I'm new to soldering and when I bought a cheap 5 dollar iron on ebay I quickly realized all irons are not created equally. I shelled out 45 bucks on Amazon for a Weller soldering station. I was impressed with the performance at first and found myself soldering like a pro but quickly (in the first use) I noticed that the tip only holds a tin shiny for the first 4 or 5 minutes (or less) after which the tip turns dull/green/black/grey burnt uglyness.
I clean the tip on a wet sponge and again I tin the tip. Both the solder an the tip become burnt even quicker. It always seems like the sponge makes it worse.. The only way to make another good solder is to turn off the iron, let it cool, and start over. Then the cycle repeats! It's really P$#22ing me off to be honest because I can't figure out what I'm doing differently than everyone else. I've watched the tutorials, I shelled out the cash for a good iron, it's brand new, WHAT IS THE DEAL!?
-I bought a copper sponge, that only seemed to make it worse.
-I reduced the heat and the tip still burns the solder immediately.
-I bought 2 types of solder, makes no difference.
-I'm not using flux (because it hasn't arrived in the mail yet) so I'm sure that isn't an issue.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thank you!
I clean the tip on a wet sponge and again I tin the tip. Both the solder an the tip become burnt even quicker. It always seems like the sponge makes it worse.. The only way to make another good solder is to turn off the iron, let it cool, and start over. Then the cycle repeats! It's really P$#22ing me off to be honest because I can't figure out what I'm doing differently than everyone else. I've watched the tutorials, I shelled out the cash for a good iron, it's brand new, WHAT IS THE DEAL!?
-I bought a copper sponge, that only seemed to make it worse.
-I reduced the heat and the tip still burns the solder immediately.
-I bought 2 types of solder, makes no difference.
-I'm not using flux (because it hasn't arrived in the mail yet) so I'm sure that isn't an issue.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thank you!