soldering iron tips

[dmh]

Hi,

Is there a way to tell if a new soldering iron tip you bought is a good or bad one after it has been used?

Thanks
Mike

[franklin97355]

Not sure I understand the question but if it works it's good and if it falls apart it's bad. Most tips are just copper with an iron plating and a solder coat. What is it that makes you think it may be bad?

[dmh]

Thanks,

For example if you bought a Hakko FX888 should be a better quality tip than say one from a $20.00 iron. So I was wondering in how would you be able to tell the difference between the two I mentioned.

The tip I am using now turn almost black after on a couple of solders on microSD board. That just seemed kinda strange to me.

[franklin97355]

You either got a bad tip or you may be using super active flux not designed for electronics.

[Agent_24]

The tip I am using now turn almost black after on a couple of solders on microSD board. That just seemed kinda strange to me.

Sounds like you are not cleaning it and keeping it tinned. If you don't do this the tip will keep oxidizing and eventually become useless as you will wreck the plating.

To clean off the old solder and flux, wipe it against a damp (not soaking wet) sponge or one of those curly brass tip cleaners.

Tinning just means adding some fresh solder to the tip!

You can see all this and more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_NU2ruzyc4


Lastly, don't file a tip to clean it, as you will file the plating off and the tip will deteriorate MUCH faster. If your tip is in such bad shape that you'd need to file it, it's stuffed anyway and you'll need a new one.