How to properly solder with a soldering iron with rosin and tin (solder). Instructions on how to tin a soldering iron tip - how to properly tin the different types of soldering irons How to tin a stranded copper wire
Almost everyone has the most common soldering iron with a copper tip. This simple and useful tool is needed not only by specialists involved in radio electronics. It is also often needed on the farm, for example, to solder two wires or repair some simple problem. household appliance with your own hands.
However, not all novice users succeed in even the simplest operation - tinning a soldering iron.
Why tin the soldering iron?
The answer to this question is that during the soldering process it becomes necessary to pick up solder (an alloy of lead and tin) with a heated tip, which is then transferred to the joint. But if it is not tinned, then this procedure becomes impossible. The solder does not stick to the soldering iron, so take required quantity alloy and transfer to the soldering site is impossible.Why is this happening? When a heated tip comes into contact with solder, the latter melts and sticks to the surface. But only when there is a layer of tin on it, which is what is called a “tinned soldering iron.” Accordingly, if it is stained with rosin, flux or plastic, the specified interaction does not occur. The solder simply melts, drops of metal are formed, but the whole thing does not stick to the tip.
A properly tinned soldering iron is a tool whose working part is covered with a thin layer of solder. Tin readily sticks to such a surface, and it can be easily transferred to a conductor, board, radio component, and so on.
Soldering iron tinning materials
To properly tin a soldering iron with a copper tip, you will need a minimum set of materials:- pine rosin;
- solder;
- sandpaper;
- sponge for washing dishes.
The result will be much better if you listen to the recommendations outlined below.
Do not use rosin that has expired. It is also better not to take anything that has become darkened or contaminated with foreign substances. As a rule, standard rosin is suitable for use within two years from the date of manufacture.
It is recommended to buy solder that has the maximum light shade. This means that the alloy contains more tin and, accordingly, less lead. This solder melts better and is easier for a novice user to handle.
The sandpaper should be such that after its use there are no deep grooves left on the copper tip. For the same reason, you should never use it for cleaning. sharpening stones. Excellent results gives application sandpaper with P150 grit.
A sponge for washing dishes must have a hard pad, since this is the side that is used for work. It can be replaced with almost any felt materials. There are also special sponges for cleaning the soldering iron.
The process of tinning a soldering iron with a copper tip
It is immediately worth noting that using the method described below you can only tin soldering irons with a copper tip. If you treat a ceramic tip with sandpaper, it will irrevocably lose its properties, and all you have to do is throw away the expensive attachment.
If frozen tin remains on the working surface of the tip, it can be removed as follows. The soldering iron must first be warmed up. Then the tip is dipped in rosin and cleaned on stranded copper wire dipped in flux.
Further working part The tool must be cleaned of carbon deposits. This is done using sandpaper. There is no need to be particularly zealous, since copper is a fairly soft metal.
Particular attention is paid to the part of the tip that is used for soldering.
Immediately after cleaning, the soldering iron is turned on and warmed up to operating temperature. Since copper oxidizes very quickly, it is recommended to dip the tip into rosin during the heating process. This limits the access of oxygen, and the surface will not become covered with oxide in a matter of seconds. At high temperatures this process is accelerated significantly.
When the soldering iron is properly heated, it is removed from the rosin and brought to the solder. Typing sufficient quantity alloy (tin should stick perfectly to the cleaned surface), the tip must be immersed in rosin again several times. Due to the high surface tension, the tin will spread evenly over the working surface of the soldering iron.
You can improve the result by using cardboard pre-coated with rosin. If you move a tip with solder over such a surface, the tin will be better distributed and will lie more thin layer.
Next, you need to clean the soldering iron from excess molten metal. To do this, you need to run the tinned tip over the damp sponge several times. At this stage, you should be careful not to re-stain the instrument. Immediately after cleaning, the tip is dipped into rosin to protect the applied coating.
The result of the above procedure should be a perfectly tinned soldering iron with the thinnest layer of tin on the working surface. If everything is done correctly, the subsequent soldering process will be simple even for a novice user.
