The moment my soldering iron tip turned black and I knew

I spent 3 years cleaning my soldering iron tip with a dry sponge and thought the black crud was just normal wear. Last week at a shop in Austin, a tech showed me how tinning the tip after every joint keeps it shiny and works way better. Has anyone else gone years without realizing they were missing a basic step like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

burns.jenny1mo ago

I mean, that thing about tinning after every joint - how do you even know when you've done it enough? I've watched a few videos and I still feel like I'm either putting too much or too little on there. Like, does it matter if it's a tiny amount or do you really need to coat the whole tip? Also, that Austin tech - did they show you a specific trick or just say 'keep it shiny' and walk away? I'd be curious what the actual method was, not just the concept.

barbarah191mo ago

@burns.jenny honestly that Austin tech thing bugs me too. They just said "keep it shiny" and walked off, no real method or anything. But to your question about tinning, here's what I figured out after burning through way too much solder. You really just need a thin layer that covers the whole tip, like a coating that looks wet and silver. If it's too thick and balling up, you're putting too much. If it looks dull or patchy, that's too little. The real test is when you touch it to a joint and it flows smooth and fast, not sluggish. So did the videos you watched show what happens when you use too much flux inside the joint?

the_amy1mo ago

Yeah the whole "keep it shiny" thing drives me nuts too, like thanks that's super helpful. For tinning, I found it clicked when I stopped overthinking it and just went for a thin even coat that looks like liquid silver. If you're seeing little balls forming or it's dripping off, you're using way too much. What helped me was wiping the tip on a damp sponge first, then dipping it in flux, then just touching the solder to it for a second or two until it flows across the whole tip. Once you see it look wet and reflective, that's enough.