Clarfy:

You did something wrong and the board is functional???  I'll try reading that a couple more times maybe....

Pulling out a sleeve is unfortunate, but fixable as long as the pads are still there (not by putting sleeve back in, though).

WHEW!

Saw some videos of the Hakko 808 desolder unit. I want that, but it's gotta be under $100 for me to consider

How else can oxides be removed?  :lol:

In my eyes that is just more money to spend.  I've used the same ball of brass shavings for over a year now and every few months rinse under water while kneading it with my hands over my dogs water bowl (I kid I kid.)  

When I don't see smoke after cleaning the tip, I put on gloves, take a bottle of rosin flux and knead a all small amount to thoroughly re-distribute the flux.  Plop it back into its holder and it's done.  

No worries about replenishing usually flux absent sponges with water or replacing them after they get undesirable.  Keep it simple

Well, I must not be totally incompetent...  I bring you this message courtesy of a Filco Majestouch-2 with Cherry MX clear switches

it feels good...

and yeah, the plate mount switches feel way better than the PCB mount switches on the POS boards, as I anticipated they would.  Happy is.

I've always used the wet sponge, but I splurged when I bought my latest round of soldering supplies to get me into the last decade and got the Hakko brass scrubbie thing, and honestly, I really like it.  So much better than the sponge.  But I've only used it for this one job so it hasn't needed "service" yet.

Now I've got this whole stack of Weller sponges that I salveaged from the trash at my last job that I'll never use :/

Brass shavings (aka scouring pad)? Sponges?!

I just fling the soldering iron at anything that happens to be passing by. Cleans the excess solder really well.

That works well too.  How else is it possible to use up a 10 LB spool before losing it or within a decade, unless it's your profession?

With the old uncoated soldering iron, the steel wool was used often.

As a note of caution:

On fleabay, there is a seller (China) with a pic of what appears to be brass coiled scrubbie for $2.99 with no shipping cost. After emailing the seller, they state it is steel, not brass and there is no flux in it. Either it's brass and the seller is misinformed about what it is, or it's really not brass and shows an incorrect pic. They also sell a copy of a holder with a scrubbie for a couple dollars more.

So if anyone is looking to go that route, be careful you don't get something that appears to be something else. If I had not gotten the real thing, I would not have known the difference and probably been very disappointed with the results, and subsequently trash-talked it

EDITED POST FOR CLARIFICATION

Aluminum and Brass are much easier to tap than Steel, from my experience, so my assumption is brass will be easier on the tip's tin coating.  The Hakko 599B isn't exactly cheap which is why I figured I would share how mine was cleaned.  Just my two cents.

Brass is softer than the steel, so it's likely less abrasive for the precious coating.

BTW the old school irons with the tip made of copper weren't really affected because the copper was consumed anyway via chemical reaction with the flux and with the soldering alloy

Copper?  That's crazy.  "What were they thiiinking?"

They were thinking that was a cheap material with a great heat conductivity, that was easily being wet by the tin alloy.

The bigger irons, used by plumbers, are still made by bare copper.

Next thing you know you'll be like me, and go from having a cheap-a$$ meter and one soldering station salvaged from the trash (and assorted crap irons bought when caught somewhere, needing to solder, and not having station handy) to having two Flukes, a Simpson, and three soldering stations including a brand new Weller

On the upside, my soldering does look quite a bit more professional now, but I wish that Rat Shack had had some 63/37 in stock in a small diameter so I didn't have to use 60/40.  (doesn't seem like I messed anything up though.  208 joints, no failures )

The bigger irons, used by plumbers, are still made by bare copper.

I wonder if it has anything to do with acid flux.

I wonder if it has anything to do with acid flux.

Yes they are both cheap.

Being the quantities involved larger than in electronics, irons are often not coated, the soldering alloys used are often 50/50 or 40/60, and hydrochloric acid is used to clean the surfaces meant to be soldered.

If the de-soldering pump o-ring is made of silicone, the use of silicone oil is appropriate.  Petroleum based oil will deteriorate rubber similar to using condoms with oil based lube.

