A big thank-you to the folks who responded to my query about soldering iron
tips. I think that my tip has had its lifespan curtailed for two primary
reasons: 1) I've probably been running it hotter than I need to (more about
this below), 2) I've probably not been as good about keeping it tinned as I
should. I'm careful to check that it's brightly tinned before making a
connection, but not so careful about checking it when I leave it for awhile
or turn it off. Oops.
> Here is a good link on the subject.
>
> http://www.platoproducts.com/howtotin.htm
Thanks, this his a great link on the subject.
> When it gets a
> bit funky looking I heat it up and clean it with some 3M Scotchbrite,
Is Scotchbrite that green, fibrous scrubby pad stuff?
> I could be wrong, but I
> figure if the "organic" (Kester 331) can corrode connections, it could do
> the same to the tip
I think you're right. This is mentioned on the web page referenced above:
"Some of the major causes of detinning are: ... 4. Lack of flux in the
soldering operation. Use of no clean fluxes and low-residue fluxes."
Obviously I'm using only no-clean and low-residue solders, from the generous
amounts that Paul supplies with the kits.
> I'm
> curious, what model of Weller iron are you using?
I'm using a WLC 100. This is sort of a baby soldering station--kind of a
glorified iron in a stand. It's got temperature control, but the control
isn't calibrated in degrees, so I don't really know what the operating
temperature is. (Even the manual doesn't say what the temperature range is!)
I discovered recently that I can solder with the temperature at a much lower
setting than I had been using previously. So maybe I've been running the tip
too hot, contributing to its early problems.
> You could probably lightly sand the tip with a very fine grit and re-tin to
> bring it back to life.
I ended up sanding it carefully with a fine file (actually one of those
diamond-grit sharpeners--I have a cheap one in my toolbox that I use as a
file), and then blobbing a whole bunch of rosin-core solder on it, thinking
that the rosin flux might help restore it. It seems to be working pretty
well now--at least well enough that I could finish soldering this module.
> After all, waiting until Tuesday to finish an
> already in-progress module would induce a bad case of anxiety!
Exactly. :-) And I was hoping to do a second -800 this weekend, too.
Thanks again, guys. I'll add some sort of summary of all this to my MOTM
project website. Maybe it will save someone else from premature tip balding.
--Adam