On 23 Oct, 12:51, "Arfa Daily" wrote:
Just following on from the thread of a few weeks ago, where we were
discussing how Weller tips don't seem to last like they used, and then the
reference to lead-free solder 'leaching' iron from the tip plating, that I
found on the Cooper website.

A few weeks back - no more than 4 - I fitted a new 700 degree pointed tip to
my TCP series Magnastat bench workhorse iron. It's on for about 12 hours a
day, and the Magnastat works correctly. About a week ago, I noticed that the
tip was already 'waisting' about 2mm up from the point, and today, the
pointy bit just fell off, leaving a ragged eaten-away stump. During the
three weeks that it seemed to survive unscathed, the soldering done with it
was predominantly normal 60/40 leaded, using the same solder that I always
have for more years than I care to remember. In amongst that work period, I
guess I used it for lead-free soldering perhaps four or five times - maybe
20 - 30 joints total.

So what is going on here ? Have Weller changed the plating of their tips in
some way ? Are we actually seeing this iron plating 'leaching' effect that
they mention on the website, in play ? Or is it that the fluxes in lead-fee
solder are so aggressive to try to make the useless stuff stick to other
metals, that the iron plating doesn't stand a chance ? If it is the leaching
effect, or even flux attack, then it's pretty drastic, if it can wreck a tip
with that few joints ...

Whatever it is, three to four weeks for a tip, instead of the previous three
to four months, at least, seems pretty poor performance for what has always
been accepted as a good quality 'professional' general bench iron.

Arfa

We used to use a *lot* of these in the mid 1980s, bulk computer repair
(VIC-20s and C64s!). Some tips seemed to last forever, some only a
matter of days, all of them Weller.
Phil.