Homebrew PCBs

> > My wife does stained glass and she would shoot me if I put a wet
sponge 
> > anywher near her irons.  they make them start to oxidize and in short 
> > order they won't remain tinned.
-snip-
> > Dave


> i have such salmiac stones too.. but never used them.
> i thought they are only for plain copper tips not the coated ones?
> i use a wet sponge all the time (ok sometimes it is dry) or a paper
towel 
> (dry).
-snip-
> Stefan


I'm betting Dave's wife's soldering iron has an uncoated copper tip.
The wet sponge is for iron plated tips, which is what good soldering
irons have on them. All the Weller soldering iron tips are iron
plated. Cheaper soldering irons may have tin plated tips.

I do as I think Stefan said, mostly I just flick the solder off the
iron to clean it, leaves a good coat of solder. I keep a damp sponge
there, too, to get it clean when a lot of gunk builds up. Or if I'm in
the field and don't have the sponge there, I am pretty quick with my
fingers. Yes, I give the tip a quick wipe with my fingertip. Very
quickly, if you hesitate at all your skin sticks and you'll get a
blister. I also -never- wipe and then put it back in the stand, or the
tip builds up oxide, especially if you used your finger to wipe it. I
first put a tiny bit of fresh solder on the tip after wiping .

I've found most adjustable soldering pens to leave a lot to be
desired. I use an 800 F tip in my Weller, solders fast, get in and get
out and there's little chance of burning the trace off the board.

In the past I've found that if I don't tin my PCBs then I must scrub
them immediately before soldering. If I tin them (electroless tin
plate) soldering is easier.

Steve Greenfield