maintaining soldering iron tip?

[Invisas1979]

Yeah, thanks for all the advice. My tips keep going dark and I didn't realise that the tinning on the tip was a benefit as opposed to something that needed wiping off.....

Another lesson learned.

[Crystal Chambers]

Thanks a bunch! I thought I was gonna need a new tip. So some tip tinning should restore and maintain my tip..awesome!

So in other words I'm awesome and don't need to learn anything and go right to work for a major airline...lol

The whole adding flux thing sounds a bit scary but good thing to be aware of.

I can't believe I couldn't find this info....much appreciated.

[Ovlos]

Sorry if my warnings about using flux made you shy away from it. Flux is a valuable tool and very necessary when soldering on circuit boards. Here's the thing...

Most circuit boards (like the US 2.5 for example) have quite a few very sensitive components on them. When you're soldering on a circuit board, the goal is to complete the solder with the minimum amount of heat necessary to form a good solder joint, to prevent any possible damage to the rest of the board. Flux aids in this by acting as an accelerator for transferring heat from soldering iron to the joint, thus reducing the amount of time you have to keep the iron on the board.

The real key to good soldering is to learn that a little goes a long way. Too much solder on the joint and you risk it contacting another circuit, creating a short. Too much flux and you have a sticky mess all over your board. Too much heat and you risk damage to the circuit board, etc etc etc...

If you're new to soldering, I'd suggest going to an electronics store like radio shack and buying a blank circuit card or two to practice on. They're dirt cheap. While you're there, get some small cheap resistors to practice component soldering and wire soldering. Practice makes perfect