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Tinning Your Soldering Iron Tip

T

TomN

Active member
Years ago I worked for a tiny computer electronics company. By tiny I mean it was the owner, his girlfriend, my best friend Dave and me. When we weren't goofing off I did alot of soldering. From what I remember, this was the proper way to tin a soldering iron tip. You want to tin the tip so solder will stick to it. Then you can transfer the solder to your joint and hopefully it will flow nicely into the joint.

First off, while the tip is cold, you want to get it nice and clean. Use a stainless steel wire brush, or you can use fine sand paper.

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Then wrap the tip with solder.

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Now heat up the soldering iron. After a bit, the iron will get hot and the solder will melt. Then brush it off and wipe on a damp sponge. Here's an action shot of the solder melting.

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And viola! Solder will now stick to the tip!

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When solder stops sticking to the tip, just do it again.

I am no expert on soldering, so if anyone has any more helpful hints, please chime in.

Tom
 
Whenever you put a new tip on you should tin it. This will make the tip last longer and be a better conductor of heat. The only things I would do differently is to not brush the tip before tinning. Clean it with some alcohol and a cloth then wrap the solder and then let it heat up. Its the same as when you get a new cast iron frying pan, you want to season it so you coat it in oil and heat it. When the solder has melted give it a few minutes to "cook". Then remove the solder. The tip should be mice and shiny. Put the iron away to cool down and the next time you use it, it will be completely ready. After that when you use the iron to clean either run it on a damp cloth or sponge which will shock the tip and all the dross should come off or use a brush or brillo pad and swirl the tip on it to remove the dross. Tip should always be nice and bright when in use and not covered in old dross.

Excellent pics Tom. Could have used those when I was teaching soldering. Excellent sbs also
James
 
Hi James
Thanks for the additional info, I'm going on faded memories and instinct here, so any help is much appreciated. I am determined to become a decent solderer.

Tom
 
Hi

Another point to note is if your tip is plated as most modern soldering irons are you should not use any sort of abrasive on the tip, the plating is there to protect the copper core, if you damage the plating the copper core is quickly eaten away by the flux and heat, only use an abrasive if your soldering iron has an un plated copper tip.

Paul
 
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