RS Tip Tinner and Cleaner

[3v0]

This may be a long shot but I will ask anyway.

Went down to the local Radio Shack for some flux. They were out.
I am going to order a liquid flux pen but needed flux ASAP.

I did find "Tip Tinner and Cleaner". It comes in a small can and the instructions say dip the hot tip.

The problem is the compound in the can is rock hard. Does anyone have an idea what the long gone solvent might be. Is the stuff any good ?

I could just take it back but I would rather not if I can make it work.

3v0

 

[dknguyen]

If it wasn't rock hard, it would melt when the iron touches it...the same way solder is hard until you touch it with an iron (it is tip tinner after all).

It is not flux. It also should only be used to clean very dirty tips due to the "cleaner" part. Regular tinning with normal solder whenever possible is better.

 

[Sceadwian]

Should have just stopped by a local hardware store, you should be able to find a neutral flux paste there. Just make sure it's not an acidic flux, it's not too friendly with electronics as the flux residue is very corrosive.

 

[Hero999]

The soldering iron tip tinner is a flux, with a bit of solder added, when you stick a hot tip in there the flux and solder melt and tip your tip.

 

[3v0]

I tried using the tip cleaner (to clean the tip) again. It will melt some of the cleaner if I let the iron set tip up for a few minutes. It may work better on a larger/hotter iron.

I should have had left out the part about setting out to get flux and ending up with the cleaner. I had seen tip cleaner in Mouser when looking at the liquid flux pens. When I went to RS to see what I could get may hands on now, they had tip cleaner but no flux.

Thanks.
3v0

 

[Sceadwian]

The only difference between 'cleaner' and standard flux mixed with solder paste is 'cleaner' contains an acidic flux to destroy the oxidation on a soldering iron tip. It's meant to be dipped and whiped away, leaving a clean tinned surface. It's only useful for people (like me) that have cheap non-temeprature controlled irons which oxidize badly when left unused and powered on (they get incredibly hot WAY above soldering teperatures)

 

[3v0]

The only difference between 'cleaner' and standard flux mixed with solder paste is 'cleaner' contains an acidic flux to destroy the oxidation on a soldering iron tip. It's meant to be dipped and whiped away, leaving a clean tinned surface. It's only useful for people (like me) that have cheap non-temeprature controlled irons which oxidize badly when left unused and powered on (they get incredibly hot WAY above soldering teperatures)

I use cheap RS irons, currently a 15W and a 30W. I often walk of and forget about them... So at least for the 30W it should do some good.

Been thinking about using a PIC and a relay to turn the iron off after some period of time unless I press a button to restart the count down. Then I could add a feature to send less power to the iron after an initial heating period. And then what I should do is go out and get a real temperature controlled unit...

 

[evandude]

I use the same tip cleaner and it melts very easily, almost instantly, though I am using a temperature-controlled soldering station which may be set to be hotter than your irons.

And in case you are in fact in the market for them, I would recommend the $35 units from circuitspecialists.com ( https://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7307 ). I'm sure some people will object and tell you to go straight to a $100+ weller or other high-quality station (which is great if you can afford it), but I've been using my $35 station for years and it's been well worth the money, IMO.

 

[3v0]

Thanks. I may just get one of these.

3v0