How to clean the soldering iron tip of a soldering station. Ways to clean the soldering iron and blowtorch

After I learned this method, it's incredible fast cleaning soldering iron tip from soot, the question immediately appeared in my head: “What, could it be like that?”. Before that, like most radio amateurs, I took sandpaper and manually cleaned the carbon from the sting. The whole process took about 15 minutes and took quite a lot of effort, not counting the cleaning of black soot after such cleaning.
Now everything has changed thanks to a little trick, which I will now tell you about.

It will take

The whole secret lies in the use of ammonia in powder. It is sold in radio markets or specialty stores.
It may have individual packaging:

Or it can be sold by weight in bulk:

In any case, it is worth every penny, especially considering the fact how much time and effort it saves.

Cleaning the soldering iron tip

So, pour the ammonia powder into a more convenient and heat-resistant dish.

Now we dip the heated sting into ammonia powder.

It is best to do this process in a well ventilated area.

Hold for a few seconds and remove. A little powder will remain on the sting, which will begin to evaporate with the release of thick white smoke. And after that you will see a shiny copper sting.

Now we remove all residues with a rag or a special sponge.

And tin the tip with solder.

Yes, everything is so simple and fast! I am sure that you will definitely take this method of stripping into service.
This method will be especially useful for those who solder very often.
Personally, I was very surprised by the speed and ease of this process and a little sorry that I did not know this earlier. Good luck to all, friends!

After I learned this method, incredibly fast cleaning of the soldering iron tip from soot, the question immediately appeared in my head: “What, it was possible like that?”. Before that, like most radio amateurs, I took sandpaper and manually cleaned the carbon from the sting. The whole process took about 15 minutes and took quite a lot of effort, not counting the cleaning of black soot after such cleaning.
Now everything has changed thanks to a little trick, which I will now tell you about.

It will take

Cleaning the soldering iron tip

Many radio amateurs and home craftsmen, after completing the soldering work, have to start, albeit a short, but very tedious process of cleaning the soldering iron tip. It is necessary to take sandpaper and clean it from soot for 10 - 15 minutes. Having learned the method of instant cleaning, this problem will never bother you again. Sandpaper and soot on the soldering iron will be a thing of the past.

Necessary materials

Our secret material is ordinary ammonia in powder form. You can get it in radio engineering or other specialized stores. Often it is presented in a small individual package, but you can also find it by weight. The cost of powder ammonia is not high, even a schoolboy who is fond of radio electronics can afford it. But the savings in time and effort from its use are very significant. At this stage, we don't need anything else.

Purification process

For the process of cleaning the soldering iron tip, we need the following. A small cup, preferably heat-resistant. We pour our ammonia powder into it.

Next, turn on the soldering iron in the network and wait until it warms up to the optimum operating temperature. Important: before cleaning, be sure to open the windows so that the work area is well ventilated. Or provide another method of forced ventilation. The pungent smell of melting ammonia powder is extremely unpleasant. And so that you can finish the job to the end, you will need an influx of fresh air.

Then, immerse the tip of the soldering iron in the cup for a few seconds, and then take it out. The powder remaining on the tip will begin to melt and emit thick white smoke, and after that, the end of the soldering iron will begin to acquire a shiny copper color. If traces of soot remain, then we continue to perform the previously described actions until the desired result is obtained. Now we just have to wipe the sting with an unnecessary rag or any other rag, and tin its tip with solder. Cleaning is finished, you can enjoy the result and think about where to spend the saved time.