Question on soldering trailer light wiring

U

UncleWillie

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Oct 18, 2011
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bruceb58 said:
Soldering iron tips are plated on top of a copper core. Once you go through the thin plating, the tip is ruined.
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+1
Quailty Soldering tip are made of Nickle with a copper core.
Once you sand through the Nickle, the Copper disintigrates very quickly.
The trick is to keep the tip clean ALL the time.
A simple swipe or two,over a damp sponge, every time, before and after you touch the tip to solder will keep it in ideal condition for years.
You can't clean it too often.

During my electronics carreer, I had a hot soldering iron powered up 8 hours a day. The tip was wiped hundreds of times a day.
It would be years before the tip lost its Nickle covering and needed replacement.
 
oldjeep

oldjeep

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Hmm, we sanded them at the moisture tester mfg I worked for in high school. The tips on my current soldering iron are all ceramic, so it isn't an issue anyways.
 
gm280

gm280

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Jun 26, 2011
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Soldering iron tips on the usual solder irons from Radio Shark and such are merely copper screw in types with uncontrolled heating elements and they will corrode in quick time. So sanding them isn't a real issue. But the Welder Professional Stations use better quality type tips and are made to have ZERO tip voltage on them so you can safely solder ESD components without issue. They clean with a damp slotted sponge and work better to keep them covered with solder. And then you wipe the solder off them with that damp slotted sponge right before usage so that you have a nicely coated tip that conducts the heat to the solder joint. If you can't solder the joint in a mere second or two, you have something seriously wrong. I use to be NASA certified Micro Miniature Solder Qualified... Of course not since I retired now. But I do a lot of shop soldering for my own usage now with a Welder WES51 Temp Controlled Solder Station with many different tips for different applications, exactly like I used when still working, and a Professional Pace De-Soldering Station as well. JMHO!
 
thumpar

thumpar

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To keep the tip clean just have a wet sponge handy. I have a few in my solder "kit". You just have to pass the tip over it and it is like new. When you use abrasives on them you loose the plating and solder won't stick anymore.
 
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