Re-tinning Soldering Iron Points

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

I have a couple of various wattage soldering irons that range from Wellers to auto parts store models. Each one no longer accepts tinning.

Each one had previously been left on for stretches of time. I probably should have turned them off while I prepared automotive wires for soldering then turned the iron on.

Anyway, each iron has been heated up to operating temperature and then either wiped on the supplied sponge or a damp cloth. Some points have then been lightly sanded. They were heated up again and the points plunged in some resin flux and then wiped again. After this treatment I have heated the irons up again and attempted to tin them. However, the irons do not want to accept and hold the solder so it can be tinned. Each iron still gets hot. So, it is not a temperature related issue.

Do new soldering iron points come with only a light coat of copper and if this is abraded off then the base metal underneath does not hold solder?

If I have not gone through an outer layer that only accepts solder; what are my other options to re-tin the soldering irons?

Well apart from buying new points, or a new soldering iron!

Kind regards,
Lionel

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Yes, Ron... I watched a youTube clip that says, 'never sand a soldering iron tip'!

I am now watching another youTube clip where someone is nickel-plating their soldering iron point via electroplating. Accessed 22nd April 2023. Fixing a Soldering Iron Tip. (The right way) - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9hbANJRKvQ).

Might have a whirl and see how the auto parts store soldering iron tips go. Work on the expendables first as guinea pigs.


Looks like there are plenty of 'to suit' Weller replacement tip sets available on eBay for under $10 as a backup. Who knows replacement soldering tips may even be interchangeable between different brands.

Kind regards
Lionel

[p38arover]

I didn’t say anything. :)

Been there. Sometimes re-tinning takes a few attempts.

[Graeme]

Keep the temperature low when tinning. 250 deg C is about ideal which is normally well below the normal temperature on uncontrolled irons.

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Back on youTube and I have been watching a USA trade school instructional film about soldering from 1944

Accessed 22nd April 2023 from, HAND SOLDERING 1944 SOLDERING IRON TRAINING FILM 54014 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvl_KYif9zA)

Kind regards
Lionel

[Blknight.aus]

if it wont hold at all and you can get it back to clean metal, have a go at copper plating it first using a copper sulphate solution and some clever dc electrons to make it plate up.

then try to tin it.

[oldie]

Hi,
I have been doing quite a bit of soft soldering making up gal guttering and downpipes for my heritage property and was having trouble keeping my soldering irons tinned. The gas torches are quite savage if the irons are left too long.
My father was a sheetmetal worker and never had any trouble keeping his irons tinned when he used the old Primus kero blow lamp and as much as I was his offsider passing the soldering irons up to him, I never took much notice of how he tinned them.
So I went looking for some old fashioned advice and found the attached.

I have used the "Brick" method of tinning my large irons and found it very simple and it works once you get the iron back to shiny copper.

See what you think. It is about page 38 of the pdf.

Oldie

[BradC]

Chemtools Tip Tinner High Strength 20gm - Altronics (https://www.altronics.com.au/p/t1328-tip-tinner-high-strength-20gm/)

I keep one of these handy for those times I've had the iron set to "thermonuclear" and forgotten to turn it off.

[oka374]

I've always used a small file to clean the tip back to clean copper and then tinned them.
Was taught to do that as a PMG appentice a lifetime ago.

[Lionelgee]

Keep the temperature low when tinning. 250 deg C is about ideal which is normally well below the normal temperature on uncontrolled irons.

Hello Graeme,

All my soldering irons are the type that just gets plugged into the power socket. In some models there is only the on/off switch. Some do have three switch settings: on/off ... low = 80 watts ... high = 100 watts. No switch for temperature variability.

I use the soldering irons mostly outside while working on automotive wiring; not electronics at a bench. I have Series Land Rovers. Hence the need to replace previous owner's dalliances into auto electrical hodgepodge while ably assisted by rats making their nests. Also helped by Mr Lucas ... The Prince of Darkness. What was the sticker about Lucas electricals... "A gentleman does not motor around after dark". :0)

Kind regards
Lionel

[BradC]

I've always used a small file to clean the tip back to clean copper and then tinned them.
Was taught to do that as a PMG appentice a lifetime ago.

Iron tips these days are a copper core, an inter-layer (sometimes nickel from very hazy memory) and then an iron plating. The tip above the tinnable section is often chrome plated over the iron to stop solder wicking up there.

The problem with pure copper tips, or an iron tip where the plating has been destroyed revealing the copper is with time the copper dissolves in the solder leaving cavities in the tip and requires regular filing until eventually the tip is gone. A properly plated tip lasts considerably longer.

The last pure copper tips I had were for my Scope and Mini-Scope. At one point when I was doing a lot of work, the mini-scope was using a tip per fortnight. I upgraded to a temperature controlled Hakko with an iron plated tip and started changing them every 2 years.