again. Usually you only clean at the end of a soldering session, before shutting the iron off. That way it is ready to start working the next time you want to use it. And tinning only needs small amount of solder not a blob.So how in the world do u tin the tip and clean it ?
Don't know about anyone else but I clean the parts being soldered before actually soldering. A "scotchbrite" pad works really good. And I try to have more than one joint to solder ready.How do you guys keep joints clean without cleaning the iron?
Dick, the scrubber type cleaners are brilliant. No thermal shock, and they remove the cooked flux and oxide layer in a quick pass.I really cannot remember the last time I wiped my tip on something. Shaken a blob off now and then, but on the suggestion of and Ungar representative I knew as a teenager wiping a soldering tip just accelerates the wear. They love to sell those things.
I don't believe those views are universally held; although, Weller seems to support them. Plato, for example makes the opposite conclusion and recommends a damp sponge as being less abrasive and prolonging tip life compared to metal abrasive pads:Dick, the scrubber type cleaners are brilliant. No thermal shock, and they remove the cooked flux and oxide layer in a quick pass.
Wet cleaning is definitely a problem for the tip life, but this method keeps the iron ready to go and in excellent shape.
Well, it is my understanding the thermal schock is most problematic for the plating which, being a different metal, doesn't necessarily have the same coefficient of expansion as the tip itself. As far as comparing the cooling effects of sponge vs. scrubber, my (non-scientific) experience is the sponge drops the temperature at the tip quite a bit (as can be seen by the steam forming) while the scrubber has a negligible effect when used to the time required for it to do the job.I don't believe those views are universally held; although, Weller seems to support them. Plato, for example makes the opposite conclusion and recommends a damp sponge as being less abrasive and prolonging tip life compared to metal abrasive pads:
https://www.newark.com/pdfs/techarticles/plato/SolderingIronTipsCare.pdf (Plato)
http://www.techni-tool.com/site/ARTICLE_LIBRARY/Techspray-Maximizing_Solder_Tip_Life.pdf
The risk of thermal shock, from what I have read, is more than a little exaggerated. For example, a metal abrasive pad will be at room temperature as is the damp sponge. Metal to metal contact might well conduct heat faster. Moreover, every time you solder, you momentarily change the tip's temperature.
How about a reference? It is not a myth with water. Even Wikipedia seems to believe it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leidenfrost_effectMythbusters did an episode on the Leidenfrost effect using molten lead.
You're right, it's not a myth at all. They dipped their wet hands into molten lead to show that it was real.How about a reference? It is not a myth with water. Even Wikipedia seems to believe it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leidenfrost_effect
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