How Do You Clean Weller Soldering Tips?
Soldering tips have to be kept clean not just of old solder and flux build up, but of oxidization as well. The base metal of all soldering tips is copper, and copper exposed to air will oxidize. This is why re-tinning a tip is a necessary part of cleaning and caring for it. Re-tinning puts a protective coating on the copper that prevents oxidation. Weller tips are made in such a way that they need to be cleaned and tinned with Weller products only to keep them in good working order. The older technique of cleaning a soldering tip with a wet sponge will harm a Weller tip. Hold the Weller polishing bar in one hand and the soldering iron with the Weller tip in the other. The soldering tip can be hot or cold but you should clean and re-tin your tip as soon as you are done using it to prevent oxidization. Scrub the polishing bar over the tip. Clean off any old solder or flux build up and any dark areas that indicate oxidization has begun. You want the tip to be the warm gold color of clean
