Very informative in the practical sense as well as outlining the technical reasoning for each step and why others are to be avoided. Professional, knowledgable and consice, thanks John.
I never had anyone to teach me anything. I have learned so much from people on RUclips willing to share their knowledge and skills. Just got my first iron and was able to solder some replacement parts in an aging PCB. I developed oxidation on my iron but I now know how to remedy that and care for it better. Thanks! If I did things right, an old electronic device will be in service again.
Thank you sir! Finally some simple, straight forward advice that can actually help the battle against frustration. And I have watched other tip maintenance video's.
Dear Mr. Candelino, Just an excellent video, I have been having trouble with my tips lately and by watching this video, I now know what I am doing wrong, thank you kindly for sharing this video with the watchers.. I am going to begin using the methods in this video...
A brass sponge is also somewhat abrasive and will not remove heavy oxidation from the tip, which is why I prefer a brass brush. As I mentioned, tip tinner contains ammonium phosphate, which is a very aggressive flux and can contaminate the objects you are soldering. Also, tip tinner causes faster dissolution of the iron plating due to the flux/tin combination. Either way, you will not be preventing wear on the thin (approx..008" to .015") iron plating. Any method that you use to always keep the tip well tinned is the objective.
"what we never wanna do, is wipe the tip off and then put the iron back in the holder"....which is what I do every single time and is probably why I'm here watching video's like this, trying to understand why my solder turns into little balls and runs away from my tip !
Shit! It's like tasting sugar for the first time. There are reasons why craftsmen don't want other people to use their tools. I'm like that with my dremel stuff.
Great vid thanks! By the way, those little brushes for cleaning golf clubs are often brass bristles :) im going to find one in the house somewhere instead of buying one ha!
Great, sounds good. The objective is to clean the tip without doing much damage to the iron plating on the tip. Good heat transfer is what we are looking for. Thank you for your interest - let me know if I can be of further assistance.
James, Very happy that you enjoyed the video and could be of help. Thank you! Let me know if you have any additional questions. i hope to make a video on "Solder and Flux" in the near future.
Great explanation, thanks. One thing is not clear to me. Since we put the coating tin once finishing soldering in order to avoid (black) iron oxidation of the tip, why clearing it off with wet sponge before starting soldering again? Is it so to get rid of the (white) oxide which can form on the coating tin at the top of the tip?
We need to wipe the tip before soldering in order to remove the oxides that have formed on the solder coating. So, we are protecting the iron plated tip with solder, while also not allowing any unwanted oxides from becoming part of our solder connection.
Using a brass scrubber sponge or a super fine abrasive on an iron plated tip is far less damaging than using an inorganic acid or highly activated organic flux on the tips, which by the way, will also cause the tip to wear faster. Again, you must avoid contaminating your project with these aggressive fluxes, assuming that you want your project to last a long time. Also, lead-free solders on iron plated tips reduce tip life by as much as 50% as compared to tin-lead solders. Very badly oxidized tips may require a different approach if your aggressive fluxes do not work. Since tips are so inexpensive, just replace the tip when you start having a problem keeping it tinned.
Before you start your soldering day, clean the sponge with warm water and liquid dish soap, rinse with tap water, squeeze dry and apply distilled water until the sponge is damp, not wet! Depending on how much soldering you do, you may need to repeat this several times during the day. Also, clean the sponge one last time when you are done for the day. A clean sponge is critical for making good solder joints!
Thanks for your professional videos!! Here you explained mostly about maintaining plated soldering tips. I have a large unplated copper tip in an industrial size like the one you demonstrated on. I will use it for sheet metal work and not for electronics. What would be the best method to tin it for the first time? What would be the correct flux and solder for first-time tinning?
The solderability of the sheet metal determines what flux you need to use. For example, mild steel or stainless steel is difficult to solder and may require a flux with hydrochloric acid. The solder is determined by the application, for example lead-free solders are stronger, in general, to tin-lead alloys. Also, the higher the tin content, the lesser the life of the tip. You will need a file to reshape the plain copper tip as it dissolves into the solder joint. Take a look at my other videos on solder and flux. I hope this helps.