During repairs, modernization or installation of electrical wiring Special attention is paid to the quality of the connection of current-carrying conductors. Reliable soldered connections are the key safe operation electrical lines and household appliances. To secure the solder well, you must first tin the wires; the essence of the procedure is to coat the surface with tin.
Why Tinning Wires Is So Important
Tinning wires prevents oxidation
Before you tin the wire, you need to find out why this procedure is so necessary. Copper and aluminum, when interacting with oxygen, oxidize, forming an oxide film on their surface, which impairs conductivity and increases resistance. Tinning the wires avoids this. Wires are tinned with lead-tin solders; their advantage is a long service life, safety and reliability.
Tinning is also used during soldering, for example, when connecting LED strips to the power supply. If the veins lighting fixture Do not tin the wires first; over time, all the wiring will fall off.
Tinning wires with a soldering iron
Tinning wires with a soldering iron
To get the job done efficiently, it is important to confidently use a soldering iron. If there are no established skills, you will not be able to tin and solder the wire.
Exist different models soldering irons, everyone has their own technical characteristics– power, dimensions, etc. It is recommended for a novice master to give preference to soldering stations where it is possible to regulate the heating temperature independently.
It is advisable to purchase an expensive device, since the process will take less time and the work will be done with joy.
Required Tools
Flux is selected depending on the wire material
Installation, modernization, repair and maintenance of wires is a troublesome task, but not difficult. To reduce the time spent, pre-prepare everything necessary tools and consumables for work. The list looks like this:
- to the number Supplies includes solder and flux;
- sharp knife;
- soldering station or soldering iron;
- technical or medical tweezers;
- ordinary pliers.
You can use not a well-sharpened knife, but special pliers that allow you to remove the entire insulating layer with a few movements. But their cost is quite high, so many people use a knife or scalpel.
In each case, a certain solder and flux composition for the cables is required, this must be taken into account.
Procedure
To tin the wire, you need to follow the following algorithm:
- By using special tool, knife or scalpel, remove the insulating layer from the wires that need to be connected.
- After removal insulating material Clean the current-carrying conductors until a characteristic shine is formed. To do this, you can use a knife or sandpaper. If the work is not with cast conductor, but stranded wire, each wire is fluffed up and stripped separately.
- The soldering iron is plugged into the outlet and cleaned of all the contaminants that it likes to collect, especially old solder and dust. When cleaning the soldering iron wire, it is recommended to use light sandpaper.
- The tip of the wire needs to be heated. This can be done using a soldering iron, gas burner or a regular lighter.
- When the soldering iron has warmed up to operating temperature, its core is touched to the solder and rosin. The working surface should be generously covered with melted tin.
- The next step is to touch the copper conductor with a hot soldering iron. The solder should be evenly distributed throughout the core. To apply solder, pliers and tweezers are used.
- At the end of the work, the cable or wire is carefully inspected. The working surface must be completely and evenly covered with solder. There should be no empty cavities or accumulations of substance. If shortcomings are found in the work, the procedure is repeated.
If you have to work with very thin wires, it is better not to use rosin, since it is very difficult to calculate the exact amount of the substance. Soldering acid is suitable as an analogue. You can treat the tip of the conductor with an ordinary brush. After this, you can begin applying solder. This method cannot be called more reliable, but with these types of wiring it is impossible to do otherwise.
Wire processing methods
Tinning with a wooden block
There are several methods of tinning. Some craftsmen prefer a method, the essence of which is to press the wires with a soldering iron to a flat wooden surface.
When heated, wood releases gases that act as flux, helping to remove oxides from the metal.
It is possible to remove the oxide film on the surface of conductive wires more efficiently using aspirin. During operation, the tablet is placed under the wires. When heated, acetylsalicylic acid releases gases that envelop the joint, displacing impurities that negatively affect the quality of the joint. This simple and inexpensive method provides high-quality tinning.
There is another way to prepare multi-core cables and wires in which the copper base is coated with enamel. It is preferable to use a small piece as a substrate PVC material. When exposed to heat, polyvinyl chloride begins to actively release hydrogen chloride, which effectively destroys the oxide layer.
