Glass fibre cleaner for soldering iron tip

I saw this glass-fibre brush (or pen) for cleaning soldering iron tips while hot.

OR

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a wodge of glass wool (loft insulation) do as good a job? Does it have there any unsafe chemicals which might be given off if used on a hot soldering iron? (700 deg F/390 deg C)

I have loads of glass wool in my loft! It's that pink coloured spun type which doesn't seem to leave as many shards and splinters as the old style glass wool. Users in forums have warned that the glass-fibre pen also leaves this sort of sharp debris.

Matt

Reply to
Matt H R
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Matt H R coughed up some electrons that declared:

Glass wool and that brush are very different - the brush bristles are densely packed and thicker strands than glass wool - it looks like the little brush you get with Halfords car touch up paint kits.

But you could try it. Coarse steel wool might work too.

Glass wool should be safe emissions wise - it is just a form of glass.

I find a damp soldering sponge generally effective - and when I was younger, we made do with an old newspaper which was Ok until your bit etched concave.

Cheers

Tim

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

Tim, I think steel wool might cause damage to the metal coating on the soldering iron's tip. However, maybe I could use that glass wool give the tip a wipe instead of damp cellulose sponge because my sponge sometimes gets a bit singed.

I guess my Antex XS25 iron might be a bit too hot. It's nominally quite hot at 390 degrees C (735 F) and could be running even hotter.

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recently tried a piece of "Magic Cleaning Eraser" to clean the tip with and that seems very heat resistant. It's made mainly of a melamine sponge. I wonder if that stuff releases dangerous chemicals when heated? Does anyone know?

Matt

Reply to
Matt H R

Matt H R coughed up some electrons that declared:

Possible - but I imagine glass would scratch it too. Maybe to a different degree.

I think your sponge is not wet enough or you're taking too long. I've not had that problem. I soak the sponge and give it a light squeeze out.

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

The insulation glass itself might melt. Pyrex wool would not, but it's an expensive way to clean a tip. An ordinary wet sponge or steel wool will do the job. I do lots of soldering and I've used the same sponge for years. Once in a while, I take it out and wash it.

DB

Reply to
dangerousbill

You have to try those to appreciate them. I've been using them since the

80s and they're excellent for small scale cleaning jobs, not just soldering irons but any metal cleaning application.
Reply to
Steve Firth

I don't know about the glass fiber brush. I would think it would gouge grooves into the comparatively soft iron soldering tip.

Fiberglass insulation would probably work if wet, but doesn't seem to offer anything over the conventional wet sponge. The idea is to scrape off the oxidized dross, which can be done with anything that holds water. I once used a piece of wet (wool) felt when my sponge walked away.

Also, for smelly, smoky, but good tip cleaning, try a block of sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride). About $5 for a small block. Available at hardware stores in the copper pipe soldering section and at stained glass suppliers:

There are also polishing bars, which are more suitable for large torch type soldering irons that tend to get incrusted with glassy goo.

There's also a variety of tip re-tinners made by Weller, MG, and Plato. They contain silver and are a bit pricey. If you're down to un-tinned iron on your soldering tip, you can sometimes recover some of the tip with this stuff. I have a small tin, but rarely use it.

I forgot to mumble about keeping the lead free and leaded tips, irons, solder, sponges, cleaners, and such separate. I've trashed a few tips mixing solder types which required aggressive cleaning and retinning to salvage. I now have two separate soldering irons for each. For desoldering, I use the same tool for both.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

light wipe on a damp sponge ought to be plenty.

Those pencils are quite harsh - they would be more suited to cleaning tarnish off a cold bit for example. However there is a danger of damaging the iron cladding on copper bits like the Antex ones.

Its unlikely to be damaged or melt. Not sure how well it would wipe though.

Yes they do - its a good idea to wear gloves when using them or you will end up feeling irritated in the same way as if you handle glass fibre wool.

Reply to
John Rumm

I've been using these fibre glass pens for years, they are great for repairing PCB traces, but do tend to leave invisible irritating splinters in your fingers if you are not careful.

I wouldn't imagine them at all suitable for cleaning soldering tips, it would be a right old palaver. Whats wrong with the wet sponge method?

Gareth.

Reply to
Gareth Magennis

Cools the tip down momentarily. I use this on mine...a coil of softer metal...works well for me...

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Reply to
Bob Eager

Why not the usual damp sponge or steel wire brush?

It does indeed so best only used where it can't be avoided.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I thought those pens were for cleaning the tracks on the PCB, rather than the actual iron?

I use one of these for my iron, seems to work well, and doesn't cool the tip like a wet sponge does!

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Reply to
Toby

No. I use the classic damp Weller sponge.

Graham

Reply to
Eeyore

This is what we use at Corus Steel, it has all the benefits of steel wool without the abrasiveness taking off your solder iron tip coating.

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Reply to
BigGirlsBlouse

Unless your tip was improperly tinned or the Silver has broken through, a damp sponge is the best. Other things will leave a mess that contaminates your work. If you have to, a brass brush will take care of flux crust. Once you have to resort to a file, time to break out a new tip and use the old one for desoldering or plastic welding.

Reply to
JB

I've been using an old rag for what, 30 years now.

Reply to
Meat Plow

In message , BigGirlsBlouse writes

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Reply to
geoff

A SMALL SOFT WIRE BRUSH WOULD DO MUCH BETTER THAN THE STEEL WOOL ALSO KNOW AS MY PUBIC HAIR

I AM PROTEUS

Reply to
proteusiiv

Amazing! My girlfriend is very cautious of the soldering iron but this is quite the opposite. I mean, gawd, don't you leave burnt skin.

I just have to see a video of this! Be really interesting to see this, if you could knock up a simple vid. Any quality at all.

Reply to
Dixy

I always used to wipe em on my jeans.. they lasted longer and cost less than the sponges..

The key to wet fingers is that they are wet. The steam vaporises cooling the skin.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

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