How to Tin a Soldering Iron and Why

Tinning your soldering iron is the first step to achieving successful solder joints. Acquiring this skill makes or breaks your ability to solder well.

Like cycling, soldering feels impossible at the outset. But getting good at it is a matter of understanding the process and following a few best practices. Keeping your soldering iron’s tip all tinned and shiny lies at the very top of these best practices.

This seemingly simple task may look straightforward, but many soldering beginners fail to keep their tips tinned. That's a good reason why it's important to learn the basics of how to tin your soldering iron and why that’s the most fundamental soldering skill.

Why Bother Tinning Your Soldering Iron?

The process of soldering involves heating the point at which two electronic components are supposed to be joined. Localized heating of the joint allows solder to form an intermetallic alloy between copper and solder, which provides both mechanical strength and electrical conductivity. We explain this mechanism in exhaustive detail in our soldering basics guide.

The main takeaway here is that the desired joint must be supplied with enough heat to melt solder. That’s a problem because copper, which forms the conductive leads of all electronic components, is perpetually covered with an oxide film. And so is the tip of your soldering iron. That’s a problem because the oxide layer covering the soldering iron tip and component leads is a bad conductor of heat.

It is impossible to solder a joint without effective conduction of heat from the tip of your soldering iron to the component leads and PCB pads/through holes. But removing the oxide barrier on these surfaces is easy. Just apply some flux and heat it until it becomes sufficiently active to chemically scrub away the oxidation and other contaminants. Unfortunately, copper rapidly oxidizes in air, especially when you apply a hot soldering iron tip to it.

That’s why proper treatment of electronic components and PCBs involves applying flux as well as solder. Preferably at the same time. The flux removes the contaminants and oxide layer, whereas the solder subsequently bonds to the clean copper surface to form a surface coating that’s resistant to oxidation.

How to Tin a Soldering Iron Tip

Here’s how to go about tinning your soldering iron the right way.

Step 1

Bring the soldering iron up to temperature.

This may vary according to the type of solder you use. High quality soldering irons can be heated to 482 °F (or 250 °C) for tinning, whereas cheaper ones might warrant a higher temperature of 536 °F (or 280 °C). If you're still unsure, check out our guide on setting the optimal soldering temperature.

Step 2

Melt solder onto the tip such that it covers the nickel-plated part, as shown in the image below.

Don’t forget that the entire tip doesn’t need to be shiny. Only the literal tip of the soldering iron “tip”—the bit that’s actually plated with nickel—needs to be shiny. In fact, it is normal for the rest of the soldering iron tip to appear darker over time owing to oxidation.

If the solder balls up and rolls off the tip instead, that’s a sign of a dirty/oxidized tip. Follow the steps detailed in our guide on how to clean your soldering iron to fix this. If that doesn’t help, double-check if you are inadvertently using lead-free solder: that requires higher temperatures.

Step 3

Wait a few seconds until the tip stops smoking. The smoke is created by the rosin flux contained in the solder as it burns off.

Step 4

Now, gently poke the hot tip into the brass tip cleaner a couple of times to scrub the solder off it. If you are using a moist soldering sponge, simply wipe the tip on it. A few swipes should have the solder balling off the soldering iron’s tip.

Step 5

Observe the tip to make sure it appears shiny and uniformly metallic on the plated area.

If the nickel-plated part of the soldering iron tip has any marks or discoloration, repeat this process until it appears uniformly shiny and metallic. Go back to our tip cleaning guide if this doesn’t work.

Tinning Your Iron Is Good Soldering Hygiene

Congratulations: you have successfully tinned your soldering iron. Once you have done it successfully, the process will feel very simple. But don’t forget to add a large blob of solder to the tip of your iron before stowing it away. This forms a protective layer of solder that hermetically seals the tip, and prevents it from oxidizing in storage over time.