There are a large number of synthetic means or folk methods to clean the soldering iron tip. The effectiveness of cleaning depends on which sting is used for soldering. various surfaces. They also distinguish between ordinary soot and chemical oxides. The latter are much more difficult to clean completely. If the solder is copper, then you can experiment with purification. For other alloys (the so-called eternal stings), any mechanical impact can lead to damage. You can simply remove the top layer of the alloy, it will no longer be possible to use such a sting.
Synthetic products from the store
It is proposed to fight oxides and soot with the help of a large number funds. All of them have different names, but basically the composition is the same.
There are 3 main ways to clean the sting:
- chemical substance from the category of oxidal or sting activator;
- cleansing paste Goot BS-2;
- synthetic sponge for soldering.
The choice of funds like oxidal must be approached very carefully. You should familiarize yourself with the composition and decide whether it is suitable for a copper or multi-alloy sting. Too aggressive substances, together with the destruction of the oxide, can also dissolve the top layer of eternal soldering.
There are also so-called sting activators, which do not clean very well. But their daily use improves wettability and protects the surface from the formation of deposits and oxides.
Cleansing pastes are more versatile. They remove carbon deposits very well, but they fight oxides a little worse. But they are suitable for any stings. In addition to pastes, there are special boxes with small metal filings in which you need to lower the contaminated tip of the soldering iron, this is how the cleaning takes place. After that, both carbon deposits and part of the oxide are removed due to chemical reaction with sawdust.
It must be remembered that any synthetic agent must be carefully removed after cleaning the surface. Otherwise, it will react with the solder or solder board, and then the tip may deteriorate badly.
Synthetic sponges, such as Xytronic TIP Cleaner for dry cleaning, help to clean the sting mainly from carbon deposits. In the fight against oxides, they are ineffective. Many people replace these sponges with ordinary kitchen ones, but this is not entirely correct. When in contact with a hot soldering iron, such a sponge can smell very unpleasant. With a store for soldering, this will not happen. Purchased sponges can either be dry-cleaned or need to be dampened before use. This nuance must be clarified when buying, because buying a wetted sponge is a waste of money.
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What is used to clean the sting among the people
The soldering iron tip can be cleaned with sponges.
Funds from the store very often do not live up to expectations, so many use folk ways solder cleaning. There are many ways in the list of tools used. For cleaning from soot, use:
- a variety of sponges - from kitchen to cosmetic sponge, ordinary foam rubber;
- paper, cotton and cotton swabs;
- sewing needles, files, metal brushes and nozzles, as on drills;
- polishing skins, emery, scalpels;
- ink erasers (eraser) and much more.
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Learn more about each cleaning method
The use of sponges and sponges of various textures helps to get rid of soot, if you choose them correctly. And this can only be done experimentally. In the same way, you need to determine whether you need to wet the sponge.
Any sharp objects for cleaning (scalpels, needles, files, etc.) can only be used for copper tips. Some craftsmen manage to clean them with eternal stings, but this requires jewelry accuracy. And soft polishing tips or skins can be selected for multi-alloy tips, but experiments need to be done on broken ones.
The Pluto6631 eraser from Koh-i-Noor cleans the tip of the soldering iron from carbon deposits and oxides.
Using paper or cotton wool is only to remove a large amount of carbon deposits when there is nothing else at hand. This method will not help get rid of oxides or hard formations.
You can clean your soldering iron tip with Koh-i-Noor's Pluto6631 eraser. This method allows you to get rid of soot and oxides. Be sure to clean the cold tip by treating it with acetone and wiping it well with a cotton cloth.
In order not to spend extra money on cleaners with sawdust in a box, you can do it easier. Find small brass filings and pour them into a metal container. It will be much cheaper than buying from the store. Brass can be replaced with a good copper sponge (or in extreme cases, steel).
There is one more effective method, according to some fans of radio electronics, clean with a pencil for the sole of the iron. This method works well and sometimes allows you not only to get rid of soot, but also to replace the tip activator with it, and the soldering will become better. If we compare the cost of a good pencil and an activator, then you can buy a couple of dozen iron products for the price of a sting protector.
But the hardest thing about sting pollution is not the formation of soot (it can always be removed mechanically), and the formation of oxides.
They are difficult to remove and significantly reduce solder quality.
A mandatory tool, without which soldering is impossible, is a soldering iron. There are several types of it. In an electric soldering iron, the most popular tool among craftsmen, a heating element heats a copper sting.
In other models, the working area is heated by a stream of heated air or an open flame. Thirdly, the sting has a massive appearance, resembling a hammer in shape, the heating of which is provided by electricity. There are hammer soldering irons with the ability to heat the tip over an open fire.
Regardless of the type and shape of the tool, it is imperative to clean the soldering iron tip before starting work. Over time, carbon deposits accumulate at the working end of the tool, formed during the thermal decomposition of solder and flux. The process is aggravated by the mutual penetration of tin and copper, their thermal diffusion.
The contaminated surface of the sting does not allow soldering correctly.
Accumulated combustion products Supplies, which are formed especially quickly when the soldering iron is idle in a heated form, interfere with subsequent work. In the working area there will be substances that prevent good adhesion, uniform distribution over the surface. Thorough cleaning avoids problems.
