[vcf-midatlantic] VCF East Clinic kudos

[Jonathan Chapman]

> I hate the brass wool for our soldering irons.

Same, I only use it on the Hakko desoldering tools. It's what they recommend, and the tips do take a lot of abuse, due to the nature of desoldering.

> Much more partial to use of a sponge.

That's what Hexacon recommends and what I use on all my irons (which are all Hexacon anyway, except I think the 250W for chassis work is an American Beauty). The tips last a very long time, and it cleans just fine, so that's what I do!

> I've seen too many folks wipe the snot of their soldering
> iron down to the copper inside (3 to get to the inside of a tootsie pop).

Better than a few licks with a file :P

> Sorry I don't like abrasives on my soldering iron tips.

Same. When the plating gets bad enough I'll eventually use a tip polishing bar on them, but that's the last step before the scrap bin. Even the Hexacon or Plato "Xtradur" iron-plated tips can't take tons of abrasive cleaning.

> And yes, always need to clean a desoldering iron (disassemble). Solder
> suckers also need to be cleaned out.

I wouldn't buy a vacuum desoldering stations for *years* due to my experiences with Hakko units at a job in college. None of the units they had worked well, I actually brought my Rat Shack spring-type solder sucker in to use because it was way better! Turns out they were just very poorly maintained, I guess the guy whose job it was to keep them up either didn't know what he was doing, or didn't care, or something. I still do work for that business and have since rebuilt their Hakko stations, which now work just like mine! All were filthy inside, intermediate filters never seemed to have been changed, some had missing or badly worn parts that hindered operation, etc.

Thanks,
Jonathan