Never use an abrasive on any tip. If you want to clean your tip properly dip it in paste flux then use your copper sponge and wet sponge then repeat till the tip is clean. Then tin the tip wipe and repeat 5 or 6 times. I use the tip stuff he said don't use. If used properly it will 100% keep your tip in great condition. It's meant to be used before turning off your iron not before you start soldering. After use you tin and wipe your tip at least 3 times then leave the tin on the tip while you prepare for your solder joint. NEVER use anything abrasive other than copper sponge on any tip .
The abrasives that I talked about are extremely fine and are meant only to clean the oxides off without compromising the iron plating. More closely "polishing" the plating than abrading it.
John, I use a 30 watt Weller and my tips over time get pitted and eaten away. I always tin the tip when I get done and the tip is always shiny silver and never oxidized. I do use a wet dish sponge to clean while soldering too.I would say my tips last 4-6 months before I have to get a new one. Does that sound normal or do you think I am making some mistakes?
Tip life can never be easily defined. If you use lead-free soldering alloys, the tips will last about half as long as it you were using tin/lead solder (never mix the two alloys). Also, abrasion from sharp terminals or from rubbing the tip on the work to get better heat transfer will wear the tip prematurely. In general terms, 4-6 months doesn't sound bad. In production situations, some tips last only a few hours!
have you thought of doing a video on what type of soldering iron to buy. and if you used tip cleaner is their anything you could use after like alcohol or something to remove it. and i would be interested in making flux.
Soldering iron/tip selection is a primarily a function of matching masses. In general, the higher mass of the iron/tip combination, the better. Remember that you cannot efficiently transfer heat from a very small mass to a higher mass, like when trying to remove a large multipin connector from a high mass multilayer circuit board. In that case, preheating the board is recommended.
hola amigo tengo un soldador marca weller SP40NKUS pero en el primer uso cuando estañaba la punta esta al limpiarla se le cayo o eso creo el recubrimiento y no quiere aderirce el estaño que debo hacer... o es verdad que este es el mal de esta marca weller???
I used a pencil eraser and with just a few rubs, all the black blue colour on my iron tip is gone....is that Ok; using a common pencil rubber? (I have Japan's Goot soldering Iron KX-30)...I cleaned my tip with alcohol after (just in case..)
Sure, any mild abrasive will work as long as you can get the oxides off of the iron plating. As long as the tip accepts solder and can transfer heat well.
You need to heat the connection approx. 100 to 150 deg. F above the melting temperature of the solder in order to be reasonably confident that you are forming a good intermetallic bond. Therefore, your soldering iron/tip must be of sufficient mass to do this in a short period of time. High mass, and preheating, if necessary, is the key. Usually 600 deg. F is a good starting point for circuit boards. It also depends on the soldering application and the soldering alloy that you are using.
Plumbers paste flux contains zinc chloride primarily. It will not destroy the plating on the tip - I only caution it's use because if it is not cleaned properly, especially with electronics, it is conductive and will corrode copper substrates and it will get under components and needs to be thoroughly cleaned.
The zinc chloride flux will certainly clean the oxides off the tip, and really would not destroy it. The concern is that you might transfer some of the corrosive residues from the flux back to what you are soldering. As long as you keep the flux away from your project and clean everything well, you should not have a problem.
Oxides form on the tip surface. and prevent solder from "wetting" the surface. The flux in the solder (or external flux) is needed to clean the oxides off so that the solder will adhere to the surface.
Brilliant John, I wish I could buy you a beer to say thanks - but I wish you a long happy and healthy life. You are a credit to humanity.
Thank you for the kind words. I am very happy that I could be of help.
people like you make this world better. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and skills.
This is the best tutorial I saw about soldering
When you know what you're doing , you know what to do. Subbed.
This was like a college course in Soldering. I learned a lot more than I wanted to but needed to. Thank you professor John.
I was basically doing everything wrong. Damn. Thanks for this vid so I can get my ass on the right track 😂
Very informative in the practical sense as well as outlining the technical reasoning for each step and why others are to be avoided. Professional, knowledgable and consice, thanks John.
I never had anyone to teach me anything. I have learned so much from people on RUclips willing to share their knowledge and skills. Just got my first iron and was able to solder some replacement parts in an aging PCB. I developed oxidation on my iron but I now know how to remedy that and care for it better. Thanks! If I did things right, an old electronic device will be in service again.
Thank you sir! Finally some simple, straight forward advice that can actually help the battle against frustration. And I have watched other tip maintenance video's.
I was considering muratic acid I found in the barn the other day.
What could it hurt on the diy tips?
