How do I keep T-15 Soldering Iron tips looking new and increase their lifespan?

[Hootis Tigglebits]

Is there a way to keep this looking new or at least better than what the one pictured and increase their lifespan?  Is this discoloration caused by using tap water on the sponge instead of distilled?  I only use lead free solder and JBC lead free tip thinner.  These are Hakko brand used in a FX-951 and FM-203, both are set at 750°F and set to go to sleep after the iron has been at rest for 1min. In sleep mode the temp is reduced to 200°F.  These are only left on while I’m soldering.

[IanB]

Discoloration is normal on the parts that get hot, but at the tip where the solder goes it should be tinned all around, and should be silver from a coating of solder. Are you applying solder to the tip and wiping it off between every use? Also, when you turn off the iron you should coat the whole tip with a generous coating of solder to protect it. Next time when you turn it back on you can wipe the tip off to leave a shiny, silver surface before applying fresh solder to keep it clean.

[thm_w]

Don't use tap water for sure. Ideally don't use a sponge at all.
Brass wool is way better.

[EPAIII]

Well, the Hakkos may be that picky, but I have never had a bit of a problem with my Weller or with my Tenma, for that matter. I just make sure to completely tin the tip with solder when it is first used and then I swipe it on a wet sponge or, better yet poke it into one of those bright brass colored (dry) metal foil pad before each use. Perhaps another swipe or poke when I am done. But why waste solder tinning it again when fresh solder was used to make the joint? Wait, wait, I read your post again. You waste solder when you turn it off and then AGAIN when you turn it back on! Solder can last 20, 30, 50 years or more on a circuit board or other electronic joint but it somehow goes bad overnight?  Distilled water? WHY on earth would you need distilled water? I didn't use distilled water even when the sponge collected white powder: I just rinsed the sponge under running, hot water and continued using it. I think I am using only the second sponge for my Weller which I purchased in the 1960s and neither that sponge or the first one ever saw a single drop of distilled water.

If the top gets too oxidized I let it heat up and then stick it in the flux for 5 or 10 seconds. That cleans the heck out of it. Then tin and stop worrying. I've got tips that are going on 55 years of use and they are still going strong. But they aren't Hakkos.

With at least 70 years of soldering experience, as far as I am concerned, Hakkos are greatly over-rated and GROSSLY over priced. They are the biggest rip-off in the entire electronics industry.

I bet you waste tons of money on Starbucks coffee or an even more expensive brand and weight it down to the ten-thousandth of an ounce/gram when you make a cup. Fresh ground, of course and no more than ten seconds between grinding and brewing less something magical escapes. Fifteen seconds and in the trash it goes and weigh and grind again.

I simply can't believe the cults around coffee making and I can't believe the cults around soldering. My apologies for the rant, but some of the things I see here are just so unbelievable.

Discoloration is normal on the parts that get hot, but at the tip where the solder goes it should be tinned all around, and should be silver from a coating of solder. Are you applying solder to the tip and wiping it off between every use? Also, when you turn off the iron you should coat the whole tip with a generous coating of solder to protect it. Next time when you turn it back on you can wipe the tip off to leave a shiny, silver surface before applying fresh solder to keep it clean.

[EPAIII]

I will give you the biggest "secret" I have learned about soldering with any iron intended for electronic use.

It may be true that you should first establish a good, clean mechanical joint, apply flux, heat the joint, and then apply the correct amount of solder, but that does not explain HOW those four steps are accomplished. That came from people who were using blow torches and were assembling parts that weighed tens and hundreds of pounds. Here's how it really works in electronic work:

1. Yes a good, CLEAN mechanical joint. But today that can be an almost microscopic pad on the PCB which matches an equally small one on the part. And hobbyists often use parts that have been sitting around, oxidizing for 5 or 10 years or more so they will require some cleaning.

2. Yes, apply some flux. But it takes a very small amount. Most internet videos show about 10X to 100X too much. Flooding with flux is no substitute for failure to clean in step #1.

3. Step 3, heat the joint before applying the solder. Yea! Good luck with that one. You can place a clean soldering iron on a joint for a half hour and still not heat it. You MUST have a small drop of liquid solder on the tip of the iron. When that small drop touches the flux covered surface it will activate that flux, then start to adhere to the now cleaned surface and efficiently and quickly transfer heat to the entire joint. And that is the trick, the secret that NO ONE teaches.

4. Then, about a second or two after that initial drop of solder starts to transfer heat to the joint, you add the full amount of solder needed to establish the joint.

An advanced technique is to place the needed solder along with the flux in step #2. This is what is done with a soldering paste on surface mount boards. But then, quite often the heat is not applied with a soldering iron.

[Phil1977]

The single most important measure to keep your tip clean is to not stick it into dirt...

What does that mean in the context of soldering: Try to not scorch any insulation material with it. Clean away flux residues often before they burn into the metal. If plastics burn on the solder tip, they oxidise the metal in a way that it can't be wetted with tin any more. Then you can only try to use more aggressive tip cleaners containing e.g. ammonium chloride. If they also fail then buy a new tip...

[dietert1]

Most of the time the problem happens when a soldering iron runs at high temperature. Burnt flux destroys the metal surface and it no longer wipes off with the usual water sponge. If that happens one can try to reduce temperature to about 300 °C or turn off. Clean the surface with a mechanical tool, e.g. a knife until it is shiny again. When turning it on try to wet the tip with electronic solder with flux inside.

Don't remember how often i repeated that procedure. Being somewhat impatient i also have the habit to raise soldering iron temperature to 350 or 400 °C and it doesn't last long until the problem reappears.

Regards, Dieter