SRA Soldering Products Rosin Paste Flux #135 with a Soldering Iron Tip Tinner

Great purchase, this is a must have item for soldering.

Some very nice soldering flux and tip tinner works like a charm on new tips to keep them clean and oxidation free

The flux and tip tinner are great! The flux I find is much easier to apply when warm and melted. To do this I very quickly plunge and quickly pull out the hot solder tip into the flux container (careful if the tip is on a hotter setting the flux may splatter!) and this puddles it up enough for me to pick some up easily to apply it. I use a cut small piece of dry sponge to soak up some melted flux and then brush it on. For a diode lead for example I can just dip one lead into the melted flux to coat it easily. For the tip tinner I plunge the hot tip into the container then I do a gentle rolling back and forth and pull the tip slightly in and out of the contianer. I then brush off any remnants with a damp sponge as suggested. This tinner works very well if you repeat the process a few times. On just one application it did not work the best, but after repeating another 3-4 times it tinned the tip just fine and solder would start to load up on the tip instead of balling up like on an untinned tip. It is normal to have solder balls after using the tip tinner container. It vaporizes the acid and then leaves behind whatever the tinner material is in ball form like solder balls. No worries about this, as stated, that is normal. So there you go! This stuff works as intended, but you may have to find the methods that work best for you!

SRA's rosin flux, although much lighter or more transparent in color than Kester flux paste, SRA's flux is much more difficult cleaning when compared to the older cheaper much darker Kester flux paste. My guess is, either manufacturers have been removing the non-desirable components of rosin flux, or they're just using beeswax instead of petroleum based (eg. Vaseline) products. As such, the waxy leftover residue is difficult to cut through or clean using Dawn dish washing soap. Whereas using the older flux paste (likely containing Vaseline similar petroleum product), Dawn dish washing soap readily cleaned. I get a waxy thinned substance over everything after wiping down well with dish washing soap. Shrugs. But also guessing, most also likely use Isopropanol alcohol, as alcohol tends to clean waxy substances better than water based dish soap. (Although acetone is best, acetone may cause damage.) Since the work I just performed was hidden by plastic, I couldn't get an idea of solder flow with the SRA paste compared to the older darker Kester flux paste.

Great product and just the right amount for me. I dabble in electronics, but not in an industrial level, just for fun.