Infernal problem- soldering.

[Sea Chief]

I have the most infuriating problem, with basic soldering, which for the life of me I cannot understand. I've asked this before but I need a new fresh take on it. I have had this same thing for over 20 years I'd say/ I have -never- found the cause.

The problem I have is so fundamental I am embarrassed when it happens, embarrassed to ask, embarrassed considering I've built (& sold for good money too) entire amps, including a complicated Twin Reverb rebuild entirely from scratch. So it has nothing to do with soldering technique itself, whatsoever.

But today.. I cannot undo one wire. From a switch terminal. Impossible. Ages spent holding the iron onto the old solder but will not melt. It only singes the solder. Similarly, I practise (I mean the very shame of it) soldering a wire to a lug. The solder takes ages to flow, then just "balls" of it drop off the tip, instead of being able to quickly tin the tip. 5 minutes holding the flaming solder onto the tip. But it will barely melt. So I cannot solder a wire to a lug.

So the thing is -not- that I cannot solder. Once I have an iron -that works- I'm off & running, one solder then another on on on.

But I come up against this infernal brick wall, time & time again. Solder iron, to solder iron. Every single one I've bought has ground to a halt.. because of this infernal issue. So I buy another, it works for a while.. then brick wall. I buy an expensive temp controlled one.. exactly the same, the brick wall problem again (so a more expensive one, is no diifferent frtom a cheap one- I have to bin all of them). It is costing me a fortune.

One day I convince myself its A) a temp thing/ has to be/ so why isnt enough temp getting to tip? the next day I convince myself its B) the coating on the tip.. must have gone, or been replaced with I dont know 'oxidisation'?. The next day I get so demoralised I convince myself C) it must be my technique (but it cannot be- it's definitely something to do with the iron... not me). The next day it's D) the inferior iron, or the tips.

But unless I can establish what the f**king hell is going on, I am prevented from even replacing 1 wire on a switch. Let alone building a simple circuit with a few components. Totally & utterly impossibility at the moment to undo 1 solder, with a decent temp controlled soldering iron station. I could spend 3 hours holding this iron on the solder, mysolder sucker ready next to it, but it will NOT melt.

Please someone help me. SC

[Jon Snell]

Plenty of flux, a hot iron with a clean tinned bit and speed is of the essence.
I use NC-559-ASM, it is in a handy syringe, a Metcal SP200 and Ersine Multicore solder.
Insufficient flux and the heat goes everywhere except melt the solder.

[nosaj]

Show us a pic of your iron, sounds like you may be burning out tips. or they are no longer tinned.
nosaj

[J M Fahey]

Agree and add: "modern" non Lead solder is a b*tch compared to gentle 60/40 or 63/37 you found in that old Twin Reverb.

Worlds apart.

[Sea Chief]

Show us a pic of your iron, sounds like you may be burning out tips. or they are no longer tinned.
nosaj

In order to tin a tip, you need the solder to melt onto it. How can I do this, if when I gently offer the solder onto the tip, it won't melt? if I hold the wire against the tip for 5 minutes.. it just starts a bit of whispy smoke, then singes & tantalisingly looks like it might melt, &, if I'm lucky to just progress one iota, the solder wire will stick to the tip (I dont mean correctly coat/ tin the tip.. I mean incorrectly, the strand of solder from the tube, is now stuck firmly like an idiot to the tip).

If I progress very slightly further on than this infuriating sticking-to-the-tip ridiculousness, IE I leave these two together for a further 5 minutes, the solder wire might might might form tiny balls of solder & fall off the tip. It is in -no- state whatsoever like this, to be useable to even melt one old solder let alone use it.

---

What I desperately need, just to be able to understand what is happening, is for someone/ anyone/ just ONCE getting the same thing happen. Tiny balls of solder fall off the tip (without adhering to it/ some friction bizarre nonsense). OR the wire sticking to the tip. OR unable to melt an old solder. OR spending WaaaY too long putting the iron tip against an old solder until it melts, so you find yourself pushing the tip firmly against it, manoevreing it slightly one way then the other/ wiggling it to encourage the solder to melt.. then with me its a huge sigh/ head down/ utter demoralisation as it will not melt.

