Bass Broken

[WhiskeyJack]

Also doesn't hurt ot use distilled and the purest water you can find. thats like a bit much of an extra step but it does help a bit.

Again i am going to throw flux out there, but flux is also good for cleaning the tip i have found. If i want ot clean before tinning again i just give the old what for with some flux first.

Again, i am not pro nor can i safely say with full confidence that any of my pracitces are "right" but it's all little things that i find help me do things better. At least to me.

[Greg_L]

I use two kinds of flux. One's a little can of flux paste. I get the iron hot, dunk it in the paste, then melt solder all over it. It spits and sizzles and smokes and stinks, then I wipe it off and it's clean clean clean and shiny. Perfect tip ready to go.

The second kind is this syringe of a more liquid flux that I use for actual soldering - particularly when it's a large-ish connection that might need a lot of heat. A little dab of the thinner flux makes that shit go together beautifully and easily.

Then, at the end of the session, the iron gets thick fluxed and cleaned again. Nice and shiny and clean. And then, for the very last thing, I melt a blob of solder on the clean tip and turn the iron off for the solder to dry on the tip. This seals the tip from air and moisture and corrosion.

Basic simple stuff and my iron keeps on doing it's job.