Sodering 101

heepie

I was the other day doing some sodering pretty much for first time on a serious matter. I'm on the process between my daughters and I to make mousey the junkbot.

But after a couple of hours of sodering I started to encounter a problem. The soder wouldn't stick to the sodering iron any more. At the start you can feel the soder wanting to sitck to the tip of the sodering iron but after those 2 hours the oposite started to occur. It seamed more like it was repelling it rather and attracting the soder.

So, I decided it was time for a break and let the sodering iron cool down and after some research I tried cleaning the tip with some fine sand paper, etc. but my sodering iron doesn't seem to work as good as it did at the start.

What am I doing wrong???

Inspector Gadget

As far as I've been told, soldering iron tips are coated or treated somehow, and sanding the tips is absolutely the last thing you should do as you'll destroy this coating.

Tips do wear out; the flux - that is, the material in the solder that cleans the area being soldered as the solder is applied - burns the tip (think acid) as well as generating nasty fumes. However, if if you keep cleaning the tip after each use (keep your sponge wet, buy a tip cleaner if you feel you need it) it should last a long time.

The most likely mistake you can make that leads to destroyed tips - apart from not cleaning the tip - is not letting the iron get hot enough before you try to solder something. When this happens, people tend to try to push the iron harder to make the thing melt, and that also damages the tip as it can punch tiny holes in it which grow when exposed to the flux.

My suggestion is to buy an iron from a known manufacturer (the most common one on the market for hobbyists is Antex - the ones with the yellow handles) that you can easily get replacement tips for. Then get a small pencil tip (that is, one that tapers to a point) if your iron doesn't already have one. The tips with flat surfaces are harder to use and less effective, IMHO. I'd also go for something that's rated at at least 30 watts so that you're not waiting for the rest of your life for it to heat, and buy a matching stand and sponge.

Maybe a soldering workshop might be an idea once the exams and stuff are over? We have a few people around the labs who are more than capable of running one?

Tommyadams

heepie wrote: »

I was the other day doing some sodering pretty much for first time on a serious matter. I'm on the process between my daughters and I to make mousey the junkbot.

But after a couple of hours of sodering I started to encounter a problem. The soder wouldn't stick to the sodering iron any more. At the start you can feel the soder wanting to sitck to the tip of the sodering iron but after those 2 hours the oposite started to occur. It seamed more like it was repelling it rather and attracting the soder.

So, I decided it was time for a break and let the sodering iron cool down and after some research I tried cleaning the tip with some fine sand paper, etc. but my sodering iron doesn't seem to work as good as it did at the start.

What am I doing wrong???

Your saying 'sodering' for a start.

Inspector Gadget

Tommyadams wrote: »

Your saying 'sodering' for a start.

Most of the online tutorials are written by Americans. They (for the most part, it appears, anyway) don't seem to pronounce the "l" in "soldering", so it's not a huge surprise that people think it's not there.

heepie

Sorry for my spelling miskate...

On the workshop from one of the guys from TOG last summer I've learned a few thing. Like always apply the solder to the tip even if the let it rest for a little while, using the sponge, waiting for the soldering iron to get hot enough as it usually the solder just melt in touch with the soldering iron.

I thought I was doing all the right steps but obviously I was missing something. I'll try to be a bit more careful next time.

What would be you tip on making the soldering tip on an good condition after what happened to mine?

Inspector Gadget

heepie wrote: »

Sorry for my spelling miskate...

On the workshop from one of the guys from TOG last summer I've learned a few thing. Like always apply the solder to the tip even if the let it rest for a little while, using the sponge, waiting for the soldering iron to get hot enough as it usually the solder just melt in touch with the soldering iron.

I thought I was doing all the right steps but obviously I was missing something. I'll try to be a bit more careful next time.

What would be you tip on making the soldering tip on an good condition after what happened to mine?

As I said, basically keep cleaning the tip every time you use it using the sponge. If you can rise to buying a tip cleaner, that might help. Also give the iron plenty time to heat up before you start using it.

heepie

Ok, Thank you