Reddit mentions of Hakko 599B-02 Solder Tip Cleaning Wire and Holder

"Build log" (mostly pictures) is in the imgur album.

This started off as a stock WASD V2 with Cherry MX Clear switches. I bought a 55g uniform RealForce not long after, and that has been my daily driver pretty much ever since. I actually thought I might just sell the WASD for whatever I could get for it.

I decided instead to go for the ergo clear mod, which sounds absolutely fantastic on the videos I've seen here, here, and others on YouTube. I also decided that while I had the case all apart I would add dampening foam to it and paint it to go with the SA carbon I just received.

Paint and clear coat for the case were from the local hardware store. I found the dampening foam on Amazon. I also picked up a Hakko tip cleaner and Engineer solder sucker from Amazon. The 62g gold springs and lubes are from Mehkee. They were out of their kits, but the lubes that are in the kit are all sold separately on their site, so no problemo.

The whole thing took about a week, give or take, and it was very tedious, to say the least. But the outcome has been simply spectacular. The ergo clears are so buttery smooth, and they sound awesome with SA doubleshot caps. I think the case color came out great. The WASD is now feeling a whole lot more premium!

Edit: this video was super helpful for the case painting.

Edit: here is the “before” post - https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/76s7rx/is_it_worth_it_to_do_the_ergo_clear_mod_on_a_wasd/?st=JFBLDQYL&sh=a9f5b0f2

> should I be adding solder onto the tip as soon as it is hot enough to melt? the tip seems to brown really easily.

Yes, always keep the tip wet with solder or it will oxidize very quickly.

Wipe the tip and re-tin it between joints to keep the solder clean. Turn down the temp if it is going brown quickly.

Your problem of the iron not melting the joint is probably caused by having no solder on the tip when you go to work on a joint.

You shouldn't need anything abrasive to clean the tip between joints, a damp sponge should be fine. Although I recently switched to one of these and will never go back to a sponge, its that much better.

To get shiny joints you need to be in the right temperature range to melt the solder quickly but not burn or oxidize it. You want to be as quick as you can while still allowing the solder to fully wet. Just doing the things I mentioned above should help quite a bit, mainly just keeping the tip tinned and cleaning/tinning quick between joints.

edit: as /u/sprenger mentioned, flux is a must! Make sure you're using rosin core solder and its also a good idea to have either a flux pen or tub. Makes the solder wet/flow incredibly well and ensures that the pad is nice and clean for a strong joint. If you solder is beading up and rolling off the surface you're trying to stick it on, its because the surface has oxidized and needs some flux applied.

I would avoid sponges because of the temperature difference. The sudden cold shocks probably reduced the life of your tip.

I use a copper wire tip cleaner instead.

Thanks! Soldering isn't too hard (I also was afraid of soldering). It's intimidating at first, but after a couple hours of doing it, you'll get more comfortable with it. Getting a cheap mech to practice soldering/desoldering on would probably help you get acquainted with the whole process. This is the soldering iron I used, and this is what I used to desolder. I also used this to clean the tip of the soldering iron in order to make it perform more consistently.

Same thing happened to me with a cheap soldering iron kit. I just bought better tips to use as replacements. Did you see a flat metal core in the tip after the other metal wore away?

What happens is the chrome plating on the tip wears out, and under that the metal reacts with solder? and basically dissolves. Not your fault, it's just a cheap tip. Here are some hints for tips:

1. Get good quality tips to start with. The ones that come with cheapo iron kits are often not real good.
   
2. Turn on iron only when you need it. Do not let it run for hours unattended or unused.
   
3. Your iron is probably just fine. The tip is just cheap.
   
4. Every time you turn on the iron, clean and tin the tip with some solder. If the solder melts easily, this is how you tell the iron is ready. Also you need to clean the tip in a brass "sponge" anyway, then tin it before soldering. Best seller for $10usd. Also on Ebay for $1usd.
   Mine is similar but has flux in the bottom. I stuff the hot iron in the flux, then wipe it on the brass shavings. Brass is softer than the tip so the tip won't get the chrome layer scratched off. I got this kit and it comes with a tin can of flux at the bottom with a brass "sponge" on top. This is what I used.
   
5. Some people use a damp sponge to wipe off the hot tip, but the tip still needs to be tinned. See Youtube for some videos.
   
   
   

Hey man, sorry for the delay on my end.

Good solder

Good solder sucker (no real reliable Prime sources for these, sorry)

Desoldering braid

Hakko Tip Cleaner (looks like it optionally comes as a bundle that includes the above desoldering braid, which is nice because that's normally a Prime addon item)

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Like I said, don't worry about getting all of these things. The solder is not really important, because you already have some decent stuff. I'd say the solder sucker is the most important of the two, because undoing a solder joint without one is annoying, and then the Hakko tip cleaner is nice to have because after a while the tip on your iron will get all grimy.

Desoldering braid is nice to have for certain situations where a solder sucker doesn't work very well, but generally I find good solder suckers (such as this one) to be more versatile than braid, and braid to be more versatile than bad solder suckers. Still, for under $2, doesn't hurt to throw one in with another Amazon order.

Hope this helps!

Also, I recommend one of these for cleaning and tinning your tip properly between solders. :)