Soldering tip
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There has been alot of soldering how-to on the reflector. No matter what I do my soldering station tip does not stay shiny. It seems that I must retin it after every connection... What could cause this?
I have been building the Norcal 40a with David Rutledges "the Electronics of Radio". Boy what a great learning experience. I recommend the book and the kit for any ham serious ham... Now once I get this soldering tip matter cured, then I'm ready to start the KX1 73 DE Ken K1UM _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Ken,
I have seen this happen when a soldering element does not properly control the temperature and the tip overheats. If you are using good solder, and your temperature is correct, the tip should stay tinned for a good long while. OTOH, if the tip temperature is WAY too high, it will kill the tinning very quickly. If you have an adjustable temp soldering station, try turning the temperature lower and see if things improve. It is possible that your iron element has lost its ability to properly control temperature (or you had a bad one in the first place). Hint for better tip tinning life - do not wipe the tip when putting it away in the holder, but do wipe it when you remove it from the holder and are ready to melt solder. Leaving a bit of excess solder on the tip while storing it will help preserve the plating on the tip. Good luck with the 40a and the KX1 - you will want a small tip on your iron for the KX1 - I like a 3/64 inch chisel tip, some folks like a conical tip. 73, Don W3FPR > -----Original Message----- > > There has been alot of soldering how-to on the reflector. No > matter what I do my soldering station tip does not stay shiny. > It seems that I must retin it after every connection... What > could cause this? > > I have been building the Norcal 40a with David Rutledges "the > Electronics of Radio". Boy what a great learning experience. I > recommend the book and the kit for any ham serious ham... > > Now once I get this soldering tip matter cured, then I'm ready > to start the KX1 > > > 73 DE Ken K1UM > > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by k1um
Ken:
>There has been alot of soldering how-to on the reflector. No matter >what I do my soldering station tip does not stay shiny. It seems >that I must retin it after every connection... What could cause this? The following comments are from my personal experience from 40+ years of building. I DO NOT FANCY MYSELF TO BE AN EXPERT ON SOLDERING... particularly in the company of some of the folks here on this reflector... HEAT will cause the tip to develop a thin coating of oxidized lead in a very short period of time, as will burnt flux. DO NOT EXPECT the tip to remain bright and shiny when it's sitting, waiting for the next joint. And be sure to set your tip temperature at a level which is appropriate for your soldering operations. Generally 700-725 deg. F seems to work pretty well for most kit soldering. If you leave the iron setting for long periods of time, TURN THE TEMP DOWN... or OFF. There's little (if any) need to clean the tip AFTER you complete a soldered joint... the solder remaining on the tip will help to protect it from excessive oxidation of the iron cladding on the tip. However, keep a 'cleaning pad' of some sort next to your soldering station and wipe the tip on the pad each time JUST BEFORE you solder that next joint. There has been some discussion with regard to what type of 'wiping pad' to use. Some prefer to use a dampened sponge, others a damp rag, and I personally prefer to use a coiled stainless steel kitchen 'scrubbie'... similar to those offered by Hakko for its line of soldering stations. From experience, I've found that rubbing the tip of my soldering iron against a damp pad of any type does a nice job of cleaning off the crud which has built up on the tip of the iron, but it also cools down the tip just at the instant I'm wanting to use it... never quite rang true for me... cool the tip just before you use it... but I found that merely inserting the tip of my iron down into the coils of a stainless steel kitchen scrubbie... www.n0ss.net/soldering_iron_tip_cleaner.pdf will produce a nice clean tip with minimal tip cooling. And any 'dross' scraped off the tip filters down to the bottom of the enclosure I'm using to hold the scrubbie, so I can pull it out once a month and dump out the crud into the wastebasket. I've used this cleaning method for the past 15-20 years on all sorts of soldering iron tips and have never experienced ANY evidence of excessive tip wear or abrading of the plated-on iron coatings of any of my tips. >Now once I get this soldering tip matter cured, then I'm ready >to start the KX1 Hope these suggestions might help a bit. Now, I'll wait for the rebuttals from those who know what they're doing. <G> 73, Tom Hammond N0SS _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Translation: Wipe on a wet sponge before use. 73 de Alex NS6Y.
On Apr 23, 2006, at 7:35 AM, Tom Hammond wrote: > Ken: > >> There has been alot of soldering how-to on the reflector. No matter >> what I do my soldering station tip does not stay shiny. It seems >> that I must retin it after every connection... What could cause >> this? > > The following comments are from my personal experience from 40+ years > of building. I DO NOT FANCY MYSELF TO BE AN EXPERT ON SOLDERING... > particularly in the company of some of the folks here on this > reflector... > > HEAT will cause the tip to develop a thin coating of oxidized lead in > a very short period of time, as will burnt flux. DO NOT EXPECT the tip > to remain bright and shiny when it's sitting, waiting for the next > joint. And be sure to set your tip temperature at a level which is > appropriate for your soldering operations. Generally 700-725 deg. F > seems to work pretty well for most kit soldering. If you leave the > iron setting for long periods of time, TURN THE TEMP DOWN... or OFF. > > There's little (if any) need to clean the tip AFTER you complete a > soldered joint... the solder remaining on the tip will help to protect > it from excessive oxidation of the iron cladding on the tip. However, > keep a 'cleaning pad' of some sort next to your soldering station and > wipe the tip on the pad each time JUST BEFORE you solder that next > joint. > > There has been some discussion with regard to what type of 'wiping > pad' to use. Some prefer to use a dampened sponge, others a damp rag, > and I personally prefer to use a coiled stainless steel kitchen > 'scrubbie'... similar to those offered by Hakko for its line of > soldering stations. > > From experience, I've found that rubbing the tip of my soldering iron > against a damp pad of any type does a nice job of cleaning off the > crud which has built up on the tip of the iron, but it also cools down > the tip just at the instant I'm wanting to use it... never quite rang > true for me... cool the tip just before you use it... but I found that > merely inserting the tip of my iron down into the coils of a stainless > steel kitchen scrubbie... > > www.n0ss.net/soldering_iron_tip_cleaner.pdf > > will produce a nice clean tip with minimal tip cooling. And any > 'dross' scraped off the tip filters down to the bottom of the > enclosure I'm using to hold the scrubbie, so I can pull it out once a > month and dump out the crud into the wastebasket. I've used this > cleaning method for the past 15-20 years on all sorts of soldering > iron tips and have never experienced ANY evidence of excessive tip > wear or abrading of the plated-on iron coatings of any of my tips. > >> Now once I get this soldering tip matter cured, then I'm ready to >> start the KX1 > > Hope these suggestions might help a bit. > > Now, I'll wait for the rebuttals from those who know what they're > doing. <G> > > 73, > > Tom Hammond N0SS > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [hidden email] > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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On Sunday 23 April 2006 18:43, Alexandra Carter wrote:
> Translation: Wipe on a wet sponge before use. 73 de Alex NS6Y. I was rebutted by an instructor when I worked for the BBC in 1979 when I said 'a wet sponge': he corrected and emphasised, 'a damp sponge'. Ian, G4ICV, AB2GR, K2 #4962 -- _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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