On Mon, 29 Nov 2010 17:01:40 -0600, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

On 11/29/2010 9:41 AM, homer wrote:

On Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:26:05 -0500, wrote:

How do you know when your soldering iron is tinned?
I keep mine plugged in for 5-10 minutes then when I try tin it, the
solder beads up and just drips offs. It doesn't seem to "wet" the
tip.
Is it suppose to wet the tip of the soldering iron?

I'm using non lead solder, 95%Sn, 5% Sb (Tin/Antimony).
Rosin core.

Also, when 1 solder two wires together, I twist the wires together,
then hold the iron to one side of the wire and hold the solder to the
opposite site. The wire should get hot and soak up the solder, right?
I've been practicing but it seems to be hit or miss so far.

Bonnie

Does no one use Sal Ammoniac to keep their soldering tips clean
anymore?

I do, it's usually the main component of tip cleaner. Another thing
that works well is either a copper or stainless steel pot scrubber.
I have a tip cleaner I got from Radio Shack years ago that is cone
shaped and has a compound that cleans a hot tip, it is used like
a pencil sharpener, I believe it contains sal ammoniac.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2wnbta8

TDD
Sal Ammoniac, (Ammonium Chloride) when heated, breaks down into
Ammonia and Hydrochloric Acid.
Definitely not good stuff to have around electronic circuit boards.

If you use it on your soldering iron, be sure to rinse the iron to
dilute/neutralize/remove the acid.