Any of these incredibly irritating situations. Anyone had any, ever? Its only once someone else has had the same thing happen that they might then know what remedied it/ & might know what the flying f**k is going on to cause it.

Unless I find the cause.. I can never solve the issue. IE I could blindly just buy a £50 solder station, one each month, there that's sorted the problem.. but it hasn't answered the Q as to what was going on, & this is untenably expensive.

Thanks.

[mozz]

Soldering iron isn't working properly.

[Sea Chief]

Soldering iron isn't working properly.

I think this is the understatement of the decade!

[Sea Chief]

Show us a pic of your iron, sounds like you may be burning out tips. or they are no longer tinned.
nosaj

[Dave H]

Are you sure you're not trying to solder with tinned copper wire?
It shouldn't take more than a couple of seconds to solder any connection.
Your tip looks dirty. It should be bright and shiny. I don't like those pointy tips. They don't have enough mass or contact area where you need it. I've been soldering with the same Weller TCP for decades and never had the problems you describe. I use a tip with a flat on it the PT-BB7 below that's 700F (370C)

[Helmholtz]

No tip lasts forever.

These tips are iron plated copper. When they can't be completely tinned anymore after cleaning with a brass or steel wool sponge, the iron coating is corroded and the tip should be replaced.

When heated the tip should always kept tinned to protect the iron coating.

[Drummer4gc]

How do you clean the tip while using it? Do you have a sponge or brass wool cleaner? Do you clean the tip after every/every few joints? Do you tin the tip before you turn the iron off and put it away?

Agree that it sounds like your tips are wearing out. I’ve also stopped using the pointy ones and have a few different sizes “screwdriver” (flathead) tips. A thin one for pedals, a couple larger one for amps. Give them proper time to come up to temp before soldering, clean them properly in between joints, tin before soldering, clean and tin before turning off the iron.

[Pedro Vecino]

That tip is kaput. In any case I have never liked that type of soldering iron. I use JBC exclusively (ST30/40).

[Sea Chief]

No tip lasts forever.

These tips are iron plated copper. When they can't be completely tinned anymore after cleaning with a brass or steel wool sponge, the iron coating is corroded and the tip should be replaced.

When heated the tip should always kept tinned to protect the iron coating.

So in your evaluation, the iron coating to the tip, has been corroded. If I never ever use any abrasive 'brass or steel wool' (Ive never heard of) which must be more likely to remove the iron plate.. only ever the sponge you see: then this only increaces the mystery as to how/ why my tip gets so corroded. IF this is the reason. IE the --cause-- of the tip to become corroded... is not established; so, there is no point me just buying tip after tip, if the same thing repeats itself, & I have no idea on earth as to why they keep failing.

If only someone could say "yes.. once this happened to me" (& could say what they considered the reason to have been). I'm desperate for someone to recognise the symptoms of what's happening. But adding insult to injury, it seems like I am the only person this ever happens to. No-one else buys a solder iron, uses it for a few weeks use only/ just a few times, then this brick wall/ unuseable situation suddenly hits. No-one.

There has to be a reason. It's the reason I'm trying to establish. Once I have this.. then I can likely find out how to prevent it happening.

thanks.

[Delta362]

As mentioned above, I think it is because you are perhaps not cleaning and tinning the tip before you turn it off for the day which leaves it in an unprotected state that facilitates quicker corrosion to it.

[Helmholtz]

Corrosion is accelerated by temperature. Most chemical proccesses double in rate every 10°C.
So the most probable cause for early scaling is leaving the soldering iron heated but not using/tinning it often enough.

Also tip quality varies as well as the corrosiveness of fluxes.

Why not just change the tip?