Dave from uC Hobby sent us link to a Lab Tip about repurposing a bottled water bottle as a soldering station water bottle. Good tip (just make sure it doesn’t encourage you to over-water the sponge. You want it to be damp, not soppy).
This made me think of one of my soldering tips. When I first started doing a lot of electronics work, especially cannibalizing old components for parts, I couldn’t figure out what to do with all of the solder flakes you suck up into a Desoldering Pump. Putting it on your bench in a pile is no good ’cause it ends up flying all over the place (and it’s not something you want to be traveling around your work/living space). So I got a leftover food container and cut a hole in the top to fit the pump’s nylon tip. I also put a moist paper towel in the bottom for the solder flakes to stick to. When I’m done with a soldering session, I just fold up the towel and throw it away. No fuss, no muss.
(BTW: I don’t use a sponge with my soldering set-up, I use the Solder Tip Cleaning Genie, which I love (seen bottom-left in this photo). You can read my review of it on Street Tech.
Lab Tip – Soldering Station Water Bottle – Link
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