Tinning by dipping
If you have to work with wires and cables large diameter, then it is advisable to carry out preparation differently. In this case, complete and uniform distribution of solder is not easy to achieve.
Exists special device- a crucible in which small pieces of tin are placed. There they heat up, resulting in molten metal. The end of the wire is first immersed in rosin or other types of flux, and then in the crucible container. This approach ensures complete and uniform distribution of substances at the cut site.
This method can only be used with fully tinned wires. Immersion is already on a completely different scale, and is carried out in industrial conditions. The process is implemented using a special coil with wound wire. First, the entire copper surface is manually processed with hard brushes; their bristles are first treated with liquid zinc chloride. Dissolved flux is obtained from a mixture of technical of hydrochloric acid and zinc.
Next, the wire from the coil begins to slowly unwind and is dipped into a container filled with dissolved tin. The uniformity of the coating is ensured by secondary processing of the cable or large-diameter wire with rubber brushes. Finally, the cable is immersed in a container with cold water and again treated with brushes. After this, the wires and cables are coiled and packaged for further implementation in construction stores.
How to learn to solder. I decided to prepare just such a small special lesson, not directly related to the main topic, for those who not only have to solder cords, sockets, plugs, but anything else in general. So, let's begin…
What do we need for soldering?
Of course, a soldering iron (ideally Soldering Station), tin solder, rosin, ideally - wire solder, which is a long, thin tin tube, similar to a wire, wound on a reel, in the cavity of which there is rosin. Those. when soldering, in this case, we do not need, as in the old fashioned way, to lower the tip of the soldering iron, now into the rosin, now into the solder, but all this happens simultaneously at one point. More on this below...
You can purchase all the necessary components at your nearest radio store.
If you do not have a soldering station, which is initially ready for soldering immediately after switching on, but a regular soldering iron, then before work (especially if it is new) you need to prepare it in a special way - tin it, otherwise it will not solder. Let’s look at what “tinning” means now.
How to tin a soldering iron?
Take a file and apply it flat to the cut of the soldering iron tip. Now we sharpen in the same plane, periodically looking at the tip, until it becomes flat, smooth and shiny.
After this, we lower the heated tip into rosin and immediately into solder (into tin). There will be almost no solder sticking to the tip, so immediately after this procedure we apply the tip to a small board, preferably of natural origin (not chipboard), preferably spruce or cedar (resinous), but in principle, any will do, you just have to mess around longer.
So, we repeat this procedure (rosin → solder → board) until the cut of the tip, prepared in advance with a file, made of yellow-gray heated copper, becomes silvery and shiny from the solder evenly covering it. This is what is called “tinning”, in this case a soldering iron.
This is what a tinned soldering iron tip should look like.
Now we will learn to solder wires (after tinning it) to a brass tin, also tinning it from the beginning.
We dip the soldering iron tip into rosin, then into solder, and immediately, with the plane of the tip parallel to the plane, we bring it close to our brass test subject, without allowing the rosin to evaporate, we press it, then we rub it in, we grind, in general, we tin. If the rosin has evaporated or spread, we repeat the process, and gradually, gradually our tin is covered with high-quality solder adhering to it. If the material is clean or without strong oxides, then such tinning occurs quickly.
If solder wire is used, then we lean the tip of the soldering iron against the tin, and bring the tip of the solder wire to the point of their contact, trying to touch more of the tinned part of the soldering iron, and rub it against this part so that the tin and rosin enrich the contact point.
How to tin a wire?
Now let's tinker with the wiring. Carefully remove the insulation just enough so that we have enough space for soldering and for positioning heat shrink tube, (or other insulator) so that later no “shorts” (short circuits) arise...
It is easier to tin the wire, because Usually, the metal under the insulation is clean, not oxidized. We dip it in rosin, placing the tip of a heated soldering iron on top of it and slowly pull the wire out from under the soldering iron after the rosin melts and starts smoking. This is done, as you probably understood, so that the molten rosin envelops the contact part of the wire. Now we enrich the soldering iron tip with solder, touching the tin, and bring the tip to the rosin adhering to the wiring.
