{"id":788,"date":"2014-04-22T08:27:57","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T15:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/?p=788"},"modified":"2014-06-20T11:23:17","modified_gmt":"2014-06-20T18:23:17","slug":"choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing a Soldering Iron Tip"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>First things first: you need to choose a tip that\u2019s compatible with your soldering iron. You also need to figure which style of tip is best for your project. In addition you need to determine the correct tip size because, if it\u2019s too small, heat will not be transferred efficiently and, if it\u2019s too big, you can overhang the pad and damage the circuit board.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re new to soldering avoid conical\u00a0<a title=\"soldering tips\" href=\"\/soldering-tips-nozzles\" target=\"_blank\">soldering tips<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 because of the sharper point, they will have much shorter lifespans than tips with more metal. Beginners often think that applying pressure to the joint will help the solder flow, but keep in mind that this can damage the board.<\/p>\n<p>You should opt for a chisel tip, which are perfect for wire, desoldering, through-hole, and surface-mount soldering. Ensure the tip is sixty percent the width of the soldering pad, so that you minimize thermal stress to the component while speeding up the process. Chisel tips are thicker at the tip which means that they store more heat than their pointy counterparts. The size of your chisel tip will depend on the application.<\/p>\n<p>Another good tip choice is the \u201choof\u201d or gullwing, which is great for drag soldering multi-lead surface-mount technology (SMT) IC packages. Although the technique is tricky, because you need the right amount of solder on the tip so that you don\u2019t bridge the leads, drag soldering allows you to solder multi-pin flat packs in minutes. These tips are also perfect for soldering small gauge wires.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s end with some general soldering tips:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Never use too much pressure; you may damage the tip or the board.<span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>To prevent oxidation apply a thin layer of solder to the tip after you finish soldering.<span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not use your\u00a0<a title=\"soldering iron\" href=\"\/solderingirons\" target=\"_blank\">soldering iron<\/a>\u00a0tip as a screwdriver and never use it to pry.<span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Use the lowest possible temperature to prevent premature wear to the tip and to prevent damage to the components.<span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Ensure that you\u2019re using the right tip for the application.<span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Turn off your\u00a0<a title=\"soldering station\" href=\"\/soldering-stations\" target=\"_blank\">soldering station<\/a>\u00a0or soldering iron when you\u2019re not using it. If you won\u2019t be using the iron in ten minutes, turn it off.<span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep the tip clean. Try to wipe the tip on a damp sponge after completing every solder joint.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First things first: you need to choose a tip that\u2019s compatible with your soldering iron. You also need to figure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[59,60,61,50,36,32],"class_list":["post-788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-soldering","tag-solder","tag-solder-101","tag-solder-advice","tag-solder-help","tag-soldering-equipment","tag-soldering-tips"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Choosing a Soldering Iron Tip | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Choosing a Soldering Iron Tip | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"First things first: you need to choose a tip that\u2019s compatible with your soldering iron. You also need to figure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CircuitSpecialists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-22T15:27:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-06-20T18:23:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"George\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CircuitSpecial\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CircuitSpecial\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"George\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"George\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/414c9adb626f1f36fba73f3b4ae376ca\"},\"headline\":\"Choosing a Soldering Iron Tip\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-22T15:27:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-20T18:23:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/\"},\"wordCount\":390,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"solder\",\"solder 101\",\"solder advice\",\"solder help\",\"soldering equipment\",\"soldering tips\"],\"articleSection\":[\"All Posts\",\"Soldering\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/\",\"name\":\"Choosing a Soldering Iron Tip | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-22T15:27:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-20T18:23:17+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Choosing a Soldering Iron Tip\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\",\"description\":\"How To&#039;s, Reviews, and Product News from Circuit Specialists HQ.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Circuit Specialists\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/csi.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/csi.jpg\",\"width\":120,\"height\":120,\"caption\":\"Circuit Specialists\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CircuitSpecialists\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CircuitSpecial\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCG87WTqDKIqA704uqjumJgg\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/414c9adb626f1f36fba73f3b4ae376ca\",\"name\":\"George\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7719440cadb3ea0bf4a1ef0c50b309a?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7719440cadb3ea0bf4a1ef0c50b309a?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"George\"},\"description\":\"George Leger has a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, worked in private industry pioneering surface-mount technology and in government research labs for twenty years, published several papers on surface-mount technology, co-authored papers published in national symposiums on accelerator technology, was past president of SMTA and an adjunct professor at the community college level, holds a patent, and is a certified microchip design partner, serving as a consultant to many companies developing electronic circuits.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/author\/george\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Choosing a Soldering Iron Tip | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Choosing a Soldering Iron Tip | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","og_description":"First things first: you need to choose a tip that\u2019s compatible with your soldering iron. You also need to figure","og_url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/","og_site_name":"Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CircuitSpecialists\/","article_published_time":"2014-04-22T15:27:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-06-20T18:23:17+00:00","author":"George","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CircuitSpecial","twitter_site":"@CircuitSpecial","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"George","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/"},"author":{"name":"George","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/414c9adb626f1f36fba73f3b4ae376ca"},"headline":"Choosing a Soldering Iron Tip","datePublished":"2014-04-22T15:27:57+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-20T18:23:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/"},"wordCount":390,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["solder","solder 101","solder advice","solder help","soldering equipment","soldering tips"],"articleSection":["All Posts","Soldering"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/","name":"Choosing a Soldering Iron Tip | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-04-22T15:27:57+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-20T18:23:17+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/choosing-a-soldering-iron-tip\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Choosing a Soldering Iron Tip"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/","name":"Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","description":"How To&#039;s, Reviews, and Product News from Circuit Specialists HQ.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Circuit Specialists","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/csi.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/csi.jpg","width":120,"height":120,"caption":"Circuit Specialists"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CircuitSpecialists\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CircuitSpecial","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCG87WTqDKIqA704uqjumJgg"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/414c9adb626f1f36fba73f3b4ae376ca","name":"George","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7719440cadb3ea0bf4a1ef0c50b309a?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7719440cadb3ea0bf4a1ef0c50b309a?s=96&r=g","caption":"George"},"description":"George Leger has a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, worked in private industry pioneering surface-mount technology and in government research labs for twenty years, published several papers on surface-mount technology, co-authored papers published in national symposiums on accelerator technology, was past president of SMTA and an adjunct professor at the community college level, holds a patent, and is a certified microchip design partner, serving as a consultant to many companies developing electronic circuits.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/author\/george\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":789,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions\/789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}