Solder stand corrosion - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Rachie5272
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 06:53:03 am
content: The stand for my Hakko iron has corroded. Badly. Any thoughts on how something like this might have happened? The stand on my last iron suffered the same fate.I mainly use leaded solder with no-clean flux, and frequently work on random boards with unknown solders. I use filtered and softened well water, which is somewhat rich in sulfur.How can I prevent this from happening? I've never seen this kind of corrosion before.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 07:23:13 am
content: That sort of corrosion is absolutely typical of a painted aluminium or light alloy casting in a marine environment. Your well water is probably highly mineralised. Modern flux residues wont be helping either. I would strongly recommend using distilled or deionised water for wetting the sponge, as you don't need those minerals corroding the bit, and removing the sponge at the end of the day rather than letting it dry out in the stand. Also, when you wet the sponge initially, do so with it out of the stand, with excess water and press out the excess, so that the soluble part of the previous day's residue is rinsed out of it.Once the corrosion starts it traps ionic contaminants in contact with the metal surface and as long as moisture and oxygen are available the corrosion will continue. As paint films are at least semi-permeable to moisture and oxygen, repainting without cleaning off all the corrosion is fairly futile. One could use an anti-corrosive spray that leaves a waxy coating to slow it down but it certainly wont stop. Therefore there's not a lot you can do about the existing corrosion unless you are prepared to fully strip the stand, remove all corrosion deposits back to bright metal then prepare it with an etch primer, epoxy filler and repaint with two-pack paint.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 05:51:41 pm
content: Ian.Mnailed it.Fortunately, distilled water is easy to find, and is inexpensive. Also, sponges are consumables and need to be replaced from time to time. And just in case you're unsure, yours is past due.Your other alternative would be use the brass wool exclusively.Regardless of which cleaning method you decide to use, your stand will continue to corrode in its current state. It will take a bit of work to get it back to bare aluminum, prep it (primer), and get a couple of layers of paint on (epoxy paint, though a single stage from a rattle spray can would suffice IMHO, and is less expensive). Should be easier & cheaper than buying a new stand at any rate, and you'll get that feeling of satisfaction when you're done.

author: Rachie5272
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 06:59:27 pm
content: I tried to refinish the first one, but it never worked. I sanded it down to bare metal, then coated it with epoxy. The same thing happened again quickly. I'm not very interested in trying again, especially with nasty lead salts around.Maybe I'll make a new stand, out of stainless steel.

author: Jeroen3
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 10:09:51 pm
content: How is this possible? The stands from Weller lasts for generations, and are also coated aluminum.Does Hakko skip on the coating?

author: continuo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 10:21:14 pm
content: Depends... I saw similar bad looking Weller stands, but these were used in an industrial production environment and had seen a lot of (ab)use. Don't use tap-water, only demineralized oder destilled. And clean the sponge on a regular basis to avoid excessive accumulation of acids.