How To Clean Soldering Iron Without Flux

To prevent damage to the board you should re-solder your soldering iron now and then as the technique will remove solder from it.

How to clean soldering iron without flux. Its something of a vi-vs-emacs war about which is better but whatever. Modify the soldering irons temperature to a standard work temperature of around 300 degrees Celsius. No-clean flux is another alternative flux that is used for soldering parts that require little or no cleaning.

Flux is for dissolving surface oxides on the joint and tends to foul the iron. The flux will be activated by the heat that will start a chemical reaction to eliminate the oxidation. By heating up one flat head screwdriver to use as an alternative to a soldering iron and another cold screwdriver as a wick youll be able to effectively remove solder from any surface.

Vacuuming the melted location. Using excess heat can damage the circuit board oxidize and damage the tip and render flux useless in flux cored solder. Use the cold flat screwdriver to remove the liquid solder hastily.

Cardboard works in a pinch. Thats how you can tin your new soldering iron. Then dip into the tin of tinner cleaner with a slight twisting action.

Always wear gloves before you handle the ethyl and isopropyl solutions and start mixing them. Apply to the oxidized tip a thin layer or flux-cored solder. In a pinch you can use a solution of white vinegar and salt.

If you feel all the solder isnt yet removed feel free to repeat this process to remove any remaining solder. I found that without solder it is very difficult to get the solder to suck into the wires. Old soldering iron may have flux stick to it.