Are you telling me that neither Arrow or Weller could pony up for 24-50mm lens so we can see the oxidized tips or some close up shots? Proper soldering in all about the details. Otherwise a good video and I appreciate you making this. Great collaboration and I love my Weller 1010. Just please put a back light in the display and it would be perfect!
As a telecom technician I occasionally had to do soldering repairs/upgrades in the field. I found the best/easiest way to clean my Weller soldering tips was to use a small piece of cardboard and insert the tip into one of the cardboard edge holes and rotate it in there. Very little tip heat loss (unlike a cold/wet sponge) and almost always took only one insertion in the cardboard to totally clean the tip. Of course on my office workbench I used the proper tip cleaning methods. Also, we had bins full of extra solder tips so replacement when necessary wasn't an issue.
yeah, but now you saw the video of a guy who does the program demo for Weller. You have a real expert to show you what to do... go buy a couple of new tips if need be... You have guts to admit being a dope... happens every day all over America.
Maybe I was using too much tip tinner... didn’t know it was an acid and would eat up the tip. That must explain why my last soldering session went so wrong lol. Not to mention I use lead-free solder and a cheap iron with no temperature controls. Thankfully getting a better iron (a whole station) soon and learning more about tip care. Thanks for these videos.
Sponges from home and no good I can vouch for that I just went and got a high-temperature one for soldering and it's awesome big difference thank you my man
Quality video. As a beginner hobbyist, I was only interested in what the cleaning paste does. But watched the whole thing just because it sounded interesting.
Thumbs up to the Lady that don't interrupt the professional from speaking. I saw Hakko presentation and this lady "Yik Yak" interrupting most of the time when the technical personnel explaining. She treated it as a talk or Gossip show. End result, customer felt digusted!.
I am of the opinion that a wet sponge is not good. It thermally shocks the hot tip and produces micro-fractures in the tip plateing. When I want the tip super clean, I simply wipe it with a DRY rag. I use cheap copper steel wool I get at the grocery store. It works great and is cheap. I recommend a soldering iron that, when not used, will step down the temp then turn off after some set amount of time. After EVERY use, put a glob of solder on the tip, this will help prevent oxidation. also, store the tips with a glob of solder on them. I store my tips with a tear drop size bit of solder on them. Again, my tips last forever. I keep them covered with solder, I don't use water, I clean them with a dry cloth, I never clean them with anything abrasive. I used the solder acid retinner only when thing are really bad. Then immediately wipe the tip clean and retin it with solder. Some folks use the retinner every time, I'm pretty stingy with using it only when I have been lazy and not kept the tip tinned. If you are going to buy a new soldering iron, save your money, don't by a soldering iron - buy a soldering STATION with the following - automatic turn off if not used for a preset time, super accurate temperature control. Without these features, you will fight with tip problems.If you aren't paying about $100, you are wasting your money. Good tools cost money and are worth it. Anyhow, this was a good video with some good tips, I basically agree except the part of scraping off oxide with a steel brush and his approval of a wet sponge.
Ay Ron, Like your info, im a bit confuse though. You say you wipe it with a dry rag, then say " i use cheap copper wool" sorry on me but which one is it ? or do you wrap the copper wool in a dry rag and then wipe off the solder on tip ? thanks for any instruction.
With all this precautions you presenting here, I want to ask you a question: In 1985 i was working for electronic company. We have used Weller irons 24/7, never off. Nobody took care of them ever and each tip was good for at least a year before change. How come?
He mentioned that lead free solder eats the plating and requires higher temperatures too, which is probably why. Also, you don't necessarily have to follow these tips, but it helps prolong the life and keep them in better shape.
Hmm. That's cute... you think "brands" are actual businesses, with a sense of history, pride and national identity and loyalty. Even in 1985, the "Wellers" you used were not even close to the Wellers my dad and I used to repair radios and TVs in the sixties. They were a Cooper Industries property. Cooper climbed into bed with Danaher Corporation sometime around 2010 to create Apex Tools - which they promptly (a couple years later) sold off to an outfit called Bain Capital. If you don't know the name, you should - Mitt Romney was one of the co-founders of Bain Capital. Mitt says he's pro-America - but folks like him view America as a big Thanksgiving turkey, to be sliced up and outsourced globally for maximum profit, while they make speeches, run for office and wave (chinese-made) American flags. From the press release of the Apex sale: --- ...the company will continue to be known as Apex Tool Group and will continue to produce and sell leading brands such as Crescent GearWrench, Armstrong, Weller, Lufkin, SATA and Wiss *around the world.* “Our JV shareholders saw tremendous synergy opportunities when they brought together their *combined global* hand and power tool businesses in 2010,” said Steve Breitzka, who remains CEO of Apex Tool Group. “Thanks to the outstanding efforts and talent of our associates *around the globe* who delivered strong results for our owners, we are now poised to build on our past successes and reach even greater heights under Bain Capital’s ownership.” --- How many times did you see America mentioned - and how many times did you see "global" and "world" mentioned? The Wellers you used in the mid-80's were pretty much like the Schwinn bicycles you rode in the mid-80's - about to become extinct, nothing more than a label to stick on products made everywhere but America.
