Problem tinning soldering iron

[Doc]

I understand that you're supposed to coat the tip of the iron with solder to
facilitate heat transferance, however I'm finding that the solder is simply
balling up and won't flow over the tip of the iron. What could be causing
this?

Thanks!

 

[Shoreline Electronics]

What brand is it?

If it's a cheap chisel tip type , you may need to scrape off the
carbon/corroded layer with a file.

--
==========================
Jeff Stielau
Shoreline Electronics Repair
344 East Main Street
Clinton,CT 06413
860-399-1861
860-664-3535 (fax)
jstielau@snet.net
========================
"If you push something hard enough it will fall over."
Fudd's First Law of Opposition - Sir Sidney Fudd


"Doc" <docsavage20@_remove_this_to_reply_hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:MK9fc.6639$l75.2532@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...

I understand that you're supposed to coat the tip of the iron with solder
to
facilitate heat transferance, however I'm finding that the solder is
simply
balling up and won't flow over the tip of the iron. What could be causing
this?

Thanks!

 

[John Popelish]

Doc wrote:

I understand that you're supposed to coat the tip of the iron with solder to
facilitate heat transferance, however I'm finding that the solder is simply
balling up and won't flow over the tip of the iron. What could be causing
this?

Thanks!

If it is an iron plated tip (check with a magnet) it may have gotten
oxidized before it was first tinned. If so, you may be able to wear
the oxide off and get the solder to wet it by rubbing the hot tip
through a ball of solder and flux on a stack of clean paper (don't use
a magazine, because all that ink will dirty the tip). I don't like to
use anything more abrasive than paper to clean iron plated tips,
because once the plating is worn through, the core of the tip
dissolves rapidly in solder.

--
John Popelish

 

[Doug Goncz]

Corrosion.

Clean the tip as the others recommend, or get a nice fresh one.

I recommend releasing and retightening the tip before plugging the iron in for
each and every job. Silicone oil filled with boron nitride (heat sink grease)
applied to the screw threads facilitates heat transfer, but a tight joint does
even better. Left over many cycles, a tight joint will sieze, and then you
can't replace the tip.

The unplated copper tip (not iron coated) can be filed or sanded to clean it,
and if you want to change the point from cone to chisel or vice versa, you can
do that with a file as well.

Rosin flux protects clean copper. It will not dissolve copper oxide from a
copper tip. To do that, rubbing the tip on a block of ammonium chloride, a
tinning block, will chemically and mechanically clean it. Then it must be
tinned immediately.

A tinned tip transfers heat around ten times better than a corroded tip,
reducing heat damage to adjacent components, or the very component you are
working on.

Ok, I just feel wordy today.


Yours,

Doug Goncz ( ftp://users.aol.com/DGoncz/ )

My physics project at NVCC:
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=dgoncz&scoring=d plus
"bicycle", "fluorescent", "inverter", "flywheel", "ultracapacitor", etc.
in the search box

 

[Tim Kettring]

I just use fine steel wool ( or wash the soap out of a piece of sos pad ) to
clean it cold , and coat it with plumbers paste flux and plug it in and get
the solder to flow as soon as it is hot enough to melt it

You can wipe it on a damp cellulose sponge to clean it while it is hot .

 

[DarkMatter]

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 12:01:48 GMT, "Doc"
<docsavage20@_remove_this_to_reply_hotmail.com> Gave us:

I understand that you're supposed to coat the tip of the iron with solder to
facilitate heat transferance, however I'm finding that the solder is simply
balling up and won't flow over the tip of the iron. What could be causing
this?

Thanks!

The tip gets crusted with alloys that the flux cannot undermine.

You need what is referred to as a "tinning block" It is a blocl\k of
sal ammonium that blows the surface attachments off of a hot tip
with a little caustic action. Best tip cleaner going, and only a
couple bucks!

 

[Don Young]

Something else that could be a problem might be that you are letting the tip
get too hot before tinning it. Even a clean tip oxidizes pretty fast when
hot, so try tinning it just as it reaches solder melting temperature.
Don Young
"Doc" <docsavage20@_remove_this_to_reply_hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:MK9fc.6639$l75.2532@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...

