> i seem to be MELTING through the tips! Is this odd? Metal is just disintigrating.
My iron runs red-hot, and it don't melt.
You youngsters are just spoiled by new technology. What you probably didn't learn at the old tech's knee is:
Copper WILL oxidize and "go away". On a plain copper tip, the routine is: clean it, warm it, get solder ALL over the tip as soon as possible. Never leave the iron hot without frequently wiping on a damp sponge (not the good kitchen sponge; you can use a dampened rag) and re-tinning. And even then, every week or so you have to get out the file, re-shape the tip, and re-tin.
Ain't nothing wrong with that. ALL the "classic gear" was assembled with these irons. I worked many years this way. I actually PREFER plain copper tips. They hold solder and my technique developed around a very wet iron.
But then came the new-fangled iron-coated tips. I put one on my second best iron. It won't hold solder: just beads-up. I swore that when it burned-up, I would go back to plain copper.
About a decade later I realized that I could solder with a dry iron, and the iron was ALWAYS ready to go, no down-time to re-file. Even if I left the iron on all night (this would mean a major re-filing chore with copper). So I put iron-coated tips on my other irons.
I thought even cheap Wellers came with iron-plated tips these days. I recall paying $3, when copper was 3/$1, but in production work the reduction in downtime pays for itself in a month. So I didn't think anybody bothered to make brand-name plain-copper any more. I wuz wrong?
