Re: smoldering irons

["John S. Denker" <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>]

Chuck Britton wrote:
> Getting iron-clad tips is worthwhile in MY book.
>
> Unclad tips (copper) will slowly dissolve away in the liquid solder.

I don't get it.  I've never owned a tip "clad" with
anything, or containing copper in any form.
The ones I use, and the ones that I thought
I was recommending, have the property that
the last half-inch or so is SOLID steel.

If you really, really abuse one, you can get it to
the point where solder won't stick to it.  Getting
solder to stick to steel isn't the easiest thing in
the world.  You'll have to use some aggressive flux
such as ammonium chloride.  Fortunately, once you've
done this, the iron should retain its solder coating
for years.  Be sure to wash away any traces of leftover
NH4Cl flux with water and a wet paper towel.  Do not
allow harsh flux anywhere near electronic components.
"Anywhere near" means several feet.  It spatters.
Guess how I know.

=================

Since my last message I looked around the lab.  There are
a number of soldering irons made by "OK Tool Co."  They
seem OK, if you'll pardon the expression.  (I'd be a little
careful;  in the past I've gotten some real junk from
this mfgr ... but that was a long time ago and maybe
they've cleaned up their act.)

Also note that (in addition to the electronically controlled
units mentioned previously) Weller continues to make the WTCPT
line of soldering irons, which they've been selling for many,
many decades.  The operating principle is a super-cute
piece of physics:  The tip has a ferromagnetic alloy with its
Curie temperature artfully chosen, and they use it to trip
a reed switch.  You can hear it clicking on and off during
use.  Unbelievably slick.  Different tips have slightly
different alloys -- it's the tip that determines the
temperature;  there's no smarts in the unit anywhere else.

This is such a cute piece of physics that I would never
part with the unit I bought back when I was a sorcerer's
apprentice.  The only micro-problem is that you need a
selection of tip-sizes and -shapes FOR EACH TEMPERATURE.
If you're buying a new unit, I (sigh) recommend the new-
fangled electronic thing, for which you need only one
set of tips.