I understand that you're supposed to coat the tip of the iron with solder
to
facilitate heat transferance, however I'm finding that the solder is
simply
balling up and won't flow over the tip of the iron. What could be causing
this?

Thanks!

 

[Spencer]

These tinning blocks work very well.

 

[Tim Auton]

"Doc" <docsavage20@_remove_this_to_reply_hotmail.com> wrote:

I understand that you're supposed to coat the tip of the iron with solder to
facilitate heat transferance, however I'm finding that the solder is simply
balling up and won't flow over the tip of the iron. What could be causing
this?

Have you got any flux, other than that in your solder? Some flux paste
on the tip ought to help and makes other soldering jobs much easier
too. Once the solder is balled up it's never going to stick so get rid
of it.


Tim
--
Love is a travelator.

 

[tom_mc_h]

"Spencer" <spence@downtown.co.nz> wrote in message news:<ONrfc.15675$d%6.280924@news.xtra.co.nz>...

These tinning blocks work very well.

I use only those Weller temperature controlled irons, but when they
wont take a tinning I just hold the tip in a tub of that plumbers
paste flux. It boils and hisses but really cleans it. Sometimes it
needs a little scraping with a screwdriver or knife to get off the
crusty stuff, and sometimes it helps to tin a little bit or even put a
ball of solder on the tip before dunking. What ever solder is on the
tip will spread around the tip while in the paste.
-tom

 

[Rich Grise]

"tom_mc_h" <tom_mc_h@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:f364525f.0404150832.e0b5a3b@posting.google.com...

"Spencer" <spence@downtown.co.nz> wrote in message
news:<ONrfc.15675$d%6.280924@news.xtra.co.nz>...
These tinning blocks work very well.

I use only those Weller temperature controlled irons, but when they
wont take a tinning I just hold the tip in a tub of that plumbers
paste flux. It boils and hisses but really cleans it. Sometimes it
needs a little scraping with a screwdriver or knife to get off the
crusty stuff, and sometimes it helps to tin a little bit or even put a
ball of solder on the tip before dunking. What ever solder is on the
tip will spread around the tip while in the paste.
-tom

I've got a little tub of pretty much the same stuff, except it's
got little solder particles distributed throughout it. It calls itself
"Tip Tinner & Cleaner" - RS 64-020.

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Bill Vajk]

DarkMatter wrote:

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 12:01:48 GMT, "Doc"
docsavage20@_remove_this_to_reply_hotmail.com> Gave us:

I understand that you're supposed to coat the tip of the iron with solder to
facilitate heat transferance, however I'm finding that the solder is simply
balling up and won't flow over the tip of the iron. What could be causing
this?

Thanks!

The tip gets crusted with alloys that the flux cannot undermine.
You need what is referred to as a "tinning block" It is a blocl\k of
sal ammonium that blows the surface attachments off of a hot tip
with a little caustic action. Best tip cleaner going, and only a
couple bucks!

Sal ammoniac, that is.


see also:

http://www.inlandcraft.com/Uguides/tipcare.htm

 

[DarkMatter]

On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 01:26:47 GMT, "Rich Grise" <null@example.net> Gave
us:

I've got a little tub of pretty much the same stuff, except it's
got little solder particles distributed throughout it. It calls itself
"Tip Tinner & Cleaner" - RS 64-020.

Those are nice, but the Kester Sal Ammonium block is unmatched.

Add solder yourself.

 

[Louis Bybee]

"DarkMatter" <DarkMatter@thebarattheendoftheuniverse.org> wrote in message
news:g4iv705qqebm50u9q8g61ooc68ngqj2nhv@4ax.com...

On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 01:26:47 GMT, "Rich Grise" <null@example.net> Gave
us:


I've got a little tub of pretty much the same stuff, except it's
got little solder particles distributed throughout it. It calls itself
"Tip Tinner & Cleaner" - RS 64-020.

Those are nice, but the Kester Sal Ammonium block is unmatched.

