Electronics > Beginners
Should I be worried about tip lifetime when buying my first soldering station?
Psi:
--- Quote from: Reiska on May 07, 2019, 07:41:15 am ---Should I be worried about tip lifetime when buying my first soldering station?
--- End quote ---
Nope, you should worry about tip lifetime when buying tips.
If the iron comes with a tip that works well then great.
If not then buy a known good tip.
But stay away from 900M style tips.
There's no need to buy anything that uses them any more. They are old technology.
Get the newer Element-within-Tip technology.
Psi:
--- Quote from: OwO on May 08, 2019, 07:44:09 am ---Are there unplated tips? I have been using a cheap temperature controlled iron and the tip it came with for 5 years. I've grinded one side of the tip to add a "flat" face, and the newly exposed face adheres to solder just as well, so I think this tip has no plating at all.
--- End quote ---
Very old irons had unplated tips but no one uses them any more afaik.
A newly grinded face will adhere solder good but it will oxidase and char up very quickly.
You will find you have to keep re-grinding it every time you use it.
Shock:
--- Quote from: OwO on May 08, 2019, 07:44:09 am ---Are there unplated tips? I have been using a cheap temperature controlled iron and the tip it came with for 5 years. I've grinded one side of the tip to add a "flat" face, and the newly exposed face adheres to solder just as well, so I think this tip has no plating at all.
--- End quote ---
Yeah you can use plain copper tips if you like. Two issues that may or may not be a factor is there is no nickel or chrome to prevent solder creeping up the tip and the copper tip may wear out faster than an iron plated tip. There has been irons in the past that just have a chunk of copper rod screwed in, not exactly going to be used for SMD work but enough to solder some though hole components and wires together.
If the tip still solders well I'd keep on using it.
stj:
pure copper tips are still made for *very* fine work, but regular fluxes will absolutely destroy them in days!
OwO:
Well it's been a year since I've grinded the tip and I've not noticed any oxidization issues yet. You can get it to oxidize by cleaning the tip (with wet paper) and letting it sit for a few minutes. When that happens you can clear the oxidization by turning temperature up to 350C, applying a drop of solder (with flux), and waiting about a minute. After that it sticks to solder like a new tip.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version