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become more and more difficult to get the solder on the pads to melt and
eventually you will say “What is wrong with my ZD-985?” When you get to this
point it is time to replace the tip. Fortunately they are not very expensive. In the
meantime you can prolong the life of the tip by keeping it clean and tinned. The
best cleaning procedure is a small wire brush or a scouring pad as shown below.
Always re-tin the tip with solder before putting the gun away for the day as this
will help prevent oxidation of the cladding metal.
Other Tips:
When desoldering difficult pads it is often helpful to add a little fresh solder
between the tip and the pad.
Continue to hold the vacuum trigger for a second after you pull the gun away
from the solder pad as this give the gun a chance to clear the molten solder from
the vacuum tube and into the waste container. This procedure may have to be
repeated a couple of times for old solder or large well heat sunk pads.
Another useful technique for use on particularly large solder pads is the
application of a second heat source. A solder gun like a Weller can be placed on
the solder pad to preheat it and alongside the ZD-985 gun tip at the time of
desoldering to facilitate the melting of all the solder on the pad.
