Unwettable soldering iron tip - Metcal

[twospoons]

I have a brand new, fresh out of the box, Metcal soldering iron tip that refuses to wet at all, no matter what I try.
Fine lead solder : nope
Thick lead solder : nope
rework flux : nope
tip tinner/cleaner : nope
Acid flux (ZnCl) : nope
All of the above with repeated cleaning in the brass scrubber that comes with the iron : nope

 

My workmate got the same tip type in the same order (from Digikey) and his one works just fine. 
This is the first time I've ever had a soldering iron tip behave like this.

Any ideas?

[soldar]

Whenever a tip gets dirty or won't wet for any reason it seems to take a while. I just see if by using flux and fine solder I can get a tiny spot to wet and then from there it gets bigger with use until the entire tip is wetted. It's annoying but it works and I have learned to live with it.

[SiliconWizard]

Maybe you should take it to dinner first.

[TopQuark]

What is the exact part number of the tip?

The Metcal tip temperature is fixed, and the tip part number denotes the temperature it operates at. Could it be you got a tip that does not operate at the correct temperature?

Maybe take a couple of pictures of the tip to let us see what's going on.

[twospoons]

Its a SFV-CNL04. 
It melts solder quite happily, it just wont wet. Solder simply balls up without sticking to the tip.
I'm thinking this tip somehow missed a process during manufacture - as  I said previously, a workmate got the exact same tip and it works just fine - we ordered a bunch of tips for the company. Mine is the only one that fails to wet.

Might try acid etch or electroplating a bit of copper on to it. Nothing to lose at this stage - a non-wetting tip is completely useless.

[Halcyon]

Can you just get a replacement? If it doesn't do what it's supposed to, sounds like a warranty job to me.

[EPAIII]

Well, that sure puts Metcal on my don't buy list. Thanks for the heads up.

Have you tried a brass brush. That usually works for me.

Or just return the tip(s) and demand your money back.

[jonpaul]

As desinger of Metcal SP-200 in 1990s, I can say I have NEVER had any issues with GENUINE Metcal tips or irons, all tips tin immediately and last forever.

possible:

1/ Fake chinese cloe of Metcal? Check sites you bought from (dierct Metcal? Disty? Ebay? China?) vs Metcal for appearance and packaging.

2/ Old stock, exposed to corrosive atmosphere, eg sulfur pollutied air for a long time?

3/ Check tip temperature, shod be exact +/- 5 deg F with tip temp tester.

Bon chance,

Jon

[soldar]

This article applies: how-to-remove-oxidation-from-your-solder-tips

https://www.metcal.com/solder-tips/how-to-remove-oxidation-from-your-solder-tips/

[armandine2]

Its a SFV-CNL04. 
It melts solder quite happily, it just wont wet. Solder simply balls up without sticking to the tip.
I'm thinking this tip somehow missed a process during manufacture - as  I said previously, a workmate got the exact same tip and it works just fine - we ordered a bunch of tips for the company. Mine is the only one that fails to wet.

Might try acid etch or electroplating a bit of copper on to it. Nothing to lose at this stage - a non-wetting tip is completely useless.

... the tip is conical  - and are not so easy to wet, in my experience.

[thm_w]

As desinger of Metcal SP-200 in 1990s, I can say I have NEVER had any issues with GENUINE Metcal tips or irons, all tips tin immediately and last forever.

possible:

1/ Fake chinese cloe of Metcal? Check sites you bought from (dierct Metcal? Disty? Ebay? China?) vs Metcal for appearance and packaging.

Its digikey, as explained in the OP, it will be a genuine tip.

Can you just get a replacement? If it doesn't do what it's supposed to, sounds like a warranty job to me.

Exactly, return it to digikey or metcal and move on.
Its a $12 tip, not worth this much time screwing around with.

[twospoons]

Well, I fixed it.  Vigorous scrubbing with steel wool then a very light copper electroplate seems to have done the trick. Plating bath was one designed for brush plating - a mix of ammonium sulfate, tri-sodium phosphate and oxalic acid IIRC.

Well, that sure puts Metcal on my don't buy list. Thanks for the heads up.

Don't be silly. This is the first Metcal tip I've ever had an issue with, and I've been using them for decades for good reason. Of all the irons I've tried over the years Metcal has definitely come out on top.

[thm_w]

The copper will dissolve and it might stop working again, assuming whatever material underneath is non-wetting.
Still without photo, don't know what the surface was under. Or if it was just some kind of corrosion on the iron plate. In that case 1000 grit sandpaper would have fixed it.

If its bare copper, nickel plating works quite well on its own.

[SiliconWizard]

If the tip is certifiably genuine, then that's very odd. Could it have come with some protective coating rather than excess oxidation? Although i've never seen that with Metcal.

That said, I've personally never been a huge fan of Metcal. The stations are expensive, the tips are expensive, they do work quite well arguably, but I tend to prefer being able to adjust (and monitor) the temperature.
One area where these shine is production, where always using exactly the same temperature is just a matter of providing the right tips to operators and doesn't rely on them setting temps correctly (and I've seen many cases, over years, of operators setting temperatures consistently way over the ones specified in procedures, usually with the rationale, when you asked them, that they believed it made soldering easier.) Just my 2 cents.

[twospoons]

I think I was just unlucky, and got the one tip that fell off the production line and got put back at the wrong place, missing a production step.
I fully expect the copper plating to dissolve, I only put on a flash, just hoping that once wetted it will stay wetted.

And yes, I could have just tossed it and bought another - but this is much more fun.
I tried contacting Metcal and got nothing but silence.

[thm_w]

I tried contacting Metcal and got nothing but silence.

Digikey does take returns, their customer service is very good.
Metcal has total trash tier support and marketing considering how good their product is.

[richnormand]

Have you tried a "tip activator" like the one from Weller and others.
Available on Mouser or Digikey I think.
I had very good success with it on several brands of tips.
If you do be careful as it is pretty aggressive. It is also lead free.

[thm_w]

Have you tried a "tip activator" like the one from Weller and others.
Available on Mouser or Digikey I think.
I had very good success with it on several brands of tips.
If you do be careful as it is pretty aggressive. It is also lead free.

Read the OP, they tried that already...

[richnormand]

I did not think that a "tip tinner/cleaner" was the same as the activator product since you are not supposed to use it often on the same tip as it is too aggressive.
But you are right and they might be the same. OP's best bet might be to return it then.
Cheers.