How To Clean And Tin A Soldering Iron Tip

The best tip tinner is your solder--tips should always be coated with a small amount of solder.

How to clean and tin a soldering iron tip. That way the solder on the surface oxidizes rather than the tip itself. The flux is oftentimes stronger more activated to help remove oxides. This sponge is used to clean solder off the tip of the soldering iron.

You also can clean your soldering iron tip with a sponge while using it to keep it clean. It warm up and then melting solder on it. If all else fails Soldering Iron tips do not last forever.

Cleaning the solder irons tip while it is in use will result in better soldering work. Soak the sponge using the water squeeze it out a little then use it to clean the tip of the soldering iron. Plug in the iron and turn it on.

Using water soak the sponge that comes with the iron and squeeze it out a little. Just clean old solder while the iron is hot or file it cold if too dirty. However it has a larger surface area at the tip making it easy to transfer more heat from the iron to the electrical component.

Clean and then tin your tip each time you pick the iron up or before you put it down. This step will coat the iron in a mixture of flux and solder. A solder pot may also be used to tin or re-tin your soldering iron tip.

This should lead to a clean shiny tip ready for use. If your soldering tip becomes detinned oxidized it can be restored in a number of ways. Wipe the iron on a damp sponge to remove the excess.