Soldering Iron Tips and How to use them
Table of Contents
Soldering Iron Tips and How to use them:
I recently got a soldering iron and a collection of 6 soldering iron tips from the digit space. DigitSpace is an open-source hardware provider. They supply innovative, user-friendly open-source hardware products at extremely low prices, ranging from boards to corresponding components and kits for worldwide community of engineers, designers, inventors, and makers who love creating electronics. DigitSpace provides worldwide shipping at a low cost.
This is a 220V 60W European standard Electrical Soldering Iron kit. There are two more packages of the same soldering Iron Kit designed for the United States and China.
The amazing thing about this soldering iron kit is that it comes with the adjustable Temperature Knob. You can select any temperature between 200 and 450 centigrade. Currently, the temperature is set to 250 as the melting point of most solder is in the range of 188 Centigrade and the soldering iron tip temperature is typically 330 Centigrade. So, I am going to start with 250 centigrade which later I can adjust as per the requirement.
Amazon links:
220V 60W Europe Standard Electrical Soldering Iron Kit “DigitSpace”: https://bit.ly/2sXfgGt
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Different Types of Soldering Iron Tips:
There are hundreds of different types of Soldering Iron Tips available in different sizes and shapes used in everything from Jewelry making to plumbing. But in this article, I will talk about the 4 most common soldering iron tips used for electronics work which are,
Conical or B series tips
Bevel or C series tips
Chisel or D series tips, and
Knife type or K series tips.
Let’s start with the Conical or B series Tips.
Conical or B series Soldering Iron Tips:
These are the Conical or B series Soldering Iron Tips. Due to its round shape, the soldering can be done from any angle. Because of this, B series tips are widely used for general purpose soldering and that’s the reason almost 99% of the soldering irons available in the market come with the Conical or B series tips.
This one looks like a needle which is also known as the I-series tip. This soldering iron tip is used for the detailed work. Because of its really small tip, it is not able to transfer a lot of heat, making it difficult to solder larger electronic components.
Watch the conical or B Series Soldering Iron Tips in action, video is available at the end of this article.
Bevel or C series Soldering Iron tip:
This is the Bevel or C series Soldering Iron Tip. Although Bevel or C series tips are not as common as the Conical or B series tips but can be used for soldering jobs that require pre-loading the tip with solder. Due to its large slightly curved surface, it can hold more solder than most other tips. It can be very helpful in soldering small-gauge wires together or drag soldering. The Bevel type or C series tips can be really helpful in applying small amounts of the solder over multiple components in close proximity such as the pins on a surface mount component.
Watch the Bevel or C Series Soldering Iron Tip in action; video is given at the end.
Chisel or D series Soldering Iron tip:
This is a chisel type or D series tip which almost looks like a screwdriver. This is my favorite one. Just like the B Series tips, the D series tips are also used for the general purpose soldering. The main difference is that the D series tips offer a much larger surface area on the face and tip due to which more heat can be transferred from the Soldering Iron to the electronic component, which makes the soldering job really easy. The D series tips are ideal for quick soldering application, and for soldering larger electronic components. The D series tips can also be used for the drag soldering and for soldering thick wires joints due to their ability to transfer more heat. The D series Tips are available in different sizes, select the one as per your requirement.
Watch the chisel Type or D series Soldering Iron Tip in action, video is available at the end of this article.
Knife or K series Soldering Iron tip:
This Knife like; K series Soldering Iron Tip is not as famous as the Conical or Chisel type Soldering Iron Tips but still can be useful in a wide variety of applications like point soldering, drag soldering, and most importantly fixing solder bridges.
Watch the Knife type or K series Soldering Iron Tip in action; video is given at the end of this article.
How to protect from Oxidation?
Tips that are cleaned but not re-tinned are susceptible to oxidation. It’s a good practice to re-tinned the soldering iron tip after use, as you can see in the picture below.
After re-tinning the soldering iron tips store them in an airtight bag.
