Soldering iron tip gets jammed.

Does anyone have any tips to prevent the soldering iron tip getting 'welded' in place so you end up destroying the end of the soldering iron trying to get it out to replace it?

The soldering iron gets cooled once you touch the PCB. This can be due to a large plane connected to the point you are soldering or because of insufficient power of the soldering iron. you must have a good soldering iron with enough power to keep the temperature during soldering, else the tip will cool down along with the solder.

exnol said:

The soldering iron gets cooled once you touch the PCB. This can be due to a large plane connected to the point you are soldering or because of insufficient power of the soldering iron. you must have a good soldering iron with enough power to keep the temperature during soldering, else the tip will cool down along with the solder.

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You misunderstood me.

The problem is not the soldering iron tip getting stuck on the circuit board but rather the tip getting jammed in the end of the soldering iron where you tighten the screw.

I tried to get it out with pliers but ended up damaging it.

Sorry about the mistake. I can't tell you what is wrong without even knowing which iron it is

It is possible that copper grease can help but I have never tried it. Copper grease can withstand high temperatures and is useful for preventing metals fusing together with time.

Keith

I agree with Keith, there used to be a substance called "Copper Slip" but I'm not sure if it's still sold under that name these days. It's a silicone grease loaded with fine copper powder. You just put some on the tip before fitting it and it works like a release agent, preventing it sticking. You could try ordinary silicone grease or even heat sink compound but they may not have the same heat carrying property without containing copper. Try Google searching "Copper Slip" and see what turns up.

Brian.

I was using Baker's Fluid because I found that sometimes the solder wouldn't flow very easily.

This almost certainly contributed to the tip fusing in the holder because it seemed to be corroding the soldering tip. Although I had the same problem of the tip getting fused in the soldering iron with another inherited larger one that was used for soldering down pipes etc.

I have found Baker's fluid to be pain also because it leaves a conductive film on the circuit board which is hard to get off, even with boiling water. Might be useful for creating a conductive film for electroplating though.

I have since found info on making your own rosin flux with conifer sap. I made a small amount by simply dissolving the sap in acetone and filtering it.

It seems to work pretty well and it smells better too when heated.

I will give the silicone grease a go because that is available at the local supercheap auto. Its less than ideal thermal conductivity might not matter that much for a soldering iron.

Baker's Fluid and similar products are really for high temperature pipe jointing where the heavy grade metals can withstand a little corrosion. It shouldn't be used on delicate electronic equipment and it almost certainly accounts for your stuck tip problem. If you can get automotive products easily, see if they have a copper based compound. Incidentally, silicone grease is actually quite a good heat conductor.

You may find Baker's fluid has long term effects on your joints unless it is completely removed. Most of us use solder with cores of flux inside it for normal jointing and a liquid flux only when soldering large SMD devices. I use "Ultrasolve" (aka ULS) for cleaning small boards then coat them with an acrylic spray paint "HPA" to give them extra protection.

Brian.

Baker's Fluid is good for soldering roof gutters or metal buckets, but for electronics - Ugh!

FvM said:

Baker's Fluid is good for soldering roof gutters or metal buckets, but for electronics - Ugh!

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Yeah well it certainly has not been ideal FvM but the only flux that was available locally, and cheaply.

Until I discovered the youtube videos about DIY confier sap/rosin flux.