Soldering iron tips

A

awdark

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 22, 2003
Messages
1,630
Right now I just use a basic soldering iron. Sometimes I tell myself I should buy something nicer but I can usually do okay with what I have.

I am pretty sure my technique is wrong because I wear down the tips quite quickly (last one looked like a hook when I was done with it) and I was wondering if there were any more reliable types of iron/tips.

I did some googling and it sounds like the ceramic type is better but those tips seem rather expensive compared to the basic weller 2pk for ~$4 I get from frys. Would those comparatively last longer than the ones I have been using? The ones I use appear to be copper on the inside and some other metal on the outside.
 
I think it's typically a copper core sheathed in iron and pre-tinned or with a light nickel plating. My soldering iron tip is also getting worn down. Weird, because it never occurred to me that it could be an issue...
 
Oh so even the tips of say a fancy Hakko would still be relatively similar? Hm so if I upgrade I will need to upgrade my technique or else it would get expensive.

I was sort of wondering if the tips were made differently because the ones I have seen appear dull unlike the shiny ones I typically see.
 
Tips wearing down is one of the last problems I have with my current iron, although my dad's iron (my old Dalco) eats them in no time. Mine is basically a chinese hakko 936 knock-off, uses the same tips as the 936 and I've never had any of them wear down with frequent use of the same tip. Both of these use the same type of tip material with slightly different ceramic heaters, and there is a significant difference in tip life.

I think your problem is either infrequent enough tip cleaning (plating failure is evident when part of the tip is degraded), or incorrect soldering technique. You shouldn't apply much force to the iron in use, or have to rub it up against anything when soldering that could damage the plating. A fairly extensive document is available here that may help.
 
The standard (fairly) cheap but good soldering setup is a Weller WES51. I have that and three different sized tips. I do PS2 mod chips with the smallest tip and it works well.
 
If you're using the 'hot nail' style soldering iron from Radio Shack or similar, the problem is that the tips aren't made properly (they lack the nickel plating and are made from steel, not copper) and the corrosive solder eats them away. With a decent iron they should last a fairly long time. I find the tips on my Hakko last me about a year of fairly regular use.

For something quite cheap that's not bad at all, I recommend this. The Hakko clones from eBay are quite good also.
 
Actually, I believe the Radio Shack tips are nickel-plated copper. At least, the last couple I've had were made that way.
 
RS sells quite a few different models, some of them use extremely low quality tips, others are okay.
 
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