I might be reading something into this issue that is not there...I get the impression that there are some folks who believe that once the soldering iron is hot and you clean and tin the tip, that is the only time it needs to be done, and if you need to clean and tin it more than once, something is wrong...Any time the iron is returned to the stand for any length of time, remaining flux will burn and blacken and the tinned coating will oxidize and discolor...
The tip needs to cleaned and re-tinned, either on a damp sponge or pot-scrubber every time the iron is picked up to solder a joint...You can solder many joints with one cleaning, but once the iron is returned to the holder for a time, it must be cleaned and tinned...This is basic Soldering 101... I have heard that a damp sponge chills the tip...I have never found that to be a problem...After wiping the tip on the sponge, you need to apply a little solder...If the tip was too cold, you could not do that...The tip needs to be wet with a little solder in order to efficiently transfer heat to the joint before solder is applied to the joint... Jerry, wa2dkg _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
