Soldering Iron Tip Cleaners - SS vs Brass Wire Balls?

[Skylark]

A bit boaty........

First question, are soldering iron tip cleaner / wire balls good if there's a fair amount of work to be done?

Any significant difference / pros and cons of stainless versus brass wire balls?

Grateful to receive hands-on experience?

Many thanks

 

[TernVI]

The stainless ones tend not to attract solder.

Generally, if 'there's a fair amount of work to be done ', I'd suggest getting a new tip.
It depends on what atrocity your iron has been subected to.

The tip cleaners which are little tins with a 'cake' of flux and solder in are quite useful sometimes.
Another thing that works is to coat the cold tip with flux and let it heat up. A fairly mild electronics type flux wouldbe my first choice, you can get it in a marker pen. Then tin with cored solder as the iron heats up.

Unfortunetely the higher temperatures with lead-free solder give tips a very hard time. Don't leave the iron hot for hours if you can avoid it.

 

[starfire]

Damp sponge

 

[Boathook]

I occasionally clean mine with a stanley knife blade and when very bad with a file when cold. I also use cotton rag to give it a quick wipe.
Not to sure whether this is correct but it was how I was told to do it at an electronics company where I worked during college holidays.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

The little pots of tip cleaner from ebay are the best by a long way.

 

[Skylark]

The little pots of tip cleaner from ebay are the best by a long way.

Do you mean this sort of thing:-

2X Solder Welding Soldering Iron Tip Cleaner Brass Wire Ball With Rosin Flux | eBay

They seem to be available with either stainless steel or brass wire, hence my OP

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Do you mean this sort of thing:-

2X Solder Welding Soldering Iron Tip Cleaner Brass Wire Ball With Rosin Flux | eBay

They seem to be available with either stainless steel or brass wire, hence my OP

No, this stuff...

Lead-Free Soldering Iron Tip Refresher Solder Cleaner, for weller, metcal etc | eBay

The wire or wet sponge ones are ok as you go along, but once a day this stuff really improves the tip & instantly makes it completely tinned.

 

[TernVI]

I occasionally clean mine with a stanley knife blade and when very bad with a file when cold. I also use cotton rag to give it a quick wipe.
Not to sure whether this is correct but it was how I was told to do it at an electronics company where I worked during college holidays.

Scraping or filing a tip is strictly for when you're desparate.
Soldering tips generally have a copper core with a coating of some other metal, often Iron.
Once the Iron coating is gone, the solder starts to dissolve the copper.

 

[LadyInBed]

I've always used a damp cloth and if that isn't good enough then a file on a cold tip. If it's a pointed tip, unscrew the tip, put it in a drill, spin and rub with emery paper.

 

[doug748]

No, this stuff...

Lead-Free Soldering Iron Tip Refresher Solder Cleaner, for weller, metcal etc | eBay

The wire or wet sponge ones are ok as you go along, but once a day this stuff really improves the tip & instantly makes it completely tinned.

That stuff looks really useful, thanks for the link.

I did not know those wire tips were composite, well well. This chap has an interesting solution to claggy tips:

Soldering Iron Tips From 6 AWG Copper Wire


BTW. I have a medium weight Weller iron that has never been plugged in, I heat it on the stove and it works very well on the boat in the absence of mains power.

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