Add solder yourself.

I was always instructed that most soldering/cleaning aids other than Rosin
were to be avoided where electronic components were being assembled. The
conjecture was that even small amounts of residue left on the tip would
pollute solder joints for some time. One high tech electronic vendor I
occasionally work with uses a product for tinning their production line
soldering irons made by Plato Products. It's Plato TT-95 Tip-Tin. It's
listed as a tip Tinner/cleaner. It seems to work effectively, and they say
it's approved for electronic use.

Years ago I took a mandatory soldering class that allowed working in a
facility that produced subcomponents for a concern with a government
contract with NASA I believe. Many of the previously learned soldering
skills were counter to what was previously taught. They also were death
against using acids and other similar compounds for cleaning, or any other
use around electronic component assembly.

The sheet metal craftsmen I've encountered use Sal-ammoniac to Tin their
large Irons used for soldering Galvanized Sheet Metal together. I haven't
seen any reputable electronic institutions recommending it for use with
electronic circuits. It would interest me however, to learn if it is in fact
appropriate for that type of use.

Louis--
*********************************************
Remove the two fish in address to respond

 

[DarkMatter]

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 05:21:19 GMT, "Louis Bybee"
<louistroutbybee@comcasttrout.net> Gave us:

"DarkMatter" <DarkMatter@thebarattheendoftheuniverse.org> wrote in message
news:g4iv705qqebm50u9q8g61ooc68ngqj2nhv@4ax.com...
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 01:26:47 GMT, "Rich Grise" <null@example.net> Gave
us:


I've got a little tub of pretty much the same stuff, except it's
got little solder particles distributed throughout it. It calls itself
"Tip Tinner & Cleaner" - RS 64-020.

Those are nice, but the Kester Sal Ammonium block is unmatched.

Add solder yourself.

I was always instructed that most soldering/cleaning aids other than Rosin
were to be avoided where electronic components were being assembled.

You are about 15 years behind. Modern fluxes are no clean and water
soluble types, and are not rosin based. RMA fluxes present cleaning
issues which have much higher attached costs than does aqueous or no
clean methods. Since the advent of COTS, it is also accepted in mil
use.

As far as "cleaning aids" goes, tip cleaners are made by the people
that make products for soldering in the electronics industry.

Once a tip is cleaned (freed of attached oxides) a simple wipe makes
it bare tinned metal. No "danger" whatsoever of contaminating a
solder joint. The wet sponge cleans the tip down to bare tinned metal.

The
conjecture was that even small amounts of residue left on the tip would
pollute solder joints for some time.

And conjecture it was. Fact it was not. The worst danger of
"contamination" in solder alloys, and subsequent solder joints in
electronic assemblies is metallic contaminants alloying into the
solder. Tin and lead have good oxidation properties. Too much copper
in solder, for instance, presents a greater oxidation issue, and a
weaker solder joint.

One high tech electronic vendor I
occasionally work with uses a product for tinning their production line
soldering irons made by Plato Products. It's Plato TT-95 Tip-Tin. It's
listed as a tip Tinner/cleaner. It seems to work effectively, and they say
it's approved for electronic use.

The tinning block I mentioned is also "approved". Also, there are
several different groups to appease or be "approved" by. There is a
world of difference between a NASA spec and the IEC spec. for
instance.

Years ago I took a mandatory soldering class that allowed working in a
facility that produced subcomponents for a concern with a government
contract with NASA I believe.

If it was NASA training, you would not have forgotten it.

Many of the previously learned soldering
skills were counter to what was previously taught. They also were death
against using acids and other similar compounds for cleaning, or any other
use around electronic component assembly.

The sheet metal craftsmen I've encountered use Sal-ammoniac to Tin their
large Irons used for soldering Galvanized Sheet Metal together. I haven't
seen any reputable electronic institutions recommending it for use with
electronic circuits.

You seem to be having a problem with a perceived contaminant... that
is not one.

It would interest me however, to learn if it is in fact
appropriate for that type of use.

Kester makes it (the product to which I refer). It IS for use in the
electronics industry.