Diy pointed soldering tip - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: meanie2
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 01:08:50 pm
content: Hi! Most of the soldering tip sold online isn't pointed enough, I need something more pointed than this for 40W:Can I file it down? Anything I need to take note? Thanks in advance.

author: DTJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 01:40:12 pm
content: You can file it down but it may have a very limited life afterwards.Tips are usually iron clad over copper. If you file it you will expose the copper which when hot will dissolved into the solder. If you run your iron hot it only takes a few hours use for the exposed copper to become a crater.Maybe look for a suitably small tip that fits your iron. I find that long fine tips don't have the thermal inertia sometimes needed so I go for short stubby fine tips when needed.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 04:20:39 pm
content: If the tip is a copper core you could shape your tip then use a DIY electroplating method to add a protective plating layer back to the tip. Iron might be tricky, so perhaps start with trying nickel.I'd be careful to only grind/sand the very end of the tip, that way only the end needs submerging in your plating solution. You can find a lot about plating online, but a perfectly smooth clean finish seems to produce the best results. Practice on some scrap before you butcher a tip.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 08:56:15 pm
content: Quote from: meanie2 on September 17, 2019, 01:08:50 pmWhat do you think you need a needle-like tip for, anyway? It's a common misconception that soldering small contacts has to have a tiny tip. And the thermal mass of thin tips is terrible. Before I learned this, I got the 0.6mm chisel tip for my iron (it simply looks like a pin, you need a loupe to even see which sides are flattened to a chisel), and I can tell you, I never use it. Heat struggles to get to the very point, so when tinning, you end up with the solder forming a dropletabovethe very end, unless you turn the temperature up way hotter than you'd need otherwise. I'm sure there are special applications where a tiny tip like that is required, but it's definitely not for anywhere near as many situations as people think.The tip I use a lot for fine soldering is actually a 2.3mm ⌀ drag soldering tip with the concave "well", which grabs onto excess solder, meaning beautiful, not overfilled joints, even on tiny SMD pads.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 11:44:58 pm
content: QuoteOh, boy. Here we go, again. Man of science at work.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2019, 01:03:46 am
content: Dude, let it go. You’re wrong about this, as this is repeatable, observable behavior, and you don’t need to derail this thread with a dispute where we are not going to see eye to eye.Sorry, meanie2, this is an ongoing spat between me and a couple of members who refuse to believe some commonly known truths about how solder behaves. If you want me to make a video of the droplet behavior, I’ll do it for you so you can see what I’m talking about.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2019, 03:08:51 am
content: Please remain calm and don't panic. There's nothing to fear.QuoteThis is repeatable, observable behavior. When you tin a thin pointy conical, the bead crawls up off away from the point. I agree with this. So we agree?QuoteWhen touching the tip to a board/joint that is sinking away heat, yes. I agree. The skinnier and longer the point on that tip, the greater the thermal gradient between the base of that tip and the point. (But when the tip is in free air while you are just tinning it, this is not a very large gradient. Perhaps we still agree, or maybe not?)QuoteThis is the part I don't agree. I'm actually shocked you still believe this after we had such a nice and civil thread a couple years back (and nearly became friends, until I inadvertently offended you by being myself).And yes, I got your nice PM. But you asked me to never PM you again, and I continue to abide your wish.I appreciate your presence on the forum. From what I know, you are a great person. Peace.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2019, 07:48:46 am
content: Silly arguments aside, it's true that fine tips are not actually that useful for anything but perhaps deadbugging 0.5mm pitch BGAsFor "reasonably hand-solderable" SMD, such as passives at least 0603 in size and common SO or QFP packages, the conical tips with oblique cut are fine.C or CM shape in Hakko nomenclature:https://www.hakko.com/english/tip_selection/work_drag.htmlThey also work well for THT, except for large stuff which really needs lots of heat.As for bare copper tips, there are special alloys supposedly intended to increase their life, such as Sn60Pb38Cu2. The copper already included in the solder reduces dissolution of other copper.

author: meanie2
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2019, 07:57:08 pm
content: I actually applied heat to the board for too long when desoldering and the pad came off the circuit board.I am still practicing and experimenting.Found some ready made 0.7mm and 0.5mm at last.

author: Nerull
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2019, 09:33:13 pm
content: If you find you are applying heat for too long, this may be because you insist on using an undersized tip. A properly sized tip will have the thermal mass to get the job done quickly and with minimal damage to the board.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2019, 10:15:54 pm
content: Quote from: meanie2 on September 18, 2019, 07:57:08 pmAgain, what task are you doing? It’s unlikely that a superfine tip is actually the right tool, as I and others are saying.

author: meanie2
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2019, 07:50:55 pm
content: Tried removing this type of IC by desoldering until i got fedup and snip them off and desolder the legs off one by one but soldering tip is too wide.

author: Dave
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2019, 07:57:44 pm
content: Soldering well takes time and practice. Patience is key.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2019, 10:01:12 pm
content: Yes desoldering takes a lot of practice and it helps to watch others till you refine your technique. I'd recommend getting both a desoldering pump and wick/braid they are both cheap and mastering both you can do a reasonable job, it just will be time consuming.If you are removing through hole components with the intent to reuse them with as little stress as possible or doing frequent desoldering, consider a vacuum desoldering station it can make life easier. It requires a bit of investment as the decent vacuum desoldering irons start at around $300 new.

author: Nerull
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2019, 10:53:23 pm
content: I seriously doubt that any tip you're likely to find is too wide to desolder a DIP, unless it's some specialty tip.Super fine tips are for working on really tiny things, by comparison a DIP chip is huge. You want a mid sized chisel tip for even a big knife for that.