How Do You Clean Solder Tips Properly?
The soldering iron tip is the most important part of your soldering tool kit, but is often the most neglected. Proper cleaning of the tip is essential for good soldering, and will prolong the life of the tip. Soldering iron tips are made of a copper core for good heat transfer, and plated with iron to protect the copper from oxidation. Some tips are additionally plated with nickel and chrome on the iron insert end to keep solder from flowing from the working end. Solder tips pick up all kinds of contaminants from electronic parts, as well as iron oxidation, and must be cleaned throughout the soldering process. Inspect the tip of a cold soldering iron for abrasions, rust, dents, bending or other physical damage. Physically damaged tips should be replaced with a new tip. Heat the iron to operating temperature. This will vary from iron to iron, and may take from a few seconds to several minutes. A good way to tell if the iron is up to temperature is to place solder on the tip. If the sold
