Here's an idea...

I was in a store the other day and found something that seems to be working out..so far.

I got a bag of copper pot scrubbers, I think maybe they were 6 for a $1.00. I stuck one in the soldering iron holder to use as a tip cleaner. The copper pad seems to scrub that oxidation and schmutz right off the iron. I "never" seem to have a damp sponge on the workbench when I need one, and the pot scrubber seems to be doing the trick.

I can make a video tape of it.......;>)

Reply to
Moonraker
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What sort of tip do you use? One of those chrome plated ones won't last long with a scourer. I use a copper tip and find that just the ocasional dip in bakers fluid (zinc chloride powder mixed with water)cleans all the "schmutz ". Just need to file of the sharp edges now and again.

of what? : :

Reply to
me

What in the world is a "chrome plated tip"? Only ones I've ever seen are tinned. Seems to me that "filing" the tip is way more aggressive than a scouring pad would ever be. Bakers' fluid is flux, is it not? As I recall, dipping a hot iron into flux isn't one of the reccomended actions...not that I don't do it anyway.

It really makes no difference what sort of tip I use, there isn't a decent soldering iron out there. I've had the Wellers, the Inlands, the Diamond Tech, Hexacons, & the no-name generics. All of them are a piece of crap. I've had Wellers literally short out in my hands and blow a hole in the outer skin of the iron. At one point last year I went through 4 different Weller 100 watt Professionals in less than 6 months. At $80 a pop, that gets a bit expensive. Heating elements died, shorted out, etc. I had made the mistake of buying several at one time when they were on sale. By the time I needed to put one in service, several months had passed, and the

90-day warranty/return policy had expired. One of the local SG stores has had such a high return rate with the Wellers that she has stopped even carrying the brand.

Reply to
Moonraker

that's why i buy the cheap inland studio pro 100 for like 15$ each. They tend to last a good while but when they do blow up they don't cost so much to replace. I usually have 2 running at a time so it can get costly replacing irons! m

Reply to
Michele Blank

Reply to
David Billington

Actually, the best iron I've used recently is the Inland that has the temp control built in. I need to order a couple of irons, and by the time I get around to it, I'll probably forget, again, what a pile of crap the Wellers are and order more. The Diamond Tech that Delphi sells is a knock-off of the Weller, uses the same tips and everything. But, it's a Chinese pile of crap instead of one from (sorry) SC.

Reply to
Moonraker

Well...given that these are UK irons and apparently not designed for USA current/voltages, I don't expect that they would be of much help.

Reply to
Moonraker

Reply to
David Billington

Reply to
David Billington

"Moonraker" wrote

I've got a lot of hours on my Hexacons - a 175w "hatchet" and a 250w production iron. I suppose I go through tips a bit faster than I ought (yeah, I 'fess up to that flux dipping thing, too...), but I haven't experienced the sort of pyrotechnics you guys described in this thread. They're pricey irons, but I figured (hoped?) longevity was part of the price.

Course now that I've gone and jinxed myself by mentioning it, I'll probably get hex-acuted in the studio tomorrow morning when I fire 'em up. Damn!

BTW, my worst complaint about the 250w Hex is the sheer weight of the thing. By the time I finish both sides of a good-sized panel (i.e., an 80 x 22 door), I'm in pain.

Hence, my Tanqueray consumption.

Anyhow, I'm ready to investigate a wrist support - maybe a bowling type of thing? - to help prevent CTS or tendonitis or whatever occupational grief I incur every time I use the big iron. The hatchet design is a lot easier on the wrist, but it's not offered over 175w.

~s

Reply to
Scribble

Watt is the unit for measuring power. If their iron is in fact as powerful as a 30 watt iron they should label it correctly.

Chunk Kiesling

Reply to
chunk

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