"NONCORROSIVE FLUXES.— Noncorrosive fluxes are for soldering electrical connections and for other work that must be free of any trace of corrosive residue. Rosin is the most commonly used noncorrosive flux. In the solid state, rosin is inactive and noncorrosive. When heated, it melts and provides some fluxing action. Rosin is available in powder, paste, or liquid form. Rosin fluxes frequently leave a brown residue. This residue is nonconductive and sometimes difficult to remove. The removal problem can be reduced by adding a small amount of turpentine to the rosin. Glycerine is added to the rosin to make the flux more effective.

CORROSIVE FLUXES.— Corrosive fluxes have the most effective cleaning action, but any trace of corrosive flux that remains on the work can cause corrosion later. For this reason, corrosive fluxes are not used on electrical connections or other work where corrosion would cause a serious problem.

The most commonly used corrosive fluxes are salammoniac (ammonium chloride) and zinc chloride. These fluxes are frequently used in either solution or in paste form. The solvent, if present, evaporates as the work heats, leaving a layer of solid flux on the work. When the metal reaches the soldering temperature, this layer of flux melts, partially decomposes, and liberates hydrochloric acid. The hydrochloric acid dissolves the oxides from the work surfaces and the solder, making them ready for soldering."  -Source

Salammoniac flux is not used on electrical connections and is in fact corrosive.  

The only use I see for it is if rosin flux cannot remove the heavy oxidation from neglected tips as a last resort.  The corrosive nature of ammonium chloride on the tip's tin coating is questionable which is why it could be a last ditch effort.

If the de-soldering pump o-ring is made of silicone, the use of silicone oil is appropriate.  Petroleum based oil will deteriorate rubber similar to using condoms with oil based lube.

Well, I guess that's the question.  Is that O-ring typically a silicone rubber, and how would I determine that?

Fortunately, I do not have experience with the issue that you use as an example

If the de-soldering pump o-ring is made of silicone, the use of silicone oil is appropriate.  Petroleum based oil will deteriorate rubber similar to using condoms with oil based lube.

It's exactly the opposite, silicone oil/grease should be avoided on silicone rubber. And mineral oils should be avoided with some other synthetic rubbers...

http://www.marcorubber.com/materialguide.htm

Sources saying silicone oil is compatible with silicone o-rings:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/448597-REG/Fantasea_Line_11192_Silicone_O_Ring_Grease.html
Silicone lubes are being falsely advertised as being compatible with silicone o-rings all over the place.  It really should be illegal to false advertise, have to research everything these days, ugh.  

Sources saying silicone oil is not compatible with silicone o-rings
http://www.allorings.com/compatibility.htm
http://www.allorings.com/compatibility.htm
http://www.efunda.com/designstandards/oring/oring_chemical.cfm?SC=none&SM=Silicone#chem

Is not said that there's a false advertising, just the solvents involved may be different.

BTW when in doubt just use mineral oil with silicone and silicone with other rubbers natural or not.

I've read forums where people have had the same manual de-soldering pump from the 70's with a metal bore and are still using it to this day.  Now they are mainly constructed with plastic bores, instead.  Goes to show how the mighty artificially inflating US dollar, which all other currencies "value" are based on, makes any one product in existence with the best workmanship and quality of materials more of an impossibility to create as time progresses.

Money it's a crime
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie
Money so they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're
giving none away

Still, if their disposable as you say they are, there has to be a brand of de-soldering pumps that are worth the price and last much longer to compensate in the long run...

There is one problem, money and debt does not exist.  Debt really is not recycling the 'finite resources on our planet, making human extinction inevitable, at the current rate.  haha, just kidding!  No seriously, there are many other planets like this one that have or to have seeds planted.  We are a spec in the sand, an experiment at most.

I feel the same way about lighters, so cheap and too easy to lose.  It is nice using filtered butane in the refillable ones, though.

Secret to not losing lighters: Buy an expensive one.

An idea is back them up with disc cloning software, such as cloneDVD with anyDVD (removes protection) by Slysoft (for Windows,) and keep the originals locked away in a fire proof safe for safe keeping.  Works every time.

Picked up a Hakko brass tip cleaner and holder the other day when I was getting some parts for a repair job.  Best $14cdn I spent in a long damn time!

question, if i don't strip the rubber off a wire (no idea what it's called) can i just burn off a little bit with the solder iron, then solder it fast? will it damage my tip? i'm making multiple point to point connections with wire and contacts, and i'm tired of cutting and stripping each wire section per connection.