Why is the soldering iron tip life is short?

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Soldering "iron" or "gun"? Soldering iron tips are long-lived, and replacable. The tips on any guns I have used are also replacable, but more fragile than the big, solid copper tips used on irons.

In my experience, using acid cored solder or liquid or paste acid fluxes has little effect on tips. Using a "sal ammoniac" brick to clean your tip prior to tinning extends tip life (it is actually a flux) andmakes tinning easier.

I'f you're having tip life troubles, maybe you should take a look at your technique. It could be an operator problem....Show more

Short Soldering Iron...Show more

Something is wrong if yours have "failed". I use them 250W units for lead glass.
Tips are replaceable as for in the process of soldering, cleanliness is a must. and a soldering iron with a bunch of old oxidized solder on it will not heat up as good as the bare copper it once was.....so the tip of the iron is filed clean of solder every so often. The iron only supplies the heat to the surfaces to make them hot enough to melt the solder.
Finer soldering irons for electronics, I use sandpaper and clean the tips of solder....Show more

Is it possible you are using acid core solder? You didn't mention electrical/electronic soldering or if you were doing jewelery soldering. Are you wearing out the tips, or are they becoming less useful over time and not heating?

Using a wet sponge to wipe off the build up, and 're-tinning' the soldering iron tip regularly to keep it clean and shiny will help a lot....Show more

I had a similar problem with a inexpensive soldering iron. wondered the same thing myself. One thing I learned form my wife's stained glass making is that you can use a wet sponge and frequently wipe off the extra solder that is on there. My guess is that extra solder contributes to the tip shrinking....Show more