Making Soldering Tips

Just an update for you,

I got the soldering iron and tip that Mike recommended and I'm increasing my productivity by at least 5 times. It's amazing, that you guys helped me just in time comma I can't thank you enough!

Paul
 
pfromero said:
Just an update for you,

I got the soldering iron and tip that Mike recommended and I'm increasing my productivity by at least 5 times. It's amazing, that you guys helped me just in time comma I can't thank you enough!

Paul
Click to expand...

Great news! :D When they finally start to wear out, you can "recondition" them to get a few more miles out it too. I usually stick mine in the bench grinder with a wire brush for a few seconds. Cleans it up nice and shiny like brand new, then retin before using :)
 
Nice! Yeah a proper soldering iron is A & O :)
 
It's worth mentioning that not all solder is the same .

I think it's true to say we always want rosin core flux solder , but for tin /lead solder there are two main types...

60/40 ...Mpt 188*C

63/37...Mpt 183*C

60/40 should be ever so slightly cheaper since tin is more expensive than lead ... but we must use 63/37 , that lower melting point should make things easier , particularly when soldering onto busbars , and will also help prevent the cells getting too hot.

As for lead free solders ...most have melting points from 5 to 20 C higher than tin/lead.
 
Im mainly using 60/40 and no issues here. Those 5C i wouldn't say is much of a diff on our application unless you are using an under powered solder iron.
I would say that the content inside and or how it flows is more important. If it doesnt flow directly that takes longer time than heating those last 5C.

No scientific experiments on it from my end though :)
 
daromer said:
Im mainly using 60/40 and no issues here. Those 5C i wouldn't say is much of a diff on our application unless you are using an under powered solder iron.
I would say that the content inside and or how it flows is more important. If it doesnt flow directly that takes longer time than heating those last 5C.

No scientific experiments on it from my end though :)
Click to expand...

Is there any advantage to 60/40??.... Bid you specifically choose that over 63/37
 
63/37 is eutectic, which basically means it melts all at once with little or no "mushy" phase, 60/40 will get a bit mushy before it completely melts.
 
ozz93666: Yes its cheaper from my local dealer.
 
Rather than making your own solder tips, tip maintenance is key. I used to eat through tips just like you, even with the genuine wellers. Then I started using ONLY a brass or other form of wire brush every single time after I was done cleaning. Every. Single. Time. By doing this I have gotten my weller replacement tip to last months vs weeks. The problem is most people recommend using a wet sponge to clean your tip, don't do this. This is because the water eventually causes the tip to oxidize and currode over time, actually destroying it. You want to use a DRY wire sponge to clean the tip. Keep water off.

mike said:
I'm not using mine anymore either. I was burning through expensive tips... Also, the 60 seconds on and 5 minutes cooldown duty cycle is annoying as hell.

I moved on to this iron with this tip and will never go back.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002I7X7ZS/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0195UT33K/
Click to expand...

Yep, I use the cheaper variation of that soldering iron. The weller SP80NUS.

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-SP80N...e=UTF8&qid=1491185407&sr=1-1&keywords=SP80NUS

These things are great. They have an enormous amount of thermal mass, so they are great for soldering batteries. The tip is also so huge, it will never (well virtually never)be eaten down be the flux over time.
 
Ok, so I decided to resurrect this thread as it is a continuation of it.

So I came across the video below. Got me to thinking about what we can do with the "waste" silver strips we all pull off our battery packs during the "ripping" process.

We can use the nickle strips to re-tin our tips. Now, I plan on using this process for a bare copper tip, not one that has been heated already nor has been used and the plating been pulled/scratched off. I'll make a video of it and keep you guys posted as to the details. (might take a few days to a week to actually get everything done, so stay posted)



 
Ok, so I got around to trying to reuse the nickel strips to (re)plate soldering tips. Unfortunately, these aren't 100% nickel strips. They are nickel plated iron :-/

So, my batch of solution turned into an ugly cloudy green instead of the bright clear green it's supposed to be.

Looks like will need to get some Nickel acetate powder or find some nickel bars to break down.
 
I have had to replace my weller tip for the first time in 20 years.
Even homemade pure copper tips last for a while.
Keep it clean and keep it WET,
The higher the temp of the iron the faster the solder eats the copper.
 
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