Soldering Iron - Tip Tinner (XM000Y0B)

Pretty good stuff, but cannot resurrect iron tips which are too far gone! I’ve included some pics to give an indication of scale and how it performed on a couple of tips which were no longer any good for soldering. Overall, it’s pretty good stuff, but is best used on new iron tips to extend their lifespan. I had no problem opening the tin, I just used a flat edged set of tweezers and it popped open. Other reviewers have said it was near-impossible to open the tin, but I had no issues at all here. The tin has an adhesive sticker on the bottom to anchor it when in use. If you’re new to soldering, then heed a word of caution: NEVER hold the tinner in your hand to tin your tips. You’ll find out very quickly how easy it is to get a nasty burn, so use the adhesive pad. If you have experience in soldering and need to be told this, then you should stop soldering and take up knitting instead, but for the newbies it is worth pointing out. As you can see from the included pics, it was able to get one of my tips (which previously wouldn’t take any solder at all) into a semi-useable condition, but the other is utterly beyond redemption. That’s not the fault of the tinner, but simply that the iron tip is too far gone and nothing can make it useable again. I already knew it would need to be replaced, as all tips do eventually, but it was worth testing anyway. I don’t think the other tip will last very long, it was a tip I had used to burn a design into a bit of wood (which will render any iron tip useless for soldering), so I was impressed that it will now take solder along its edge. I wouldn’t use it for soldering now, but it is holding solder where it didn’t before (even after fluxing), so I’d say that’s a win for the tinner. If you’re soldering frequently or just now and then, you need tinner in your toolkit, and this is good enough for the job. It’ll last a while since it’s not something you’ll use often, but it’s cheap enough that it’s not a problem to replace when you need to, or you could just do what I did and order two tins!

I was always sceptical regarding tip cleaners but I have had a few issues recently on my Chinese designed micro soldering station. I was having wetting and oxidation issues with the supplied tips that resisted the brass cleaning pot and the sponge cleaning pads. After just a couple of seconds in the cleaning compound, they are now clean and bright, and hold solder as well as my high end Hakko tips. Can't recommend it highly enough, but make sure to use a fume extraction system while using it as it stinks.

Really good product, I would've given it 5 stars had it not been for the fact that I needed to take a safecracking course and buy 17 kilos of C-4 to open the tin. Honestly, I could've given this to the Hatton Garden Jewel Robbers and made them all retire to Eastbourne. I've actually taken less risks riding a motorcycle through London rush hour traffic than I did opening this piddly little container, one slip and my ability to count to ten would've been severely curtailed although I would've been further qualified to worship on the Sabbath (Oy Vey, My Boy). So, all in all, a fantastic product that's superb value for money and lasts a lot longer than you would think... possibly partly due to the fact that you can't access the contents for many months after buying it.

I love this product - it perfectly tins the soldering iron with minimal product in each use, so it should last a while too. Recommended.

I used pliers to bend the lid open and also hammer.

I didn’t received the advertised product. What arrived was a perfectly acceptable equivalent. Just not in volume. Your man came back straight away with a respectable reason and sent another Timon to make up the volume straight away. Good vendor.

Tried so many different ways to open the tin. Eventually had to use a saw and separate it in two. Absolutely useless design. Appears to be a very poor quality product once you get it open.

Cleans the soldering iron tip easily.