Caring for your soldering iron

[CSXFan]

Hi all,

I just bought my first decent soldering iron (a 35 watt Weller) and I would like to keep this one in good condition. My questions are, what do I need to do before I heat it up for the first time, how should I clean the tip without damaging it, and when I'm done using it for the day, how should I prepare it for storage? How do I tin the tip and why do I need to? Any other info you can give me is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.  

[richg1998]

Make sure the locking collar for the tip is tight. Go to Radio Shack and get a stand, rosin flux, rosin flux solder and tip cleaner. I have used tip cleaner for many years. I probe the tip into the cleaner just before soldering. It helps keep the tip clean. Practice with some wire before doing any serious work in case you have never soldered before. If you have any solder right now, make sure it has rosin flux or says electrical solder. The rosin flux helps the solder to flow. Beware of hardware store solder and flux.

I have not seen the tip but I suspect it is a plated tip. Usually plated tips do not need tinning. If you think you need tinning, just use a little solder. Also, search the 'Net using Google and look for soldering iron tips. Most people do not know the 'Net is loaded with good information, though sometimes you have to wade through a lot of gar bage.

Good luck

Rich 

[CSXFan]

Thanks for the reply.

I have a stand, rosin core electrical solder, and rosin flux. Do I really need tip cleaner? I was just planning to use a damp sponge or a paper towel roll as seen in the Fast Tracks videos. The tip I'm using is the Weller ST7. I'm not sure if it's plated or not. Does anyone know? I have successfully soldered wire and track before, but never with an iron that cost over $15. Thanks. 

[jawnt]

Hi CSX (hope you don't mind my using your first name )

Usually a plated tip will have a dull silver look. Non plated will usually be copper colored. Hope this helps.

Jawnt in the wet cow pasture

[betamax]

Follow the advice of the others.

Tighten the collar, plug it in and wait a few minutes.

When the tip gets hot, melt some solder on it (known as tinning). Then clean it off, and you are ready to solder. Just tin the tip and you're ready.

Rosin will make the job go a little better, a stand to keep the iron in one place, and a tip cleaner. The kind made with brass shavings is nice. Paper towels work too, you can even use a rag made of cotton. The brass shavings are softer than the iron plating, so they will clean the tip very effectively. The idea is to get all the dross off the tip.

When you want to use the iron, clean the tip, apply a little solder to tin the tip, and you're ready to go. The process of tinning the tip facilitates the heat transfer to the joint. Just a bit will do wonders.

Since it is a Weller, you should invest in a couple of different sized tips too. The pencil tip is OK for small things like soldering on a PCB, but a bigger tip makes larger jobs easier, like soldering to rail. More thermal mass.

[ShadowNix]

I only have one tip for caring for your soldering iron.....

DONT DROP IT ON THE FLOOR.

(notice how I Italisized, Bolded and underlined to emphasis the important bits)

David B

  Yeah... I learned from experience on this one...ruined my 3/64 tip.

Brian

[howmus]

I only have one tip for caring for your soldering iron.....

DONT DROP IT ON THE FLOOR.

(notice how I Italisized, Bolded and underlined to emphasis the important bits)

David B

And if you do......  DON'T reach out and try to grab it as it falls!!!!!!!!  Ask me how I know.

[CSXFan]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I have two different tips right now. One came with the iron and looks like a flathead screwdriver, and the other is for soldering to PCB. I'm about to start building my first handlaid turnout so I'd like my iron to last a while. As for dropping it on the floor, been there, done that (although I didn't try to catch it as it fell). Thanks again.

[MRRSparky]

I have used a Weller adjustable temperature setpoint soldering iron for years and highly recommend it. 

I've used it to solder rail joiners, feeder wires to rail sides, and very small decoder wires to speakers and to PC boards. 

I regularly use a damp sponge to clean the tip, and then melt a little solder on the tip before I start using it each time. 

The tip cleaner is useful to really clean the tip when you have allowed it when it gets dirty, either through trying to solder with a "cold" tip (i.e., one that is not fully up to temperature), or when you get a little wire insulation melted on the tip.

[CNalways]

Just one small note in regards to soldering Fast Tracks hand made turnouts....Fast Tracks recomend using acid core solder. They have done tests and claim that you get a stronger joint using acid core solder. They will supply you with a small diameter solder that works great. I have made may turnouts and agree with Tim Warris who owns Fast Tracks. The only thing that is required is that the turnout be washed thoroughly in soap and water after the soldering is done. This gets rid of the acid. Hope this helps. Roy

[Anonymous]

I soldered for the first time ever today, using a Weller 40W iron.  Created a couple of powered joiners by soldering 18AWG wires to track joiners.  Worked well enough.

Now, if a picture's worth a thousand words, then a narrated video clip's got to be a gazillion.  There are a number of very helpful soldering video tutorials on YouTube.  Not so much (that I've found so far, anyway) about taking care of your iron, but rather, how to solder.

[Tilden]

Don't forget and leave it on over night...or a day or two.  That really shortens tip life.

....So I've heard, of course I'd never do anything silly like that....several times....

Tilden

 

[rustycoupler]

 the problem i have is the tip burns out, its like flat on one side and the other side doesent get hot . even when it was new i couldent get solder to stick to the tip to tin it.

[Paul3]

One thing you never, ever want to do is to file the tip.  If you do, it will ruin it so that solder won't stick to it.  If the tip gets a little bent, you can try to straighten it, just don't file it.

Paul A. Cutler III
************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
************

[ShadowNix]

Paul,

I would say this is USUALLY so, but I have filed a tip (that I had to re-form after I dropped the soldering iron).  After some serious sanding with 500 and 1000, then finally 1200 grit wet dry sandpaper, I have a perfectly fine 3/64 bit now....I almost threw it out, but it works great.  You just have to sand, sand and SAND to get it smooth!

Brian

[Anonymous]

I would have to say don't file a plated tip but I have several copper tips that I have reshaped many times to get a nice sharp point for hardwiring decoders & the smaller guage wires.  My iron also does not have a screw on tip, it slips into the iron and tightens down with a set screw. I use some heat transfer paste (like on the heatsink of your computers CPU) to help transfer the heat to the tip quicker & more uniformly.

[betamax]

Never file an iron plated tip.

Doing so will remove the iron plating, exposing the copper underneath. The process of soldering is in fact alloying two metals together. The solder will begin to erode the tip, and reduce it to nothing in no time.

That is why there is an iron plating. To enhance the life of the tip.