Oh yeah. Cross contamination.
The best explanation of the tip topic amongst all these amateur videos on yt. Good job and thank you.
Thank you Filip! I appreciate your comment!
Dear Mr. Candelino, Just an excellent video, I have been having trouble with my tips lately and by watching this video, I now know what I am doing wrong, thank you kindly for sharing this video with the watchers.. I am going to begin using the methods in this video...
Excellent tutorial.
good colleague , you inspire me; o,e big 'thank you' from Tuisia!
Thank you so much for the comment! Very much appreciated!
very nice video
thank you for sharing information with us
That's one huge tip! Great video
A brass sponge is also somewhat abrasive and will not remove heavy oxidation from the tip, which is why I prefer a brass brush. As I mentioned, tip tinner contains ammonium phosphate, which is a very aggressive flux and can contaminate the objects you are soldering. Also, tip tinner causes faster dissolution of the iron plating due to the flux/tin combination. Either way, you will not be preventing wear on the thin (approx..008" to .015") iron plating. Any method that you use to always keep the tip well tinned is the objective.
Aight thanks
"what we never wanna do, is wipe the tip off and then put the iron back in the holder"....which is what I do every single time and is probably why I'm here watching video's like this, trying to understand why my solder turns into little balls and runs away from my tip !
Shit! It's like tasting sugar for the first time.
There are reasons why craftsmen don't want other people to use their tools.
I'm like that with my dremel stuff.
I literally do that every time and have the same solder balls issue. Ugh.
Yup. Me to!
Very well explained a great tutorial 👍👍thanks for taking the time👌
Excellent. Thank you for this
Very informative and easily understood. Thank you very much.
Thank you for a highly informative video.
GREAT VIDEO!!
Brilliant, thank you. Very helpful
Great vid thanks!
By the way, those little brushes for cleaning golf clubs are often brass bristles :) im going to find one in the house somewhere instead of buying one ha!
Great, sounds good. The objective is to clean the tip without doing much damage to the iron plating on the tip. Good heat transfer is what we are looking for. Thank you for your interest - let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Thanks, really informative!
Thank you! I'm happy that i could be of help. Let me know if you have any other questions or need any other information.
Just what I needed. Great video. Thank you, John.
James,
Very happy that you enjoyed the video and could be of help. Thank you! Let me know if you have any additional questions. i hope to make a video on "Solder and Flux" in the near future.
Great explanation, thanks.
One thing is not clear to me. Since we put the coating tin once finishing soldering in order to avoid (black) iron oxidation of the tip, why clearing it off with wet sponge before starting soldering again? Is it so to get rid of the (white) oxide which can form on the coating tin at the top of the tip?
We need to wipe the tip before soldering in order to remove the oxides that have formed on the solder coating. So, we are protecting the iron plated tip with solder, while also not allowing any unwanted oxides from becoming part of our solder connection.
@@johncandelino5982 Perfect, thanks.
Using a brass scrubber sponge or a super fine abrasive on an iron plated tip is far less damaging than using an inorganic acid or highly activated organic flux on the tips, which by the way, will also cause the tip to wear faster. Again, you must avoid contaminating your project with these aggressive fluxes, assuming that you want your project to last a long time. Also, lead-free solders on iron plated tips reduce tip life by as much as 50% as compared to tin-lead solders. Very badly oxidized tips may require a different approach if your aggressive fluxes do not work. Since tips are so inexpensive, just replace the tip when you start having a problem keeping it tinned.
Tips are inexpensive. 😀 The brand ones aren't.
Thanks for the video. I will have less need to buy new tips so often now. 👍
Thank you.
Nice one! Thank You!
Before you start your soldering day, clean the sponge with warm water and liquid dish soap, rinse with tap water, squeeze dry and apply distilled water until the sponge is damp, not wet! Depending on how much soldering you do, you may need to repeat this several times during the day. Also, clean the sponge one last time when you are done for the day. A clean sponge is critical for making good solder joints!
Thanks for your professional videos!! Here you explained mostly about maintaining plated soldering tips. I have a large unplated copper tip in an industrial size like the one you demonstrated on. I will use it for sheet metal work and not for electronics. What would be the best method to tin it for the first time? What would be the correct flux and solder for first-time tinning?
