How Do You "TIN" a soldering iron?

On 11/28/2010 9:26 PM B_ snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com spake thus:

Yes.

The problem is that the tip of your iron is dirty. You've got to get all that scale off of it in order for solder to stick to it. Clean it.

I just use a small piece of sponge which I wet with water. Wipe tip on sponge.

A tinned tip will work better. Also, melting a little blob of solder on the tip and then using the blob to transfer heat to the work helps.

As one beginner to another.....

First, I don't know much if anything about soldering, but I do solder wires wires together pretty often.

Second, I only solder either aluminum or copper wires, which are easy.

Third, the advise you have received here is good, but they didn't mention that the wire has to be clean too. If the wire is old and oxidized, it has to be clipped off or cleaned too.

Fourth, use a resin core solder.

Fifth, I scape off my tips with a knife. I have even used a bench grinder to grind them back to a point. Then I heat up the iron and melt solder on the tip which helps clean it, then wipe off the excess solder.

Hope these little tips help.

Hank

As others have said, the solder won't stick to crud. Follow these steps for your abused iron.

1. Using a file or sandpaper, abrade off the crap from the tip of your iron until the tip is shiny base metal (either copper or steel).
2. Plug in the iron and, when it gets hot, cover the tip with solder.

1. Periodically during your soldering project, drag your iron's tip over a damp sponge.

2. When the iron's tip turns black and can't be returned to shiny via the sponge business, repeat steps 1 & 2.

1. You are correct when you twist the wires together. Soldering is an ELECTRICAL connection, not a mechanical one. Depending on solder to hold two items together is ultimately futile.

Does no one use Sal Ammoniac to keep their soldering tips clean anymore?

If you're not doing domestic plumbing, (and you wouldn't be with a soldering IRON) then get you some REAL solder. Then file the tip shiny whilst cold, then heat it and stick it in some solder paste, THEN the REAL solder will flow on to it quite well. If the tip gets too hot and/or oxidized, you'll never get it to flow properly.

you don't solder aluminum. You might think you are, but no, you're not.

re: "Depending on solder to hold two items together is ultimately futile."

Hmm...I wonder what's holding all of those little electronic components onto the circuit boards.

I also wonder why I can easily pull twisted wires apart but I have hard time pulling soldered wires apart.

I guess there must be something else holding that stuff together.

Oh. Didn't know that. I suppose the cheap, disposable tips are merely plated (maybe even just painted in bright colors) - the ones I use are solid copper.

Agreed solder IS a mechanical connection; a piss-poor mechanical connection at that. Lay two wires side by side and solder them together. Then pull them apart. Next tie the two wires together in a knot, solder them, and pull them apart. If you can.

There's a HUGE difference between a soldered mechanical connection and the mechanical connection of a solder joint.

The cheapy screw-in tips I get at radio hack are copper base. Dunno what the plating is on top, though.

As for tinning them, after I degrease them (when new), I put a very thin dab of flux on the tip and wrap it with flux-core solder, then I plug in the iron.

This gets it tinned before it has a chance to oxidize, and seems to work well for me.

Jon

Yes you are if you are using the proper solder. Alumisol is one that works very nicely on aluminum

That depends entirely onthe tip. An "iron" tip is different from a "copper" tip.

I've successfully tinned copper tips, and plated copper tips

True, but an electrical connection that is not mechanically secure before soldering does not pass any inspection. (except for solid wire into a printed circuit board)

The devices in the circuit board are mechanically held in place by virtue of passing through the board - and the solder just stiffens the wire to make it harder to pull apart, then glues the twisted wires so they cannot easily move in relation to each other. Two wires laid together and soldered can be separated relatively easily in comparison

- and a wire just laid on a circuit board and soldered WILL fail.

Not for electrical soldering. As to cleaning, sanding, filing, etc. a lot depends on the tip itself. Good electronic soldering tips should not be filed as the plating in place, will no longer be there. For electronics tips, use, as someone said, a wet sponge. If the tip is really corroded, use a bunch of paper towels folded up and wet with water, and then scrub the tip on the paper. This works a little better than the sponge. Also, you can gently scrape the tip with a knife for even a screw driver to remove some of the oxidation. I have a small tin of electronic flux (I've had it sooooo long that it was about 15 cents on the stick-on price tag) which I will occasionally dip the tip into. This helps clean it up also. Also, temperature regulated irons keep the tip cleaner by not cranking the temp so high that oxidation occurs rapidly.

Ooo! Good idea.

Like I said, I don't know much about soldering. I'm pretty sure the wire is aluminum and stranded. It is high quality aircraft wire. It is silver in color. Maybe its some alloy. Anyway, what I'm doing is working for me. :-)

Hank

I do, it's usually the main component of tip cleaner. Another thing that works well is either a copper or stainless steel pot scrubber. I have a tip cleaner I got from Radio Shack years ago that is cone shaped and has a compound that cleans a hot tip, it is used like a pencil sharpener, I believe it contains sal ammoniac.

re: "The devices in the circuit board are mechanically held in place by virtue of passing through the board"

Not on any boards I've built or repaired. The wire or component leads are loose in the holes and will pull right out unless solder is applied to the tinned pad on the lead side.

Ever encounter a cold solder joint on a circuit board? A nice neat mound of solder that looks good on visual inspection but a component lead that will pull right out through the board because there is nothing holding it in place.

Aircraft wire is silver plated or tinned copper - and one of the easiest types of wire to solder - it is "pre-tinned"

They are held "in place" except for one direction. Might be more accurate to say they are "located" by the holes.

Surface mount is a different story - and they DO tend to fail on occaision.

Yes I have - but if it was not in the hole the cold solder joint would just be a spot of copper - and a component rattling around somewhere. Also, PROPER installation involves spreading the leads slighly when they come through the hole so the component stays in place when you either turn the board over to solder it, or move the board to the wave soldering machine.