What do you use for cleaning your tips

[Deathwish]

Of the choice of copper / Brass or wire ( steel ) brillo pad type soldering iron tip cleaners which is best and what are the pros and cons of each.

[apelly]

The good brass ones are covered with flux. This is a good thing.

People will tell you that steel ones will damage your tips by slowly wearing the plating away.

Personally I use the brass scrubbers that came with my irons and follow up with a damp sponge. Sometimes a wipe with some damp tissue held between my fingers.

Extremely rarely I resort to a small tin of tip tinner. Even then, it's only required on tips that I've abused with gross overheating.

[Deathwish]

For some reason I always thought soldering iron tips were iron plated not tinned, once the iron is gone through its merely a case of how much longer till the copper underneath wears away and tinning will not stop it.

[DimitriP]

I dunno about pros and cons and such. I use a damp sponge. I keeps it clean.

Well Ok...
Pros.: It keeps it clean, I don't have to spend any time worrying about it.

Cons: Entering a discussion about it might lead to a lengthy thread that will not keep the iron any cleaner than using a damp sponge.

[Deathwish]

wel lat least with a copper / brass ball on my stand I dont have to have a jug of water about.

[klunkerbus]

Been using the brass brillo-pad type of tip scrubber for years.  I don't believe mine has any flux in it.  Recently, however, purchased DeoxIT brand Tip Tinner & Cleaner. I was skeptical, but I was shocked at how easy it was to clean up and re-tin the tip now, at least on an occasional basis.  Standing by for the naysayers describing how bad similar tip cleaners are for your tips or other issues...

[zapta]

Look here at 1:20

[Aodhan145]

Look here at 1:20

Is he actually serious? What a f**king waste of time.

[Augustus]

Weller sells both sorts of dry-cleaners, brass wool and stainless steel wool. They claim the brass is more gentle to the tips while the stainless steel lasts longer.



I don't like either of them and still use my good old wet yellow sponge... Gets the tip way cleaner, imho... After the solder session is done, I give the (cold) tip a good scrub with a fine brass brush to remove build up burnt flux 

[KL27x]

Is he actually serious? What a f**king waste of time.

LOL. +1 Maybe with some more context, he wouldn't appear to be completely insane? (Maybe he's building a rectal probe? )

I use the brass wool with no complaints. But sometimes it leaves some crusty solder bits. To get a really clean and wet tip, I might melt a big blob of fresh flux core solder all over the tip and then flick it off onto my bench, immediately prior to a tight connection.

[Melt-O-Tronic]

Look here at 1:20

<snip>

Is he actually serious? What a f**king waste of time.

Notice the word "Avionics" in the title.  He is teaching a NASA-specified methodology for soldering things that are kind of important.

[daybyter]

I use a ammonium chloride soldering stone:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Weller-LS25-Ammonium-Chloride-Soldering/dp/B002JEA4TC

https://eshop.wuerth.de/Ammonium-chloride-soldering-stone-SALAMONBLCK-100X45X20MM/098730.sku/en/US/EUR/

And then my watered sponge after that.

[DimitriP]

Look here at 1:20

<snip>

Is he actually serious? What a f**king waste of time.

Notice the word "Avionics" in the title.  He is teaching a NASA-specified methodology for soldering things that are kind of important.

I do wonder though what the chem wipe will remove from the stripped wire that the solder won't vaporise once you tin it.
Or why you would clean the flux from the tinned wire when you are going to reapply flux in order to solder it to wherever it needs to be soldered.
"Best practices" are best not practiced.  © Dimitri 2015

[zapta]

Is he actually serious? What a f**king waste of time.

LOL. +1 Maybe with some more context, he wouldn't appear to be completely insane? (Maybe he's building a rectal probe? )

Imagine that guy soldering this:



BTW, I noticed that some people refer to cleanup with a wet sponge as 'socking', as if there is some chemical reaction involved, not just a simple wiping.  In my experience, the brass wool remove the extra solder and stuck 0402 components better than the wet sponge. Luckily, my solder iron holder has both.

[Deathwish]

Somewhere I have an old Gas portable iron, the only time I ever cleaned the tip was when I was trying to light a cigarette , damn near choked to death on the fumes.

[Mechanical Menace]

Wet folded up newspaper.


...I'll get my coat...

[GreyWoolfe]

I used the yellow wet sponge for years.  My Hakko FX-951 came with dry flux coated brass curls.  I like the job the curls does much better.  No going back to wet sponges for me.

[IanB]

My understanding is that the brass curls and the wet sponge are both used. Just prior to applying fresh solder for a new joint, you first use the brass curls to remove the old solder from the tip leaving it dry, and then use the wet sponge to remove the surface oxide layer from the tip.

[SteveyG]

Look here at 1:20

Is he actually serious? What a f**king waste of time.

Other than wiping the soldering iron with a tissue first, that is exactly the way it should be done and pretty similar to the IPC training which I have been on.

Never use those tip tinners that you can buy unless your tip is well and truly screwed, they're highly activated solutions which will cause much faster damage to the tip.

A damp sponge should be all you need, and remember to leave a nice blob of solder on the iron like he did after use.

People often wipe the iron after each connection, but actually the correct method is to wipe clean BEFORE the next connection reducing the time for which oxidation can occur to the tip.

[RobertHolcombe]

Sponge vs wool preference to me is based on what work I'm performing. I prefer a sponge with a hole in the center because it suits both assembly and rework - particularly useful during rework as it gives you somewhere consistent to deposit excess solder, components, component leads etc. Wool does not offer the same flexibility and is only really suitable for assembly IME - full of debris their cleaning performance isn't great!

[SteveyG]

full of debris their cleaning performance isn't great!

Indeed. The problem is you also cross contaminate with potentially old bits of solder and god knows what else. A sponge should be being rinsed and squeezed out at a sink, not just adding water each time.

[RobertHolcombe]

Yah I keep a wash bottle at my bench to keep it damp but run it under a tap at the end of each day, they last for months... my colleagues by comparison are probably growing forests in theirs'

[Aodhan145]

Is he actually serious? What a f**king waste of time.

LOL. +1 Maybe with some more context, he wouldn't appear to be completely insane? (Maybe he's building a rectal probe? )

Imagine that guy soldering this:



BTW, I noticed that some people refer to cleanup with a wet sponge as 'socking', as if there is some chemical reaction involved, not just a simple wiping.  In my experience, the brass wool remove the extra solder and stuck 0402 components better than the wet sponge. Luckily, my solder iron holder has both.

Hahaha 

[nctnico]

Of the choice of copper / Brass or wire ( steel ) brillo pad type soldering iron tip cleaners which is best and what are the pros and cons of each.

A wet sponge (with the rugged part up instead of down as you see in many places ) does just fine.

[DenzilPenberthy]

Personally I prefer the brass curly stuff. Haven't used a wet sponge since I started using the brass stuff.  Generously tin the tip before replacing in the holder then when you want to make a joint give the iron a couple of quick dabs in the brass and it's in perfect condition. Then re-tin before replacing in the holder.