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screw driver. Now push the rubber seal inward away from the gun body and
remove the container.
Cleaning the Solder Waste Container:
The waste in the container is a mixture of solder and flux resin. Push the contents
of the container out onto a sheet of glass for easy clean up. The solder must be
broken away and removed from the spring and aluminum splash plate. The small
cotton filter should be thrown away and a new one used. The glass collection
chamber usually has a coating of solder splatter and flux. A very useful tool for
cleaning the glass is an old popsicle stick. The stick is used to scrape the glass from
the inside out onto the glass work area. Finally reassemble the collection
container with the new filter. Put the filter side of the container against the open
sliding back and then insert the rubber seal back into the handpiece housing.
Make certain that the sliding back is centered in the glass container and that the
filter is not caught between the back seal and the glass. Finally push the sliding
back forward until it clicks into place. Always contain and save the waste solder so
that it doesn’t get into the environment as a pollutant.
Tip Care and Cleaning:
The desoldering tip is where it all happens and it needs to be properly
maintained. The tips have a plating metal that wets easily with solder. It provides
a surface that can carry a layer of molten solder to the pad and make a good heat
conductive connection. As this cladding material wears away over time it will