1. Why does my soldering iron tip wear out faster?
Soldering iron tips that wear out quickly are called cheap soldering iron tips, because cheap soldering iron tips are generally made of copper with a thin layer of tin solder on it, which looks like a very good soldering iron tip for you, but when you use it for soldering, it works so badly because at high temperatures the copper dissolves in hot solder, that is, the tip of the soldering iron keeps dissolving, as long as it's hot.
More durable tips are also made of copper (because copper has better heat transfer), but the manufacturing process is nickel-plated copper first, and then iron-plated. This prevents the copper from dissolving in hot solder. In conclusion, it’s better for us to buy a better soldering iron tip, which can help us complete the work effectively .
2. Why does my soldering iron tip turn black?
There are two reasons why the tip of a soldering iron will turn black:
A. It may be the temperature is too hot for a long time during its soldering, which makes the metal layer oxidized and blackened. This tends to happen with relatively cheap mains powered soldering irons (without a temperature controller, you just plug the iron's power supply directly into the power supply) and the black oxide coating prevents the tip from making adequate contact with the solder, resulting in insufficient soldering, inability to weld and other reasons which will have a great impact on your work.
B. Another possibility is that the surface of the soldering iron tip is dirty, which is caused by the high temperature of soldering. Old solder oxides and flux residues have been burned.
Either way, the solder won't melt because there is a coating on the tip of the soldering iron that can resist the solder.
The solutions to solving the blackened soldering iron tips:
A. You can clean it with a cleaning sponge, wipe the surface of the soldering iron tip, and choose a flux with low activity.
B. When the soldering iron is not powered, use a file to grind off the black oxidized part, and then re-dip the rosin and tin on it after powering on.
3. What type of soldering iron tip should be used for soldering electronic components?
Different types of soldering iron tips have different thermal capacities, the larger the soldering iron tip, the greater its thermal capacity. The principle of choosing a soldering iron tip is that the soldering iron tip will not affect the adjacent components during soldering. If the material you are soldering is a relatively dense circuit board, when you choose a soldering iron tip, you should choose a relatively small type of the soldering iron tip, so that the desired effect can be achieved during soldering. Then it is to choose the size that can be fully in contact the soldering point, and only in this way can it be handy when soldering. We must choose the right soldering iron tip with a scientific attitude, so that we can achieve twice the result with half the effort when soldering.
4. How to prevent the soldering iron tip from oxidizing?
A. When the soldering work is over, clean the surface of the soldering iron head with a wet sponge, and then coat the surface of the soldering iron head with a thin layer of tin, which can effectively prevent the oxidation of the soldering iron head and facilitate the next use.
B. Try soldering with a less active flux, which is why the vast majority of first-time users of soldering irons deal with oxidation more than older users. At first, you may want to use a soldering iron at high heat so you can complete the soldering process faster, but this will only damage the iron tip in a short period of time.
5. What are the reasons that affect the life of the soldering iron tip?
The life of the soldering iron tip is mainly measured by the number of solder joints, and the length of its life is determined according to the coating thickness of the soldering iron tip. The thicker the coating, the longer the life of the tip but the thicker the coating, the lower its thermal conductivity. At the same temperature, the life of a thick soldering iron tip is shorter than that of a thin soldering iron tip, because the soldering iron tip will inevitably wear the surface of the soldering iron tip,when it is working. The soldering iron should not be used for a long time and the iron core inside is easy to oxidize and shorten the life. The iron tip will oxidize at high temperature for a long time, and the oxidation will shorten.
6. How to use the new soldering iron tip?
The new soldering iron tip cannot be used directly. Firstly, using a wet iron sponge (not dripping) to wipe the tin on the sponge repeatedly until the soldering iron head regains its metallic luster. Then it needs to be heated for about ten minutes with suitable temperature. If it is too high, wait for the temperature to be within the usable range and then coat a thin layer of tin on the tip of the soldering iron, and it can be used after tinning.
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