How To Clean Your Soldering Iron Tip

A solder pot may also be used to tin or re-tin your soldering iron tip.

How to clean your soldering iron tip. Repeat the previous steps a few times if necessary until your tip is fully coated. On a fine pointed tip this will be even more evident. If your soldering tip becomes detinned oxidized it can be restored in a number of ways.

Then dip the tip in the cleaner and do a slight twist action. To apply the tip cleaner first heat the soldering iron. If all else fails Soldering Iron tips do not last forever.

After a while take it our from the gel and clean the tip using brass wools. A nice alternative to using a heat gun. Clean the tip.

That way the solder on the surface oxidizes rather than the tip itself. Now remove the tip and clean it with a moist sponge to remove the cleaner. The best solder for oxidation prevention is one with a high amount of flux core.

You should not have to do more than periodically wipe the tip clean with a damp sponge then re-tin with fresh solder. Melt some good quality of solder wire on the Tip. Then dip the tip of the soldering iron inside the gel.

Switch OFF the Soldering Station or the Iron. If some of the oxides are just sticking really well you could try to mildly abrade them on a brass sponge copper braid or similar but you cant be too hard or you will damage the iron plating good tips are typically copper core plated with iron then chromium everywhere but the working area. When pre-cleaning is necessary for plated tips they should be cleaned with a mildly abrasive emery cloth and may require an acid flux to remove the oxides before tinning or re-tinning.