Can You DIY The Soldering Iron Tip Cleaner?

The use of soldering iron tip cleaner

The purpose of the soldering iron tip cleaner is to keep the soldering iron tip surface in good condition. The cleaner series includes tools such as wet sponges and scouring pads typically used to remove small amounts of oxide and debris that accumulate during daily use, as well as materials for chemical cleaning and maintenance of soldering iron tips.

DIY Soldering Iron Tip Cleaner

This post shares a DIY method on how to make soldering iron tip cleaning pads quickly at low cost.

You can buy a copper pad directly from an electronics store to use for removing excess solder from your soldering iron. Most soldering stations come with a sponge when you buy it, and a wet sponge is the most common method of tip cleaning. This is standard on almost all soldering stations

Pros and Cons of Using a Wet Sponge

Pros:

Cost-effective

Highly-efficient at cleaning flux acids

Sponge can be cleaned for extended use

Cons:

Momentarily drops tip temperature

Thermal-shock from water can shorten tip life

The idea behind using a copper pad instead of a wet sponge is that heat will be lost to the sponge and it will take an extra seconds to back up to your operating temperature.

Wouldn't it be lower the cost if you add a copper pad to your soldering station?

You can find this copper pad from your local grocery or department store in very cheap price. usually in the kitchen cleaning supplies section

Holding the mat by hand, simply cut off the tied ends and the rolls will come apart. Roll to the right size mat for your own needs, then cut off the rest. You only need a small portion and the rest can be saved for future use.

Place this on or near your soldering station to keep your iron clean and hot. 

Pros and Cons of Using a brass coils

Pros：

Fairly inexpensive

No risk of thermal-shock to the iron

Indent on enclosure for resting iron

Cons：

Doesn't clean as well as water

Although soft, the abrasiveness can still shorten tip life.

This instructable may be super simple but also super useful to you circuit junkies out there. If you are interested, you can try it.

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