How To Clean Soldering Iron Tips

Wipe the iron on a damp sponge to remove the excess.

How to clean soldering iron tips. Leave it there until the paste melts around the tip. Use a protective layer of solder The easiest way to prevent oxidation of a solder tip is to protect it with a layer of solder. How to Clean Soldering Iron Tip.

Each time you clean the soldering iron and put it away apply a fresh solder to the tip. Wire wool has the advantage of not cooling down the soldering iron too. Tinning in between sessions and after soldering.

Wipe the iron on a damp sponge to remove the excess. Either they become too dry or they are so wet that the fast cooling might destroy the first layer of the solder iron. Dip the tip into the tinner making sure that the entire oxidized surface is in contact with the re-tinning product.

Apart from removing the flux off it is essential to clean off surplus solder. 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. You can also use stainless steel pot scrubber as long as it is dry to prevent transmitting the heat.

This step will coat the iron in a mixture of flux and solder. This step will coat the iron in a mixture of flux and solder. Most of the time this works.

Cover the tip with solder during idle time. The flux in tip cleaner removes the oxidation and build up from the soldering iron tip and then the solder re-tins the tip ready for use. The best tip tinner is your solder--tips should always be coated with a small amount of solder.