Just realized my soldering iron tip was shot for months...

I was fighting with a Canon AE-1 shutter magnet for like 3 hours yesterday and couldn't get the joint to flow right. Then I remembered reading on a forum that a crusty tip can add 50 degrees to your working temp... checked mine and it was totally pitted. Anyone else ever waste a whole afternoon on a bad tip before figuring it out?

3 comments

3 Comments

michaeljones11d ago

Totally pitted" yeah that's the worst. A quick dip in tip tinner fixed it for me.

wadeyoung10d ago

Man that exact thing got me a few months back. Was trying to fix an old reel to reel and kept getting cold joints everywhere. Spent a solid 4 hours redoing the same power supply connector before I noticed the tip looked like a golf ball. Swapped it out for a fresh one and it was like night and day. Now I check my tip every time before I start anything serious, lesson learned the hard way.

the_blair11d ago

Heard tip tinner works but only if the plating isn't completely gone yet.