Family Owned and Operated Since 1932
161 W. Clay Ave. Roselle Park, NJ 07204
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Use & Care of Hexacon Long Life Soldering Tips
XTRADUR tips are furnished tinned ready for use.
Keep the working surface tinned at all times.
Keep excess solder on tip during prolonged idle periods.
Burned solder or flux residue may be wiped off with wet cellulose sponge.
Never file or break coating or grip with pliers because the copper base will then become exposed and wear like an ordinary tip.
Use good soldering tip practices such as removing the tip frequently to prevent sticking and keeping the tip fully inserted in the iron at all times.
Note: If tip surface is dirty, cool and clean with tip scrubber. Heat tip just hot enough to melt solder and retin with flux core solder immediately.
For additional information please review our
Difference Between Plug Tip and Screw Tip
This image shows a plug tip iron and a plug tip at the top and a screw tip iron and a screw tip at the bottom. Plug Tip irons are lighter in weight, max out at about 500 watts and are used for continuous soldering operations. Screw Tip irons are generally heavier and max out at 800 watts of power.
Therm-O-Trac Tip Guide
J-Tips are used in our Therm-O-Trac soldering systems. They are designed to provide quick heat up/recovery and a long life when maintained properly. Hexacon offers a number of shapes and styles that fit a wide range of soldering applications.
To see which J-Tips style fits which station and thermal load
Oxidized Tip Repair
On a regular basis when the iron is cold before you plug it in, remove the tip. Wipe off the tip to remove any scales and shake out any that may be in the element. When you reinstall the tip, make sure it is fully seated in the iron. Failure to do so will cause the iron to overheat and the element to fail prematurely. Never remove the tip when the iron is hot. Always keep the tip covered with solder. Never let the tip go dry. If you do, it can become dewetted. Dewetted means that the tinning (currently 100% Tin) on the working end of the tips has been allowed to oxidize which exposes the underlying iron plating. The iron plating then also oxidizes and at that point solder will not adhere to tips. If the plating has no cracks or holes, many times the tips can be cleaned and reconditioned using the following procedure. When the tip is cold, clean up the end of the tip without TS-10 tip scrubber. Do not file the tip. Put the tip back in the iron & as soon as the tip is hot enough to melt solder, flood it with flux & solder. Do not wait too long or the iron plating will oxidize and you will have to clean the tip again. To help keep the tips from deleting, replenish the tinning by feeding fresh solder to the tip so it i wet with solder at all times, and before it’s plugged, apply a fresh coat of solder. When the tip is dry, there is no molten solder to protect the plating or to make a “heat bridge” to the work, making it very difficult to transfer heat to the work. Solder bridge or heat bridge, helps protect the tip and speeds up heat to the connection to be soldered.