Glenn and John are right (as per usual). What I have found is that I have a
lamp dimmer in series with my Iron, so I can turn it down when not in use. I
use the type with preset pushbuttons, mounted in a plastic case. If I keep
the iron "Idling" at the lowest setting, then turn it up full blast, it only
takes a minute to get it up to temp. I average about a year (about 20
projects) per tip.I PERSONALLY have never had any luck with plated tips, and
I really don't like them, but this is a personal taste thing.
Also I find that at the end of the day, I lightly clean my tip with some
FINE sandpaper, then flood it with solder, then wipe off the excess, then
add a little bit of extra solder, without wiping (all of this done
immediately after powering off the iron, while its cooling down). Every
couple of days I do the same thing, but I also dunk the tip into solder
paste after a light sanding, before flooding the tip with solder.
Kim
Huh? You say you don't like plated tips, but you don't explain.
I would never use a non-plated tip. Oh, my first iron or two from 1972
had non-plated tips. They corroded pretty fast if I remember properly.
In 1974, I got a Radio Shack (well it was made by Ungar) modular soldering
iron, and I've never had tip corrosion since then. I've broken tips, when
the iron has dropped to the floor, but I've never had to replace one
because of corrosion.
I once filed a plated tip, because I needed a special shape. That tip
started corroding almost immediately.
You don't file plated tips. The minute you file them, you remove
the plating. On the other hand, if you don't use plated tips, you
are doomed to do things like file or sandpaper the tips, because corrosion
is inevitable.
Michael