The solderability of the sheet metal determines what flux you need to use. For example, mild steel or stainless steel is difficult to solder and may require a flux with hydrochloric acid. The solder is determined by the application, for example lead-free solders are stronger, in general, to tin-lead alloys. Also, the higher the tin content, the lesser the life of the tip. You will need a file to reshape the plain copper tip as it dissolves into the solder joint. Take a look at my other videos on solder and flux. I hope this helps.
Never use an abrasive on any tip. If you want to clean your tip properly dip it in paste flux then use your copper sponge and wet sponge then repeat till the tip is clean. Then tin the tip wipe and repeat 5 or 6 times. I use the tip stuff he said don't use. If used properly it will 100% keep your tip in great condition. It's meant to be used before turning off your iron not before you start soldering. After use you tin and wipe your tip at least 3 times then leave the tin on the tip while you prepare for your solder joint. NEVER use anything abrasive other than copper sponge on any tip .
Thanks
Excellent video with good, practical details. However, I would disagree with using any abrasive to clean the tip.
The abrasives that I talked about are extremely fine and are meant only to clean the oxides off without compromising the iron plating. More closely "polishing" the plating than abrading it.
Brilliant thanks.
Please post the amazon link of the big tip
John, I use a 30 watt Weller and my tips over time get pitted and eaten away. I always tin the tip when I get done and the tip is always shiny silver and never oxidized. I do use a wet dish sponge to clean while soldering too.I would say my tips last 4-6 months before I have to get a new one. Does that sound normal or do you think I am making some mistakes?
Tip life can never be easily defined. If you use lead-free soldering alloys, the tips will last about half as long as it you were using tin/lead solder (never mix the two alloys). Also, abrasion from sharp terminals or from rubbing the tip on the work to get better heat transfer will wear the tip prematurely. In general terms, 4-6 months doesn't sound bad. In production situations, some tips last only a few hours!
have you thought of doing a video on what type of soldering iron to buy. and if you used tip cleaner is their anything you could use after like alcohol or something to remove it. and i would be interested in making flux.
Soldering iron/tip selection is a primarily a function of matching masses. In general, the higher mass of the iron/tip combination, the better. Remember that you cannot efficiently transfer heat from a very small mass to a higher mass, like when trying to remove a large multipin connector from a high mass multilayer circuit board. In that case, preheating the board is recommended.
hola amigo tengo un soldador marca weller SP40NKUS pero en el primer uso cuando estañaba la punta esta al limpiarla se le cayo o eso creo el recubrimiento y no quiere aderirce el estaño que debo hacer... o es verdad que este es el mal de esta marca weller???
I used a pencil eraser and with just a few rubs, all the black blue colour on my iron tip is gone....is that Ok; using a common pencil rubber? (I have Japan's Goot soldering Iron KX-30)...I cleaned my tip with alcohol after (just in case..)
Sure, any mild abrasive will work as long as you can get the oxides off of the iron plating. As long as the tip accepts solder and can transfer heat well.
If your solder melts at a temp of 360 - 370 or so how high should you soldering station temp setting be ?
You need to heat the connection approx. 100 to 150 deg. F above the melting temperature of the solder in order to be reasonably confident that you are forming a good intermetallic bond. Therefore, your soldering iron/tip must be of sufficient mass to do this in a short period of time. High mass, and preheating, if necessary, is the key. Usually 600 deg. F is a good starting point for circuit boards. It also depends on the soldering application and the soldering alloy that you are using.
John Candelino
That sounds good thanks for the help.. great informative video.
i have heard that you can use plumbers acid flux to clean a tip but would it destroy the tip?
Plumbers paste flux contains zinc chloride primarily. It will not destroy the plating on the tip - I only caution it's use because if it is not cleaned properly, especially with electronics, it is conductive and will corrode copper substrates and it will get under components and needs to be thoroughly cleaned.
The zinc chloride flux will certainly clean the oxides off the tip, and really would not destroy it. The concern is that you might transfer some of the corrosive residues from the flux back to what you are soldering. As long as you keep the flux away from your project and clean everything well, you should not have a problem.
For a second there I thought you were holding a harmonica
Why is the solder not sticking to my iron tip?
Oxides form on the tip surface. and prevent solder from "wetting" the surface. The flux in the solder (or external flux) is needed to clean the oxides off so that the solder will adhere to the surface.
@@johncandelino5982 ah yeah, I scrapped the factory surface off and then solder stayed on the tip.
⚠️au émanation ☢
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