Choosing New Soldering Iron Tips

Knowing when to replace your soldering iron tips can be tricky. Tips develop different discolorations and marks depending on how you use them, and some tips last much longer than others. Luckily, knowing when to replace your tips isn't so hard if you follow some basic maintenance guidelines.

Most tips manufactured today are a copper core surrounded by iron, and a tip with good-quality iron plating should last a long time if you take care of it. To maintain your tips, you’ll need to tin then after every use. Tinning involves cleaning the tip with a damp sponge and flooding the tip with solder before unplugging the iron. Proper tinning technique is vital to making your tips last as long as possible; if you’re not familiar with tinning, learn how to do it correctly before continuing with any soldering projects.

If you’ve been tinning your tips, don’t worry if they develop some blue or purple discoloration. This coloring is the result of a thin oxide layer and isn’t a sign that your tips have gone bad. What you do need to watch out for are abrasions or mechanical damage to the iron plating on the tips. Once this plating is breached or damaged, the tips will corrode quickly. As soon as you see damage to the iron plating on your tips, it’s time to start thinking about replacing them.

The Advantage of Hakko Soldering Tools

Soldering is an exercise of precision. In order to achieve an elite result, it is important to have the right skills and the right tools. While experience is the best way to build personal expertise, the right tools can have a huge impact on the ultimate soldering outcome. This is why Hakko products are a smart choice.

Hakko is a Japanese company that was founded in 1952. Since its inception, Hakko has focused on quality soldering tools. This means that the company has over 60 years of experience, making it an undisputed leader in the industry. Over the decades, Hakko has continually refined its products, broadening its line to include more specialized soldering tools. Now, Hakko carries a diverse range of products, including soldering irons, pots, meters, replacement parts and more.

The reason Hakko has been so successful can be directly linked to the company's commitment to quality and its keen understanding of the soldering process. Hakko soldering tools are designed to be used by professionals, giving users control and power to complete projects. In fact, its newest models have the fastest heating times in the industry. Moreover, the flow of heat is very consistent, ensuring an even stream of heat until the job is done. Additionally, the products are also built to endure, which is why many Hakko soldering tools will last for decades.

Prolonging the Life of Your Soldering Equipment

Keeping your soldering tip in top condition is crucial. A clean tip means more efficient, more accurate, and longer lasting work. Moreover, having a well-maintained iron gives you the most out of your soldering investment. To ensure your unit stands the tests of time and industrial use, we've gathered these helpful tips for keeping your soldering tips, especially premium tips from Hexacon™, in prime working condition.

Frist and foremost, manufacturers recommend that you keep the working surface of your soldering tip tinned. If you leave your solder idle for extended periods, be sure to keep excess solder on the tip.

Keep your solder tip clean. When burned solder or flux residue accumulates, wipe it off with a wet cellulose sponge. For soiled tips, allow the unit to cool before cleaning with a scrubber. Heating the tip just enough to melt resin and solder with flux core solder as soon as possible is best.

Finally, be certain you always adhere to good soldering practices. This includes removing the tip often to prevent sticking as well as keeping the tip fully inserted in the iron at all times is. In doing so, you ensure quality results as well as extended the usage potential of your scolding equipment.

Choosing Lead-Free Soldering

Controlling hazardous substances, like lead, cadmium, and mercury, is essential to improving the products we create. It is valuable to our industry's end users, resell outlets, and manufacturers. The choice has also faced some heavy criticism in the past decade. These criticisms are mostly in response to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS), which was adopted by the European Union in 2003 and enacted in 2006.

The RoHS directive saw feedback that sited increased production costs, difficulties with superheated materials, and overall reliability. While these thoughts were valid, the change has not affected the industry as harshly as manufactures predicted in 2005. Most notably, product reliability has increased. Moreover, solder reliability has increased while component sizes have decreased.

Lead-free solder helps manufacturers dramatically reduce component sizes. This is because lead-free solder does not wet well, allowing producers to print leads closer together. In fact, experiments with lead-based and lead-free leads found fewer shortages and other problems with lead-free solder.

When you add in the 20% lead, 63% cadmium, 56% mercury, and 68% Octa-BDE reduction the European industry has seen in the first three years, you see the benefits of lead-free solder outweigh the costs by far.  

Aerosol Solder Cleaning Tools for You

Are you in the market for soldering cleaning selections? Stellar Technical is ready to assist you. We have a variety of aerosol cleaners and degreasers that are perfect for both professionals and amateur soldering enthusiasts. Take a look at some of the selections we have here and place an order with us today:

• MicroCare VeriClean Defluxer – This product is based on VMS Siloxanes and is strong enough to easily remove rosins or no-clean flux residues. It is plastic safe but it is flammable.
• Techspray 1630-16S Blue Shower – When you are looking for the strongest non-flammable degreaser and flux remover, this option is perfect for you. It’s strong enough to remove baked-on lead-free flux residues, as well as clean oil and contaminants off metal parts, switch boxes, engines, and electronic components.
• Bioact EC7M Cleaner – Made from ultrapure citrus terpenes, this cleaner works great when you need to clean fluxes, silicone, and adhesive from labels and tapes. Additionally, it is completely O-zone safe and biodegradable.

You’ll be able to start any soldering project when you have soldering cleaning selections from Stellar Technical. We are available to help you find the best and most efficient product for your applications. Bulk options are available for your needs.