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ERSA soldering iron tip suddenly un-tinnable

davebullockmbe

Hi I have an ERSA I-CON PICO solder station that has served me really well for several years when suddenly the 'pencil' tip has become un-tinnable.
It is the :-

://uk.farnell.com/ersa/0102pdlf04-sb/tip-soldering-iron-pencil-0-4mm/dp/1203967

A 0.4mm pencil tip which is great for getting into solder the tiny legs of SMD IC's.
I had used ERSA Digital 2000A's for years and years and then bought two of the I-Con Pico's (one for me and one for my son) a few years ago as we are both into SMD development and assembly.
I have never had a problem with the tip of the iron until recently when I just couldn't get the very tip of the bit to accept solder.
The solder station is not used on a daily basis (hobby use only) and is only switched on when required, I always use the supplied brass (Brillo pad) tip cleaner and this has kept the tip clean and operational until now.
Inspecting the tip I can see that it is still sharp with no visible pitting or corrosion, however it has a grey appearance instead of a 'silver' tinned area right at the tip.
I imagine that these tips have a special coating and shouldn't have anything abrasive applied (sandpaper/file etc) so I am wondering if the tip can be easily restored, or has it reached the end of it's life??
Any suggestions would be gratefully received, as both solder stations are suffering the same problem.

Thanks ...Daveimage

Parents
  • 0

    Hello for the last 15 plus years i have been using Hako 926  iron with knife tip on daily basis, 

    I admit i have used on melting plastic and as a chisel into potting mix, 

    cleaning with wet pad and rarely using little pot that came with it 

    putting temp to max on some military connectors, that was ok,

     

    what i found last year that destroyed the tip with in days was using iron with solder with high silver content

    and i had to crank up the temp because of the silver 

Reply
  • 0

    Hello for the last 15 plus years i have been using Hako 926  iron with knife tip on daily basis, 

    I admit i have used on melting plastic and as a chisel into potting mix, 

    cleaning with wet pad and rarely using little pot that came with it 

    putting temp to max on some military connectors, that was ok,

     

    what i found last year that destroyed the tip with in days was using iron with solder with high silver content

    and i had to crank up the temp because of the silver 

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