Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ.

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Re: Clean surfaces are ESSENTIAL for good results

Posted by Morse (A) on February 23, 2004 at 21:42:18

In Reply to: Re: Clean surfaces are ESSENTIAL for good results posted by LarryR on February 23, 2004 at 17:32:40:

Hi Larry;

Very interesting results you've had! A lot of my newer parts are bulk bought on bandoliers, so they get a "once over" with isopropanol before being dumped in my parts bins (otherwise the leads stick together and it's a mess!); thus they may be getting more cleaning than I'd really thought.

Something else that's worth considering is that (very rarely) the iron will brush up against a bit of insulation and taint the solder. It's got to be wicked off, no two ways about it. And the iron's tip will need a bit of a clean too (that sort of thing really only happens after a marathon soldering session - 16+ hours at a shot sometimes - when my eyes are a little blurry and my hands a little shaky...). Of course the best cure for this is to call it a day when fatigue sets in - but as with all serious solder fume addicts, it's a case of "just one more connection before I get some rest"...then after that one, "oh, just one more..." :-)

All this just buttresses the general theme of "no such thing as too clean" where soldering is concerned.

Thanks for sharing your experiences! You've made me rethink some of my interpretations of my experiences. Maybe new parts really do need a bit of a clean as a matter of course, since both you and Highendman have had problems with newer parts, while I've had no problems there - but mine've almost universally been wiped once over with isopropanol before storage. Heavens knows the old ones need cleaning almost without exception.

All the best,
Morse

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