It is important not to confuse the two. If you turn your water on immediately after soldering because the solder has hardened, the abrupt change of temperature will cause the joint to become damaged. Sometimes it can be hard to be patient, but remember you only have to wait 30 seconds to a minute!
Soldering and water do not go together. Since it is necessary that you solder at extreme temperatures , as soon as the solder comes into contact with any water, it will immediately turn to steam and cause the joint to crack or defective. So, no, you cannot solder a wet joint. It can be difficult to keep the joint that needs to be soldered dried, but it is a must if you want to fix your plumbing issues.
Luckily, if you are working with a wet pipe, there are only a few simple steps you need to follow to keep things dry. Sometimes, there is no way that we can wait for everything to dry before we begin repairs. Hopefully, this guide will be a great help for you if you are in this situation. Join my weekly newsletter and receive helpful tips, tools, and theories about welding and joining. Please confirm the subscription Email in your inbox.
The link is only valid for 60 minutes. In conclusion, even though plumbing can be a bit scary if you are not an expert, it can sometimes be essential that you do the work yourself.
It would also be practical and cheaper if you are experienced with soldering. It is extremely important that you know how long you need to wait before turning your water on after soldering do that all of your hard work does not go to waste.
Thankfully, after putting in the hard work to fix your plumbing issues, you can turn your water back on in just a matter of seconds and get back to using it like normal. One Project Closer. DIY Chatroom. If you liked this article, have a look at my other articles I wrote about the topic!
To address some of the questions I frequently got asked or was wondering myself during my job, I started this blog. If the need for a cool soldering iron is to change tips for utilizing another style or size, the time will depend on not only the soldering iron itself but also the tip that is currently in use.
Tips range in size and style from very fine for small delicate projects like circuit boards to broader tips for cables and wires. The thicker the tip is, the longer it will take for it to cool down completely. There are some other recommendations though for changing tips during work, without having to wait. There are some occasions in which one might need to change a tip during a project.
The problem arises when the current tip is too hot to handle. So, how can you continue to work when the tip is too hot to remove? Here are some recommendations:. Hot tips can easily be removed with a pair of pliers.
To do this, make sure that you have someplace to put the hot tip that will not burn while it is still cooling. Many stands have holders or cups to hold these hot tips safely. If yours does not, find a container that holds up to the heat. The first step to changing the tip will be to turn the soldering iron off. Once it is powered off, using the pliers, unscrew the current tip sheath, and release it into the stand.
Carefully remove the tip and place it into the cooling container. Use caution that it does not touch any heat sensitive surfaces as it will be extremely hot. Now you are ready to insert the new tip. It also has iron plating to protect the soft, corrosive-prone copper from flux and solder, and chrome-nickel plating to keep the flux from wetting up the tip.
Beyond that, there are options that provide better control over the soldering iron temperature and heat response time it takes to heat up again after soldering. These include soldering tips, which are metal slugs that rest against the heating element, and others which are integrated with the heating element in a cartridge.
On the low end, most appropriate for hobbyists, a soldering iron may plug directly into the electrical wall outlet, which provides no control over soldering iron temperature.
Just on or off. With a soldering station, the soldering iron plugs into the station for greater control over temperature, and other features like set-temperature memory, lock-out, etc. While there is a large variety of different types of solder, at the most basic, you need to choose between lead or lead-free, the diameter of the wire, flux core or solid wire, and the type of flux.
If you are repairing or assembling electronics for use in the US, lead solder is the easiest to work with and it forms the most reliable solder joints. The lower heat also generates less thermal stress on the rest of the PCB.
If the end product is being shipped outside of the US, especially to Europe, you should consider lead-free solder. An exception might be for high-reliability electronics like those used in aerospace. In that case, check with the specifications and requirements of the end-user of the electronics. Lead-free may still be required, but there may be exemptions in place that allow for the use of lead solder. Think of flux and a prepping agent for the soldering process.
Flux removes any oxidation that may be present and slightly etches the surface to promote wetting. No-clean flux is a good choice for soldering where cleaning is to be avoided. The light residue can be left on the board, or removed with a flux remover. Rosin activated flux RA provides excellent solderability in a wide variety of applications. It is best to remove the residue after soldering for aesthetics and to avoid corrosion down-the-line.
Water soluble flux OA is a very active flux engineered to be removed easily with DI water, like in a batch or in-line system. It can also be removed with isopropyl alcohol IPA. It is very important to clean off water soluble flux residues because they are highly corrosive. These classifications are for companies that have green initiatives, or have to comply with halogen restrictions due to regulatory or customer restrictions.
Halogens include chlorine, fluorine, iodine, bromine and astatine elements. If soldering a simple connection, like 2 wires, or a thru-hole lead, the flux in a flux core solder should be enough.
For more complex soldering techniques, like drag soldering multiple leads on a surface mount component, additional flux may need to be added. The flux is activated and consumed when it originally flows from the core. If the solder is worked further, like when you drag across multiple leads, you run the risk of cold joints or bridging without additional flux.
While more flux seems like it should be better, take care not to over apply flux. Flux can be painted on with an acid brush, or applied with either a needle bottle dispenser, or a pen dispenser. You want the tip hot enough to melt the solder efficiency, but excess heat can damage components as the heat travels along the leads, and it will reduce the lifespan of the soldering tip.
Inspect the solder joint to make sure there is full coverage over the contact area and lead. Some things to watch out for:. The goal is to match the tip shape and size to the contact pad. This allows you to maximize the contact surface area, so that you heat the lead and contact area as quickly as possible.
If you choose a tip that is too large, you have more tip volume to heat, which will slow down the heat recovery - the time it takes for the tip to reheat after soldering a joint. It also runs the risk of interfering with other components and contact areas. It will take more dwell time, which slows you down and could increase the thermal stress of the component.
Make sure you are using a soldering iron and tips intended for electronic PCB soldering. Tips intended for other applications, like stained glass, plumbing, or heavy electrical work, are generally much larger than what is appropriate for electronics. Soldering tips come in all kinds of shapes to facilitate different PCB geometries:. The solder will tend to melt but just drip off the tip.
This makes it difficult to move in order to solder around contact areas the way you may need it. The purpose is to remove excess flux and solder from the tip. If too much flux builds up and burns onto the soldering tip, it will eventually dewet and be unusable but not necessarily unrecoverable.
Unless the tip cleaning tools are used properly, they can do more harm than good. When choosing a sponge, make sure it is made of natural cellulose like Plato replacement sponges. Synthetic sponges will melt onto the soldering tip and can shorten tip life. Use clean DI water. Tap water may include minerals that can build-up on the tip.
When you saturate the sponge, wring it out so that it is not dripping wet. I have a cheapo soldering station Duratool D It is fine for what I need.
But, I often want to swap the tips round quickly, without waiting for ages for it to cool down! I was wondering: Can I dip the end in water without destroying it! However, you don't need to anyway. I change tips occasionally on my soldering iron too.
Just use a pair of plyers to undo the nut, pull the tip out, and put in the holder. You can use your fingers to put the new tip on, but will need the plyers again to tighten the nut. The iron should be off when you do this, but there is no need to deliberately cool it.
So it will shorten the life expectancy of the tip and perhaps the treading used to connect it. Using a moist sponge is a much safer option and you should be able to still cool it down fairly quickly this way. Cheap bits may compromise their iron plating if any with repeated steam pressure build-up if water gets under the edge of the plating. Biggest risk is getting corrosion or electric shock risk if water wicks into the element area.
Some irons have a pretty exposed thermocouple behind the tip that will prefer not to get wet or have electrical connection with the element wire.
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