Sure, I’ve already taken notes on cleaning soldering iron tips, but I feel I need better notes. So, here we have it, better info to our avail, from Weller.
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Cleaning your soldering iron tip with a wet sponge puts stress on the tip due to the thermal expansion and contraction, it causes metal fatigue that can cause it to fail earlier. It’s therefore better to use brass wool (softer), or steel wool (a harder abraisive on the tip, it can wear out the tip but the wool lasts longer).
That being said… I’ve noticed that you can use a dry paper towel for cleaning solder tips, if you only need to clean off mild oxidation on the tinned surface. Just don’t hold the solder tip on the same position too long otherwise it will char the paper towel.
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Avoid using liquid flux directly to clean the tip because it is corrosive. Especially, do not use water-soluble fluxes because they can damage the tip at high temperatures. Additionally, using water-soluble flux for touch-up work will also hasten tip failure.
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If a little oxide has built up on the tip, you can use rosin-activated core solder to get it off. The stronger flux is required, no-clean flux will not clean the oxide off the tip.
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Again, tip reactivator is a last resort if all else fails.
20200728/DuckDuckGo clean solder iron tip flux
20200728/https://www.weller-tools.com/how-to-care-for-soldering-iron-tips/