The procedure must also be performed with new soldering irons, because manufacturers cover the tip with a thin layer of oxides called patina for protection.
Less soot is formed when working with a soldering station that has heat control.
Soldering irons with stainless tips do not form plaque at all, but working with them is not familiar and convenient for everyone. It is necessary to choose the right power so that the low thermal conductivity of the tip allows you to solder well.
Special tools for copper sting
To remove carbon deposits, the industry produces a variety of products, a lot of practical experience has been accumulated, which is used in modern technologies sting preparation. The approaches to cleaning are different, although, in principle, they are reduced to two main options for influencing the burned area: mechanical and chemical.
Mechanical types of cleaning
Depending on the type of work to be done, you can choose one or another abrasive material. If there is a need to make the sting strictly even and flat, you should take a file. In other cases, you can use:
- sandpaper;
- grindstones;
- abrasive sponges.
To remove the patina from a new soldering iron, you should take sandpaper with small grains. This will be enough to remove a thin manufacturing layer. At the end mechanical cleaning the sting is treated with rosin or other suitable resin. The rosin composition does a good job of removing plaque, consisting of oxides and other impurities.
If you want and you can buy finished fixture wts-599b. This metal sponge in a special case is very convenient to use.
Chemical methods
There are options for cleaning the sting with chemicals. You need to choose flux cleaners carefully, after a preliminary acquaintance with the metal composition of the tip.
To clean the copper working surfaces of the soldering iron, you can use oxidal. Its composition is dominated by ammonium chloride. The sting is heated, placed in chemical agent and watch the cleansing, which happens very quickly.
At the end of the procedure, the heater is wiped on a sponge or cloth, which must first be moistened with water.
Instead of oxidal, many masters use a powder similar in properties, called ammonia. This is the same ammonium chloride, which removes oxide products well. When heated, corrosive gaseous substances ammonia and hydrogen chloride are formed from it.
Cleaning the sting chemicals must be carried out with good ventilation because corrosive fumes of acid and ammonia are released.
A flux-off flux cleaner gives a very good result. It is sold in the form of an aerosol, easily removes dense decomposition products of consumables. Any flux deposits, tin-lead solder residues quickly dissolve. The aerosol must not come into contact with plastics. Other material, such as a ceramic fixative, will not be affected by hydrocarbons or esters.
To improve the condition of a contaminated sting, you can buy pasty activators of the goot series. The function of the active reagent in them is performed by ammonium phosphate mixed with tin powder. Heated to 300 ℃, the head must be immersed in the paste, rotated in it. Usually, one dose is enough. If necessary, the procedure can be repeated.
Folk methods
Inventive craftsmen and amateurs find a way out in cases where there are no special tools nearby. You can take regular food citric acid stored in any kitchen, dip a heated sting into it. The result will not keep you waiting - cleaning is quick and successful.
Some craftsmen try soda, alcohol, aspirin, pharmacy glycerin, and other home remedies. The impressions are different. There are many compositions with a known effect, so it makes no sense to enthusiastically compete in ingenuity.
Cleaning the non-flammable tip
The purchase of soldering irons with a fireproof tip is a great joy, which, with intensive work, can be overshadowed pretty soon. After some time, a black coating appears on the surface of the heated end, the soldering goes worse and worse. It becomes obvious that the soldering tool needs to be cleaned.
Iron washcloths are not suitable for delicate material. They may scratch the surface. In extreme cases, a washcloth made of copper or bronze threads is suitable.
A good, inexpensive tool is a cellulose sponge. It is often included in professional cleaning kits. Please note that the product must have an inscription confirming the cellulose composition. Outwardly, it is not always possible to determine the quality of the soldering sponge, other threads, impurities can oxidize and aggravate the situation.
As alternative suitable viscose sponge. She in practical application for cleaning the sting does not differ in properties from natural cellulose material. The sponge can be moistened not only with water, but also with glycerin. In extreme cases, instead of a sponge, a piece of cloth is quite suitable.
The soldering iron needs to be heated and cleaned wet material, dry case will not help. Nagar is removed with simple movements, as if you were wiping a rod. Sometimes masters cut a recess in the sponge, with which it is even easier to clean the sting.
Cleaning the blowtorch
The blowtorch burner, like the tip of a soldering iron, requires constant care, otherwise it may become completely clogged and not work at all. The process of accumulation of dirt in the nozzle is enhanced when using not very clean fuel. Impurities tend to accumulate together with combustion products.
A special needle is usually included with the lamp for cleaning the working hole. If not, the jet can be cleaned with a thin wire.
Often there is a need to wash blowtorch. In this case, processing can be carried out aerosol means for cleaning or gasoline. Some masters manage to clear working area cloth moistened with white spirit. It is necessary to soak the cloth completely so that the solvent copes with all the amount of contaminants.
correct preliminary preparation tools to get the job done quickly and efficiently.
