On Mon, 16 Oct 2000 16:21:47 +1000, you wrote:

>Arthur Brown wrote:
>>
>> Hi Lindsay,
>
>> One of the most important things is the Tip must be kept clean use a =
wet
>> sponge and if your tip is copper replace with an iron plated one, this=
 will
>> last longer. use the tin of tip cleaner sparingly as it's very =
corrosive.
>>
>> Regards Art
>
>
>Oh, no! I can see this might start a big flame war but here goes.
>We stopped using "wet sponge" in the workshops here about 10 years
>back, it's just not the best method. Cooling the tip from 350 degrees
>down to 20 degrees over and over causes metal fatigue and porosity
>of the tip, and a porous tip (ie, rough, lots of tiny holes etc)
>is no good to solder with.
..which is why you don't use a _wet_ sponge but a _moist one_ to avoid
cooling the bit too much.  The only pain is that it dries out fairly
quickly.

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