How To Clean Your Soldering Iron Tip

And if you are using a shared soldering iron at your school or workplace where dirty irons are commonplace it helps to know how to deal with the material buildup on the tip.

How to clean your soldering iron tip. When you are done for the day simply wipe clean as the iron is cooling and it will be ready to go the next time. When pre-cleaning is necessary for plated tips they should be cleaned with a mildly abrasive emery cloth and may require an acid flux to remove the oxides before tinning or re-tinning. Wipe OFF the solder on the Cleaning Sponge or Copper Wool.

After every cycle and before you start to solder always clean your tip. If all else fails Soldering Iron tips do not last forever. A nice alternative to using a heat gun.

Melt some good quality of solder wire on the Tip. This step will coat the iron in a mixture of flux and solder. Maintaining the habit of keeping your soldering iron tip clean before during and after use will extend the life of the soldering tip.

The best solder for oxidation prevention is one with a high amount of flux core. This should lead to a clean shiny tip ready for use. A polyurethane foam bar with embedded abrasives which is used to polish the working end of the tip to remove surface oxides.

With the iron tip cold use a polishing bar. The iron should NEVER be in the stand without a tinned tip Ie. Once clean and shiny perform tinning and now your tool is ready to use.

This is done by first ensuring the tip is clean and free of surface oxides. Clean and then tin your tip each time you pick the iron up or before you put it down. Insert the Tip in Good Quality Tip Tinner.