@@47f0 The Weller WCC100 temp controlled soldering station I bought circa late 1980s or early 1990s has a label on the bottom which says Cooper Tools, South Carolina, and Made in U.S.A. It still works, but I left it on for days and the tip completely oxidized. Even before that, I noticed that I had to keep increasing the temp to get the same performance, even with a clean shiny tip. The comparable new Weller WE1010na sells for about $100 and says "Engineered in Germany and Assembled in Mexico. So, I've been looking to buy a new station and have been looking at the units with integrated tips, but in the not-made-in-China brands, they are rather pricey. In addition to Weller, there is JBC, Metcal, and Pace. So, I'm wondering what do you think of Pace? They state they are made in USA. I'm looking at the ADS200 with the instant set back holder.
Hi, many years ago I met a man who coated the tips of his soldering iron with a silver plating, they were always shining, no oxidation. What do you think about it ?
Is Weller flux LW25 safe to use on fine electronics, such as PCB boards when soldering? It has Zinc Chloride in it, and it is said that it is acidic and may corrode and destroy PCB's.
What about pure copper tips, what's up with those, I've heard a lot of good about them and not any bad and I'm really skeptical because of that, so i ordered my own copper tips but they won't be in for a couple weeks.
What temperature should the soldering iron be to solder speaker wires? Say if I had low melt solder that melts at 280 degrees. How much higher would be acceptable to set the temp to?
I have a really important question, i bought flux and it says its self-cleaning flux, water soluble, but it is white so can i use this to clean my iron
At 1:20 Pete says "you can see how oxidized the tip is". Ummm... no, Pete, we actually can't. Your Director of Photography should have used a macro lens on the video camera so we can actually see the problem. Or use a still camera with macro lens to create some close-up stills to insert into your video. Terry Thomas Director of Photography / Stills Photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA
What if some dummy tinned his brand new tip but then used steel wool to clean the tip on his first ever soldering chore. Then at the end of the day he found that his tip was black and despite his attempts to tin it, it stayed black. Did this TOTALLY hypothetical person ruin his soldering iron tip in one day?
I see so many youtube channels of single individuals that answer all the questions asked in the comments. But Weller is a large company, producing its own videos, & so many people in these comments have unanswered questions. I cannot imagine being a company that would think that is good? Why not answer people? If you can make/ post this video, then deal with the interaction from it please.
Hi. Thanks. So true, never use any abrasive, like sandpaper or or scratch it with the back of a cutter or metal. Do you need to buy those soldering tip refreshing that's powder and comes in a small tin can, by the way? What kind of sponge can be used to wipe it off? Can the dishwater sponge be used? Or there's a special sponge for soldering tips? Thank you. God bless, Revelation 21:4
Pabloxd123 wrong, if you keep your solder tip in contact with air at high temperature, it will oxidize. When you clean it with sponge, you should immediately cover it with tin to prevent oxidation.
Also ...in this video we see Pete using a brass wool sponge to clean his tip. I just bought a wlc-100, and the instructions said to not use abrasives to clean the tip as it will remove the iron plating, so the brass wool is ok though?
Yeah the brass is not abrasive, as he mentioned it doesn't even remove all the solder and is better for that reason. (It also doesn't thermally shock the iron like the wet sponge which also helps life)
Seriously, where can we find a demonstration of your products in real life’s work? I can’t find someone who makes a review of your best soldering station, especially in heavy boards?
20 year old school video - no details, very corporate like, almost advertisement. No close shots. Two (!) people keep talking for 12 minutes about soldering theory. I even question if they know how to solder in practice :-) Weller should stop wasting money and look how successful youtubers make their videos - short, up to the point, close up for great details, demonstrate real examples instead of talking, no stupid background music. It's that simple.
Great video, so thanks for posting. It's comical to read some of the entirely off-topic comments. Some should stay away from soldering and hire a neighbors kid.
OMG! What an absolute THIRST trap! 🥵🥵🥵 I did not expect to see such a gorgeous bombshell on a SOLDERING video. Like wow. Made my day. Consider me a superfan. Absolute god tier hotty. Pete you absolute MINX. Not sure who the lady is nut wow, Petey boy, you're stealing hearts.
That Weller cleaning bar that costs about £40 is just the same as a much cheaper PCB cleaning Block that you can get for about £5 stop ripping folk off
@@j0hnnykn0xv1lle so? Lots companies do tutorials and project video's with their products, purely for marketing purposes. Whether or not its a good project, or whether some component or information is cross compatible with another brand is irrelevant, its still just marketing for their product. Dumbass.
So its you who are to blame for the words "eight" and "ate". Well done biscuits. You mighta invented it but its we who brought the english language to whole new level... :) I guess its a silent "l" because the word "solder" has nothing to do with the word "sold"...so it makes sense the context changes with the pronounciation.
Cmon Alan... As a Brit you should know your history!!! American English is how English was originally pronounced (or, we'll say much closer)... Don't believe me, give it a google. Fancy pants in the UK dropped their rhoticity trying to sound smart. Speaking of.. Yeah, it's got an R in it, like "soldER"! But frankly, as a American living in the South, I think we could both work on enunciating our RRRs
You definitely shouldn't grind it with a file or sandpaper; all you're doing is taking off the protective outer metal until you're left with the inner copper; which oxidizes very quickly. Molten solder dissolves copper.