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Another Soldering question
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ChadTower:
The tip on my new, 20/40 watt station just doesn't seem to get that hot anymore.
ChadTower:
Bump!
stevejt:
In my experience it seems to be too long between uses.  The hotter the iron, the sooner the flux/solder dries/burns up.  I think a copper tip "cruds" much faster than a steel tip. 

Steve
NoOne=NBA=:
Are you cleaning it WHILE you are using it?
You should have a damp sponge handy, and rub the tip against it occasionally WHILE you are soldering, to keep the gunk from building up in the first place.

I've been using the same soldering iron for about 15 years now, and never had a problem with it getting too gunked up to work--or even needing to be sanded down.

A properly tinned tip should have almost NO solder on it.
The barrel part of the tip may get a little black, but the actual tip part should be shiny silver (from the VERY thin layer of solder on it).
RayB:
I never clean mine, but I also never let solder accumulate on it. It's a common newbie mistake to put solder ON the tip and then apply that solder to the part being soldered. That's wrong. You're supposed to melt solder right onto the part. Any accumulated solder on the tip you should suck off with the solder-sucker.
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