So. You have become the proud owner of a Japanese soldering iron with a fireproof tip. Or maybe two soldering irons for different power at once. You successfully tinned the tips and now you can easily solder the radio components of the next DIY kit. But then, in a completely incomprehensible way, the soldering iron suddenly began to solder the parts somehow badly, its tip, hitherto shiny from molten tin, was covered with some kind of black crust. And you, without hesitation, ask primordial questions: what to do, and who is to blame?
After consulting the best forums on the Internet, you understand that a raid is inevitable. It appears from the flux used, and pieces of cable, one way or another, falling under the sting. And this plaque needs to be cleaned somehow. You tried to shake it off and erase it on the edge of the can of solder, but your inner instinct tells you that this way, inadvertently, you can damage not only the coating of the tip, but also break the internal heating element. And lo and behold, an experienced forum member tells you that even his grandfathers, in the old days, used special sponges and a metal washcloth to remove plaque that interferes with normal soldering.
Inspired by the imminent success, you run without looking at the road to the nearest radio shop, where Kondraty grabs you. This young man, with his bony hand, shakes you in the hope of pulling your hard-earned money for the proprietary system for cleaning the sting. And the sums for something branded are astronomical! You are internally not ready to part with your hair to clean the soldering iron while doing just a hobby. Therefore, you leave the shop in search of alternative solutions.
And there are such solutions. First, iron wool is not the best case when using a non-flammable sting. The risk of damage to the coating of the sting is very high and, as a result, the acquisition of a new sting for a lot of money. Such stings require very delicate treatment. In extreme cases, you can use a washcloth made of soft metal such as bronze or copper. But it is better to use a sponge. Actually, secondly, to clean the tip of a soldering iron, especially a fireproof one, you can and should use a cellulose sponge. It is she who, in most cases, is present in professional cleaning kits.
So, an ordinary cellulose sponge for washing dishes is purchased. It is cellulose, not foam rubber or melamine. It says "cellulose" on it. Any other household sponge will melt and add even more oxides. If there is another layer on the sponge with a hard metal or equivalent washcloth, then only the soft cellulose part can be used. The soldering iron heats up, and the sponge is wetted with water. Yes, it must be wet to clean the soot. A dry sponge will not be able to properly clean the sting, and even melt itself.
After I learned this method, incredibly fast cleaning of the soldering iron tip from soot, the question immediately appeared in my head: “What, it was possible like that?”. Before that, like most radio amateurs, I took sandpaper and manually cleaned the carbon from the sting. The whole process took about 15 minutes and took quite a lot of effort, not counting the cleaning of black soot after such cleaning.
Now everything has changed thanks to a little trick, which I will now tell you about.
It will take
The whole secret lies in the use of ammonia in powder. It is sold in radio markets or specialty stores.It may have individual packaging:
Or it can be sold by weight in bulk:
In any case, it is worth every penny, especially considering the fact how much time and effort it saves.
Cleaning the soldering iron tip
So, pour the ammonia powder into a more convenient and heat-resistant dish.
Next, turn on the soldering iron and heat it up to the usual soldering temperature. Please note that the sting has a thick layer of soot on its surface.
Now we dip the heated sting into ammonia powder.
It is best to do this process in a well ventilated area.
Hold for a few seconds and remove. A little powder will remain on the sting, which will begin to evaporate with the release of a thick white smoke. And after that you will see a shiny copper sting.
Now we remove all residues with a rag or a special sponge.
And tin the tip with solder.
Yes, everything is so simple and fast! I am sure that you will definitely take this method of stripping into service.
This method will be especially useful for those who solder very often.
Personally, I was very surprised by the speed and simplicity of this process and a little regretted that I did not know this before. Good luck to all, friends!
Many radio amateurs and home craftsmen, after completion soldering work you have to start, albeit short, but very tedious process of cleaning the soldering iron tip. It is necessary to take sandpaper and clean it from soot for 10 - 15 minutes. Having learned the method of instant cleaning, this problem will never bother you again. Sandpaper and soot on the soldering iron will be a thing of the past.
Necessary materials
Our classified material, this is the usual ammonia in powder form. You can get it in radio engineering or other specialized stores. Often it is presented in a small individual package, but you can also find it by weight. The cost of powder ammonia is not high, even a schoolboy who is fond of radio electronics can afford it. But the savings in time and effort from its use are very significant. At this stage, we don't need anything else.
Purification process
For the process of cleaning the soldering iron tip, we need the following. A small cup, preferably heat-resistant. We pour our ammonia powder into it.
Next, turn on the soldering iron in the network and wait until it warms up to the optimum operating temperature. Important: before cleaning, be sure to open the windows to working room well ventilated. Or provide another method of forced ventilation. The pungent smell of melting ammonia powder is extremely unpleasant. And so that you can finish the job to the end, you will need an influx of fresh air.
Then, immerse the tip of the soldering iron in the cup for a few seconds, and then take it out. The powder remaining on the tip will begin to melt and emit thick white smoke, and after that, the end of the soldering iron will begin to acquire a shiny copper color. If traces of soot remain, then we continue to perform the previously described actions until the desired result is obtained. Now we just have to wipe the sting with an unnecessary rag or any other rag, and tin its tip with solder. Cleaning is finished, you can enjoy the result and think about where to spend the saved time.
