Useless soldering iron tip? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: MikeK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 12:07:54 am
content: I tried using this to solder a single small pad connecting a short piece of 22AWG wire to a short piece of 30AWG wire (and the proto board circle pad). There just wasn't enough heat transfer, even after cranking it up. I'm guessing it might be okay for very fine pitch stuff, but I'm even doubtful on that as I couldn't get the tip wet. I resorted to using a larger chisel tip and bringing the iron down vertically.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 12:15:32 am
content: Aye, there is no heat in these long thin and sharp tips.But they would not be made and sold if nobody buys them, so my best guess is they mostly get sold because they look useful and people only discover they do not work after trying them out.Sometimes you can make them useful by bending the very tip into a J-shape.

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 12:18:08 am
content: I don't get conical tips like this at all. They have never ever worked for me. Apart from the heat transfer issues, the solder just spreads all over the tip and it is extremely hard to control.So yes, in a vote for the most useless tip, this one would be number one.Tips that I use for majority of the stuff, even fine pitch are miniwave or a conical tip with a flat at an angle on the tip. Both cavity of the miniwave and the flat are capturing enough solder and allow me to control where it goes.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 12:30:46 am
content: When you work around a 0.5mm pitch IC, such tip may be your only option. I had to debug one once, soldered wires to it, and it saved my day. For anything else-yeah, not much use.

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 12:42:38 am
content: I work with 0.5 mm pitch ICs all the time and I use this tip with no issues at all.Angled MiniWave Surface Mount Installation Tip (2.11mm)

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 01:13:56 am
content: Bent conical (aka J or hook tip) are the best of both worlds I reckon, very versatile, fine smd, clearing bridges, rattling down pin headers...

author: MikeK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 01:22:51 am
content: Yeah, this tip needs to be a little shorter and with a flat section. I'm going to do just that....grind a little off the end and flatten it.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 01:32:51 am
content: Quote from: MikeK on June 10, 2022, 01:22:51 amYou can do that, but I expect it would not last more then a week after that, unless it's a real crappy tip.Normally tips are made from a copper core and a thin layer of steel or other metal around it (which again is tinned).If you expose the copper core, then it will just dissolve into the solder and it will get eaten away in a short time.If the tip does not have a copper core, then it's probably so bad it can't be used for anything at all, but either way, you don't loose much by trying and you may learn something from it.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 04:19:10 am
content: They have a use for fine pitch work and poking blocked holes. If you use tip to pad size and mass approximations it's going to look horrible next to almost every other tip unless you are prototyping on a low mass board. If there are two conicals to pick though it's this one and the bent/hook, the larger conicals are better replaced by chisels which give better pad contact.

author: Electro Fan
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 05:01:17 am
content: A little off topic and not sure what is involved with your project, but if you can get your 22AWG wire attached (with or without solder) to a wire wrap pin the 30AWG wire would be an ideal gauge to wire wrap onto the pin.https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/working-with-wire/how-to-use-a-wire-wrap-tool

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 05:23:20 am
content: Let me nominate a bit as even more useless than most manufacturers' long slim conical bits!It may well be familiar to any Northern hemisphere 'Eastpondian' old farts here, as the Antex C15 15W iron (a classic 'firestick') was somewhat popular in what was the precursor to STEM education, in the UK back in the '80s, though anyone who could afford it got the TC25 which had a temperature controller in the handle.Its a 1mm 'hoof' bit (Antex #106) manufactured to the most stupidly pigheaded design possible. Its main problem was the long thermal path from the heater (which it fits over) to the working face at the tip, and the lack of copper CSA in the tip section. Its also mechanically rather fragile as with even slight pressure it tended to bend at the root of the tip section, cracking the iron plating, which then let the thin copper core oxidize and fatigue till the whole tip of the bit simply dropped off!Enough of Antex horrors, and back to MikeK's problem:There's a thread from two years back that's worth a read:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/soldering-question-tinning-16-awg-wire/Several of us expressed our opinions on a similar situation to MikeK's in this thread, and the O.P. there (DW1961) took the advice, bought different bits and followed up with the differences he found using them. It also gets into more general questions like choice of solder and tip cleaning. IMHO, MarkF's contributions were particularly valuable.

author: tkamiya
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 05:37:07 am
content: There is a temperature, and there is a heat mass. You could get the tip very hot but as soon as you melt solder on it, temp drops and takes while to recover. In the mean time, flux burn up. Even with those finely tipped "tips," you can make a fine solder as long as you don't try to do most of your work with the very tip of the tip.Before moving onto next tip, I'm going to suggest experimenting with what you got. After all, there are reasons manufacturers make those.Soldering is more of an art than science, too.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 04:25:44 pm
content: Quote from: tkamiya on June 10, 2022, 05:37:07 amThere is also thermal resistance.Especially by the tip shown by Ian.M the thermal resistance is very high, and that makes it difficult to heat anything at it's tip, unless the thing to solder has both a low thermal mass itself, and does not radiate much heat.But in general, always use the shortest, thickest and stubbyest tip you can fit into the job, and use something with a flat side to improve contact area (and also add a tiny amount of solder to further improve heat transfer)Soldering stations with an adjustable temperature are also much better than the "self regulating" PTC soldering irons. Those generally get much too hot (which burns away the flux quicker), while reacting slowly t heat getting sucked out of the tip, and this results in relatively big temperature swings of the tips.

author: AndyBeez
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 05:30:10 pm
content: The only time I find these point tip bits of any use is when I file a flat across it (and tin the bare copper). Repeating what other's have said, the point has zero heat mass. They barely work on SMDs with 0.4mm solder; the solder acts as a heatsink. Also, by increasing the element temperature, these burnout/erode with lead free solder in just minutes. Been there done that. The idea of a solder tip is to capture a tiny pool of moltern solder on the end. So where does the solder go on a conical point? All that collects on the tip is carbonised flux. Cheap Chinese garbage designed by people who have never done soldering.For general flow and reflow work, I do like the chisel profile bits - even down at 0805 surface mount sizeAs for that Antex #106 bit, guilty, I did break a few!

author: AmnevaR
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 05:41:36 pm
content: Quote from: MikeK on June 10, 2022, 12:07:54 amNo! Those soldering tips are useful...for making holes in plastic