When you're done soldering, cover the soldering iron tip in solder, and store it covered in solder. This prevents it from oxidizing when you're not using it
this post was submitted on 20 May 2024
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I solder for work and I cover my tip every time I put it down. Never ever needed to use tip tinner. Also never had to replace a tip either.
See? I'm not lazy, I'm careful!
Oh, is this why my old soldering iron had the tip explode?
Good to know.
Wow, that's a thing that can happen!?
When I say explode, I mean the tip shot bits in a 1-2 inch radius after I put pressure on a thick copper wire. It nearly hit my non-dominant hand which was holding the circuit board on the floor tile I used to isolate my soldering shit from the ~~now singed~~ table
This kind of sounds like whatever was on the tip had oxidized severely over the intervening 40 years. So when you applied heat it couldn't conduct very well, so it got hotter and hotter until it had an uncontrolled thermal expansion. This just comes down to especially with older equipment, making sure the device is clean, and if you apply heat be careful especially on the first startup.
One tip that isn't mentioned is DITCH THE CONICAL TIP, USE A CHISEL TIP.
Conical tips have terrible thermal contact, as they have both poor surface area in contact. Also the tip is further from the heating element, preventing it from heating faster.
Additionally that tiny point doesn't store any heat, it cools down significantly as soon as it touches anything. A broad chisel tip stores more heat and is far more appropriate for through hole joints like this.
Step 2 has never been very clear to me and this diagram doesn't seem to explain it either.
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Do you touch the tip of the solder to the iron, the pin, or the pad?
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Do you push the tip of the solder down into the pad, draw it up along the pin, or pull it away as it melts?
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Why does the solder sometimes flow onto the iron instead of staying on the pad?