Soldering iron which shaped tip?

JCA2550

Recently switched from an Antex iron to a Maplin soldering station one that has the variable dial ( great for upping the heat for the back of pots etc) but it came with a cone shaped bit which doesn't seem to conduct heat as well as the ellipse shaped Antex one.  What do you you guys use and why? Cheers C

SteveRobinson

I use a 3mm chisel shape bit as it holds plenty of heat.

lasermonkey

Chisel tip user here too. I use the largest size bit I can comfortably get away with, which is usually a 3.2mm bit. I find it perfect for PCB, cables and guitar work. It gets the heat in quickly, which means less chance of causing heat damage.
Generally speaking, I only ever found those pointy-tipped bits useful back when I was doing lots of SMD work.

ICBM

Several different ones for different purposes. It's worth having at least a couple of different sizes even if you only have one iron.

SteveRobinson

I always burn my fingers changing bits

Danny1969

Long conical 0.6mm for PCB work and most other stuff to be honest even though I have a selection of larger ones. 
There's no point or advantage to covering guitar pots with solder, all it does is shorten the life of the pot. 

Kalimna

Might be a daft question, but i too have a Maplin variable heat iron with a conical tip. I am finding it a bugger to use - even tinning the tip doesnt go all the way to the end. Im using it to build a few pedals along with vol/tone/pickup wiring.
So, rather than buying a new set of tips, is it ok to file the end of the conical tip a bit to give it a wedge shape? Or will that most likely damage the tip?
Cheers,
Adam

ChrisMusic

@Kalimna, you'll go through the plating if you file the tip (that's if it hasn't already disintegrated given your description of not tinning to the end).  Then the flux will just eat away the core of the bit, leaving it hollow and conducting heat poorly. Possibly slightly counter-intuitively, you need good heat and good transfer to avoid prolonged solder times and potential damage to components.

My two penneth anyway   :-B

Kalimna

Had a feeling that was the case. I was given the iron second hand, and dont know how much it has already been used.
Time to go to Maplins methinks.

Cheers,
Adam

JCA2550

Thanks for the input guys. I've ordered a set of 3 tips from Maplin that should be perfect for the Maplin 50 watt solder station. £7.50 doesn't seem unreasonable 

ICBM

SteveRobinson said:

I always burn my fingers changing bits

It's usually better to do it when they're cold .

OilCityPickups

ChrisMusic said:

@Kalimna, you'll go through the plating if you file the tip (that's if it hasn't already disintegrated given your description of not tinning to the end).  Then the flux will just eat away the core of the bit, leaving it hollow and conducting heat poorly. Possibly slightly counter-intuitively, you need good heat and good transfer to avoid prolonged solder times and potential damage to components.

My two penneth anyway   :-B

What he says :-)
I always use the biggest soldering Iron I can get away with for each job ... lots of heat for a very short time is best. Clean the tip before and after soldering on a damp sponge or a 'solder cleaning pad. I use needle point tips for PCB work and chisel point for guitar wiring ... all on a Maplin 60w variable heat digital solder station. For big jobs like soldering and unsoldering pickup covers I use a 150 or 180 watt iron!