Wet vs Brass Sponge Tip Cleaning - Collin’s Lab Notes #adafruit #collinslabnotes

Choose your tip cleaner, wisely:

A dilemma which has haunted humanity since the dawn of time – clean your iron w a wet sponge or brass sponge? #adafruit #collinslabnotes

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[arduinoatolyem]

you can apply some solder to the soldering irons tip before turning it off.
*powers the iron on*

[newdawn]

As someone who started soldering circuit boards and tinning batch sets of wires with a solder pot at age 6 for a company my father worked for (thank the heavens OHS wasn't around to see it), I can say the kitchen sponge is a practical replacement that can last years with regular use as long as it's not a cheap style of sponge, the brand i use is scotch-brite, stay away from those cheap sponges that have that weird texture. Generally if one goes missing or it looks a bit worn out i just grab the one out of the sink, cut it down to size, quickly do a few shallow cuts, wet, and continue soldering.
Honestly the cheap, ridiculously thin sponge, on many of the sub $300 nzd solder irons stations, are a lot worse than a kitchen sponge and is a good first step upgrade.

My proof of these calms are from my fathers old weller soldering station circa 1984 (maybe older), elements have died but the soldering iron stand still gets regular use with a kitchen sponge.

Other than that i agree with what you said, also endorse tinning the tip of the soldering iron when you turn it off, as well as a drip of dish washing liquid and about 5% methylated spirits in your water is another trick i know of, an old sauce/mustard bottle is what i keep my water on hand in.

I'd also would like to point out that flux erodes the solder iron tip so cleaning it after excessive use of flux is a good tip to keep your tip clean and in tip top shape

[szarel]

the last tip helped me a lot, i never coat my soldering tip.

[ZsomborZsombibi]

Yesss Collin's shorties. My favorite content.

[andrewjarvis]

only thing with brass is it 'flicks' tiny pieces of cooled solder around a little bit each time but it's more satisfying to use than a sponge

[janplexy]

Anyone noticed the powering down at the end of the clip is actually a powering up?

[dilanmanojx]

isn't we cleaning remaining solder in the tip ? Then why coating with solder is a tip in the end ?

[RommudohDev]

Also, please use distilled water for the sponge.

[Tony-rlfr]

... a jar filled with and labeled "sponge water" um okayyyy, who doesn't keep and label their sponge water?

[pandarush.]

Do you dip the tip into the brass sponge while the tip is hot?

[brad]

Just get an old cardboard box and stab the tip into it, will give a better result then both.
Corrugated cardboard boxes work best I have found. Try it and let us know what you think.

[LightwalkerN]

Um, my kitchen sponge has worked great for years. So yeah, they work just fine.

[Elro_YT]

Hi I have a soldering iron that has black tip how do I clean it off?

[charackthe]

I clean it by dipping it into the flux jar (I guess) I got.

[calabrais]

Me folding a wet paper towel a few times.. 👀

[danielkochanicek]

I use both whenever i need to. I have never seen so ugly soldering iron tip. I can keep mine shiny all the time. Well...