Soldering Iron Tips Wear Out
When soldering put the iron tip on one side of the metal and touch the solder to the other side of the metal.
Soldering iron tips wear out. Soldering iron tips wear out over time and unfortunately if your tool fails to transfer heat to the connection point effectively then it must be deemed unreliable and ultimately expendable. It is great for drag soldering and fixing solder bridges. For starters choose high-quality solder.
Its inevitable for soldering tips to wear out over time and need replacing. NEVER file a soldering tip. When you use tips on a soldering iron most of them have been pre-tinned by the manufacturer.
Hold the solder to the tip while its heating up to make sure you tin the tip before it has a chance to turn black. First theres the one commonly known as a b-series tip. Once the plating gets even a pin hole in it the molten tin will eat out the copper core of the tip.
A hollow forming in the end of the tip cleaning and re-tinning has no effect or needs frequent repeating. As any novice handyman would agree improper tip maintenance is the leading cause of soldering iron complications. Some of these factors include.
The iron tip will become black after some pads have been soldered. Soldering Iron tips do not last forever. While applying more iron may help prevent wear-related failure it would not help prevent dewetting or cracking the tip.
If you need to desolder something or have a glob of solder using a desoldering suction tool couple bucks from eBay or AliExpress to suck up the liquid solder instead of using your iron to pick it. Common signs that the tip needs replacing are. The oxidation process occurs when metal is left in an oxygen-rich atmosphere.