If the wire is copper and clean, tinning will occur immediately.
If not, you may have to repeat the operation or use solder paste instead of rosin - a special chemical (like soldering acid, if anyone is familiar) that allows you to tin, for example, even iron.
This is what solder paste looks like.
How to solder a wire?
We have a tinned experimental brass tin and tinned wires, which we now have to connect, seal with heated solder and then cool in order to preserve them forever electrical connection, which is what we do by bringing the tinned part of the wire to the tinned part of the tin.
We bring the soldering iron tip enriched with solder to the place of their contact so that the solder covers the tinned parts of the soldered parts well. This will be facilitated by the rosin involved in the process. If something doesn’t go well, dip into it. Once the parts are in the molten solder, try not to move them anymore. You can lightly blow on the solder area until the shine of the solder darkens slightly, indicating that the solder has hardened.
That's it, congratulations! You did it.
How to unsolder the wire?
You can unsolder wires and various soldered joints accordingly, reverse method- heating the soldering area (tinned and dipped in rosin, heated) with a soldering iron tip until the solder melts.
...And probably finishing touch- you can also dip a small one paint brush into the solvent and rinse the remaining rosin in the soldering areas.
What can you solder?
More precisely, what metals are good to solder? In the first place, this is, of course, copper, brass, gold, silver, lead, and, of course, tin. It is worse to solder (tin) iron, steel, zinc. To tin the latter, you will have to use a special solder paste (see figure above). There are also metals that cannot be soldered at all, for example aluminum.
What do we need for soldering? Of course, a soldering iron (ideally a soldering station), tin solder, rosin, ideally solder wire, which is a long, thin tin tube wound on a reel, similar to a wire, in the cavity of which there is rosin. Those. when soldering, in this case, we do not need, as in the old fashioned way, to lower the tip of the soldering iron, now into the rosin, now into the solder, but all this happens simultaneously at one point. More on this below...
You can purchase all the necessary components at your nearest radio store.
If you do not have a soldering station, which is initially ready for soldering immediately after switching on, but a regular soldering iron, then before work (especially if it is new) you need to prepare it in a special way - tin it, otherwise it will not solder. Let’s look at what “tinning” means now.
How to tin a soldering iron?
Take a file and apply it flat to the cut of the soldering iron tip. Now we sharpen in the same plane, periodically looking at the tip, until it becomes flat, smooth and shiny.
After this, we lower the heated tip into rosin and immediately into solder (into tin). There will be almost no solder sticking to the tip, so immediately after this procedure we apply the tip to a small board, preferably of natural origin (not chipboard), preferably spruce or cedar (resinous), but in principle, any will do, you just have to mess around longer.
So, we repeat this procedure (rosin > solder > board) until the cut of the tip, prepared in advance with a file, made of yellow - with a bluish tint of heated copper, becomes silvery and shiny from the solder evenly covering it. This is what is called “tinning”, in this case a soldering iron.
This is what a tinned soldering iron tip should look like:
Now we will learn to solder wires (after tinning it) to a brass tin, also tinning it from the beginning. We dip the soldering iron tip into rosin, then into solder, and immediately, with the plane of the tip parallel to the plane, we bring it close to our brass test subject, without allowing the rosin to evaporate, we press it, then we rub it in, we grind, in general, we tin. If the rosin has evaporated or spread, we repeat the process, and gradually, gradually our tin is covered with high-quality solder adhering to it. If the material is clean or without strong oxides, then such tinning occurs quickly.
If solder wire is used, then we lean the tip of the soldering iron against the tin, and bring the tip of the solder wire to the point of their contact, trying to touch more of the tinned part of the soldering iron, and rub it against this part so that the tin and rosin enrich the contact point.
How to tin a wire?
Now let's tinker with the wiring. We carefully remove the insulation just enough so that we have enough space for soldering, and for the location of the heat-shrinkable tube (or other insulator) so that later no short circuits (short circuits) arise...
