Hello all; back after a several-year hiatus. Glad this place is still around.
My question concerns the lowly soldering iron, which is my weapon of choice when it comes to electronic construction. I'm strictly a hobbyist, make occasional projects, and I know about fancier devices like a real temp-controlled soldering station but I'm not interested--at all--in switching to anything like that. (Both because I don't think I need it and because I'm cheap.)
My current iron is a decent one, a Weller 25-watt general-purpose one with a plain conical tip. In the past I've even used dollar-store irons (same size) successfully. However, there's one annoying thing about all them: the tips eventually corrode. In fact, with this Weller that I've had for maybe a year or so and only used infrequently, I saw something I never saw before, which was the tip actually disintegrating; a layer just peeled off the outside.
So what I do when this happens is what a lot of people do: I simply reshape the tip and go on my merry way. I'll take it to a grinder if it needs major reshaping, or just hit it a few licks with a file. This gets it down to fresh copper, which works fine so long as you keep it tinned (and don't let it oxidize immediately after reshaping!).
Question is, what causes tips to corrode? I use standard 60/40 lead solder, rosin core. No plumbing flux! I use a wet sponge (H2O only) to clean the tip each time. It can't be the lead or tin, can it? I mean, those elements aren't corrosive so far as I know. Is it the flux? Or is it because the tip overheats (sometimes I'll leave it on for a while before soldering)? I'm really curious to know what ends up eating up my tips, whether it's chemical, physical or both.
Also curious about new tips: they're copper but with some kind of plating. What is the plating and what is its purpose? It's shiny silver; I though I read that it was iron, but it looks more like chrome or something similar. Of course, this coating soon disappears and you're down to copper anyhow.
Not that it really matters; when it gets misshapen enough I simply refile or regrind it. But I'm curious.
My question concerns the lowly soldering iron, which is my weapon of choice when it comes to electronic construction. I'm strictly a hobbyist, make occasional projects, and I know about fancier devices like a real temp-controlled soldering station but I'm not interested--at all--in switching to anything like that. (Both because I don't think I need it and because I'm cheap.)
My current iron is a decent one, a Weller 25-watt general-purpose one with a plain conical tip. In the past I've even used dollar-store irons (same size) successfully. However, there's one annoying thing about all them: the tips eventually corrode. In fact, with this Weller that I've had for maybe a year or so and only used infrequently, I saw something I never saw before, which was the tip actually disintegrating; a layer just peeled off the outside.
So what I do when this happens is what a lot of people do: I simply reshape the tip and go on my merry way. I'll take it to a grinder if it needs major reshaping, or just hit it a few licks with a file. This gets it down to fresh copper, which works fine so long as you keep it tinned (and don't let it oxidize immediately after reshaping!).
Question is, what causes tips to corrode? I use standard 60/40 lead solder, rosin core. No plumbing flux! I use a wet sponge (H2O only) to clean the tip each time. It can't be the lead or tin, can it? I mean, those elements aren't corrosive so far as I know. Is it the flux? Or is it because the tip overheats (sometimes I'll leave it on for a while before soldering)? I'm really curious to know what ends up eating up my tips, whether it's chemical, physical or both.
Also curious about new tips: they're copper but with some kind of plating. What is the plating and what is its purpose? It's shiny silver; I though I read that it was iron, but it looks more like chrome or something similar. Of course, this coating soon disappears and you're down to copper anyhow.
Not that it really matters; when it gets misshapen enough I simply refile or regrind it. But I'm curious.