Soldering Iron Tips Wear Out
Oxidation is one of the major culprits of wear out in soldering iron tip.
Soldering iron tips wear out. Iron like any material has its strong and weak points. Once the plating gets even a pin hole in it the molten tin will eat out the copper core of the tip. This process is used for joining two or more objects together by melting a non-ferrous metal into the joint.
Corrosion from the tin content in the solder as it reacts with iron which is the plating that all tips use. Ive got both JBC and metcal and use the Metcal mostly because tips are a lot cheaper so i can afford to have a lot of different tips. Filing off the black really isnt the best thing to do--It leaves microscopic holes and fissures in the tip which A Reduces the effective surface area and B promotes burning inside the fissures where the tin doesnt go.
Tips can wear out too - I had an old Radio Shack soldering iron and used it for years and even took a file to the tip to abrade off the bad and carbonized surface but it was very old and worn out. Touch the solder to the tip of the iron and make sure the solder flows evenly around the tip. When you use tips on a soldering iron most of them have been pre-tinned by the manufacturer.
These are leftovers of burnt colophonium and unused soldering tin. Protecting your solder tips can start as early as from the beginning of a solder tips lifetime. Soldering iron tip manufacturers have.
Soldering Iron tips do not last forever. One of the best ways to do that is by tinning the tip. If you clean off the rust and spot a hole in the iron coating recognizable by the copper color showing through from the inside or if any part of the tip appears hollowed out its done.
This conical-shaped tip is the one that more new users to soldering are likely to imagine because it is widely used and conventional in its shape. All tips eventually wear out due to heat and normal use. 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.