Posted by Gary Dodge on August 12, 2003 at 02:06:14:
In Reply to: Soldering Iron posted by Kim Edwards on August 09, 2003 at 17:47:25:
Hi Kim,
OK, as for the barrel of your iron, that is normal, the first couple of times an iron is used the metal of the barrel just gets burned a bit and it will never be shiny again. Sad, but true.
As for your tip, that is a different story. Sounds like you have let your tip get too hot. When you overheat a tip you burn up the solder on it creating a thick crusty layer of oxides that will interfere with the good transfer of heat to your work, flake off in your solder lines and generally wreak havoc with your attempts to build a proper solder line. If you are working without a temperature control, that explains everything. If you ARE using one, TURN IT DOWN, especially when you are not actively working with the iron.
Right now, you need to re-tin your iron tip. Instructions can be found right on my site at What is tinning?, and we actually have the sal-ammoniac block you'll need available at featured supplies.
GaryD
: I am fairly new to stained glass after taking a class and recently bought all the supplies to do it at home. My problem is that the barrel of my iron has become discolored and the tip now has some black rusty crud on it that I can't get removed and it won't stay tinned. Not only that, but it's leaving black chunks in my solder joints when I use it. This pretty much started right after I soldered zinc, so I'm wondering if that has something to do with it. However, my iron was only used a few times before this so I'm also wondering if there is something I've been doing wrong. And how can I get my tip clean again, or do I have to get a new one? Thanks for any help.