Old 06-01-2011, 11:45 PM   #1
pixeltarian
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Default soldering tip...

Copper Scrubbers work really really REALLLLY well for cleaning your soldering iron tip. As I suspected - they work just as good as an actual wire sponge. though they're only like 2-3 bucks cheaper than a real wire sponge... the notable thing is that they're easy to get at any supermarket.

another reason I want to share this is because if you haven't used a wire sponge for cleaning your tip... you are going to wonder how you ever soldered without one. I'm used to fiddling around with flux, soldering paste, and sandpaper to get the tip nice and clean. Now I can plunge the tip into the copper wire twice and and it's clean as a whistle... I'm quite impressed and crazy happy about it.

for comparison:

real official 'wire sponge' soldering iron tip cleaner:


copper scrubber cleaning product:
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Old 06-02-2011, 05:17 AM   #2
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Wet paper towel does the trick pretty well.
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Old 06-02-2011, 05:25 AM   #3
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Quote:
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Wet paper towel does the trick pretty well.
not for me. I must have a very gunk-prone soldering tip or something.
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Old 06-02-2011, 02:12 PM   #4
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I've always just used a wet paper towel, but I'll give this a shot next time I do any soldering. I'm not a professional, so maybe I just don't really know.
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Old 06-02-2011, 02:22 PM   #5
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what I did to make it a bit more snug is shoved it inside the middle of a roll of electrical tape. I really am interested in seeing what someone else thinks cause to me it's mind blowingly effective, but maybe wet paper towel is just as good.
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Old 06-02-2011, 02:36 PM   #6
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I've always used a hunk of damp sponge (like the kind for cleaning dishes), and it works well. I'm curious as to whether one of those wire/copper things is any better. Damp paper towels aren't so great, imo. I've used them in a pinch, but I always have to carefully wipe away any lint that sticks to the tip, and the tip doesn't get as clean as it does with a damp sponge.
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Old 06-03-2011, 10:05 AM   #7
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Nice tip pixeltarian! I usually use a damp sponge also, with slits cut into it to help catch the gunk. Not wet solutions like the copper, etc. are better for the tip in the long run but the sponge solution has suited me for 25+ years. I may try this though!

Here's my "tip" (pun intended). Just remember, don't clean off the tip before you turn off the iron. The solder that hardens on the tip protects it from oxidation and such. Just wipe it clean next time you turn the iron on.....
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Old 06-05-2011, 03:07 PM   #8
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Default Using wire cleaner

I got one of those wire tip cleaners a couple of projects ago, and I like it a lot better than the sponge. Seems to clean it without wiping off the solder coating on the tip. but I could easily still use a sponge it that is all I had. I think the water on the sponge might cool the tip down a bit, too.

Yea, and leave some solder on the tip, like Shemp says. I clean it relly good and then re-tin the tip with fresh solder before putting it away. Seems the keep the tip a lot cleaner longer.
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Old 06-06-2011, 09:11 AM   #9
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Copper is great,

I usually use a normal wet sponge though. Wet is the important part.
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Old 06-06-2011, 10:31 AM   #10
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Wet sponge in the soldering holder does the trick. Wet paper towel as soon as you have lost it (and you always do)

Just finished servicing/upgrading a power amplifier in fact so had the iron out over the weekend.
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Old 06-06-2011, 10:44 AM   #11
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Are you using copper tips? The iron/nickel plated bits I use (and which most decent modern irons and soldering stations probably have) will be ruined if cleaned with anything harder than a moist sponge and from then on you can literally watch how the copper (underneath the tip coating) dissolves like a cheap copper tip.

They should stay gunk-free (besides burned flux) for half an eternity only if you manage to not damage the coating by using them as lever, scraper, drill or other tool to apply brute force to something (famous example: cleaning pot surfaces in guitars with the iron while soldering).
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Old 06-06-2011, 11:48 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ollie View Post
Are you using copper tips? The iron/nickel plated bits I use (and which most decent modern irons and soldering stations probably have) will be ruined if cleaned with anything harder than a moist sponge and from then on you can literally watch how the copper (underneath the tip coating) dissolves like a cheap copper tip.

They should stay gunk-free (besides burned flux) for half an eternity only if you manage to not damage the coating by using them as lever, scraper, drill or other tool to apply brute force to something (famous example: cleaning pot surfaces in guitars with the iron while soldering).
Adding to that, I wouldn't advise ever sanding a soldering iron tip. I did it once, long ago, and it was ruined. The tips on most cheapo soldering irons don't hold up for very long, and sanding probably isn't going to help when the tip gets gunked up.
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Old 06-11-2011, 10:00 AM   #13
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Well I can tell you from some one that solders a ton of units a day.
The Wire cleaners are best.. I don't trust the copper sponge because it's made with a little harder material that will wear the tip down.

I use to use a wet sponge.. back in the day at my studio and when I use to build Budda amps all day.

But doing the custom shop stuff now at Barber Electronics..around 2007 we switched to RoHS (Lead Free) one of the first early companies to do it.
Back then we literally went through a tip a day.. Then we realized the Lead Free solder didn't like water.. We went to wire copper cleaner..
Haven't had a problem..
The only other weird thing we dealt with was the new solder we found that seemed awesome at first is made with lots of tree products. So everyone with allergies was dying with watery eyes runny nose.. awful.

So we went back to Lead Free Kester.. A new one they just started making.
Plus we just switched 2 of our stations from the Weller..
I'm now using the Metcal OKi PS-900 station..
Which is made with a ceramic heating element. I turn it on and it's ready in seconds and when you turn it off it cools very quickly.

So that saves life on the tip..and using copper wire not only saves the tip working lead free it stays hot.. When you work as fast as I do..The wet sponge cools the tip to much and you will make cold solder joints..
That was the trouble with the weller.. Which I used for so many years I can't even remember...
But the Weller started to not keep it's temp consistent.. So far about 4 months in and 100's of units I built the Metcal is holding up well.. It better it cost a lot more the Weller...
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