It is easier to tin the wire, because Usually, the metal under the insulation is clean, not oxidized. We dip it in rosin, placing the tip of a heated soldering iron on top of it and slowly pull the wire out from under the soldering iron after the rosin melts and starts smoking. This is done, as you probably understood, so that the molten rosin envelops the contact part of the wire. Now we enrich the soldering iron tip with solder, touching the tin, and bring the tip to the rosin adhering to the wiring.
If the wire is copper and clean, tinning will occur immediately.
How to solder a wire?
We have a tinned experimental brass tin and a tinned wire, which we now have to connect, seal with heated solder and then cool in order to forever maintain their electrical connection, which we do by bringing the tinned part of the wire to the tinned part of the tin.
We bring the soldering iron tip enriched with solder to the place of their contact so that the solder covers the tinned parts of the soldered parts well. This will be facilitated by the rosin involved in the process. If something doesn't go well, dip into it. Once the parts are in the molten solder, try not to move them anymore. You can lightly blow on the solder area until the shine of the solder darkens slightly, indicating that the solder has hardened.
And probably the final touch - you can also dip a small paint brush into the solvent and wash off the remaining rosin in the soldering areas.
IN modern house filled with equipment, there are often simple breakdowns that, with the proper skill, can be easily fixed on your own. The most common failure is disconnection of contacts and rupture of wires. At home, this problem can be dealt with using an ordinary soldering iron.
Many sites have instructions on how to choose the right soldering iron and solder yourself, and how to choose solder and flux. But for the most part, the instructions omit such an important question as how to properly tin a soldering iron.
If you incorrectly prepare the tool for work, the results of your efforts will be completely poor quality, and the contacts in the device will be unreliable.
The tinning method is mainly influenced by the material from which the soldering iron tip is made.
Copper
The most popular and affordable are tips made from copper and its alloys. This metal has good thermal conductivity, but has a large minus - the copper tip is very soft and for this reason wears out very quickly. Also, copper tips are not suitable for working on small radio components.
Non-burn tips
Much best characteristics have unburnt stings. They are also made of copper alloys, but have a special protective covering made of nickel or silver.
You won’t be able to find instructions on how to tin the tip of such a soldering iron - this process is performed at the stage of manufacturing the tip, and thanks to the special coating, this operation will no longer have to be repeated.
Steel
In rare cases, you can find soldering irons with a tip made of steel. This material is much more durable and strong compared to copper, but has very poor thermal conductivity. This causes the very low popularity of soldering irons with steel tips.
Ceramics
IN Lately Soldering irons with tips made of ceramic are becoming increasingly popular. They have enviable thermal conductivity, are not covered with oxides and, as a result, do not require tinning.
Also, due to its density, the ceramic tip can be very thin, which is ideal for working with small radio components and creating designer jewelry.
Composite tips
On sale you can find tips made from several metals at once. When creating such parts, all the pros and cons of each of the metals used are taken into account in order to fully reflect its advantages and neutralize its disadvantages.
The most popular combination of metals is a combination of steel, copper and nickel. Hard steel serves as an axis of rigidity, soft copper serves as a good conductor, and the nickel coating protects the copper tip from oxidation.
Beginning of work
Getting started with a new tool versus a previously used tool is completely different.
How to tin a new soldering iron?
It is worth remembering that only copper and steel tips need tinning. For others this procedure is not required.
You should start working with a new soldering iron by removing patina from its surface - a greenish coating created by oxidation products. The patina is removed using fine-grained sandpaper. Then you can proceed directly to tinning.
To know how to tin a copper soldering iron, you need to know what tinning is. This term refers to covering the surface of the tip with a thin layer of heated solder. This operation will help prevent metal oxidation during operation, which will have a beneficial effect on the quality of the seam.
After removing the oxides from the new soldering iron and giving the old tip the desired shape, you can begin tinning. To do this, the soldering iron is heated to the melting temperature of rosin, after which the tip is processed.
To make this process easier, you can see a photo of how to tin a soldering iron. This will help you choose optimal quantity solder and rosin to complete this job.
Photo instructions on how to tin a soldering iron tip
