soldering issues

finest1

hi all,

i was rewiring my guitar today. and i noticed something odd with my solder.

the solder does not "take" to the iron. it forms a pellet and runs off. when i actually tried to solder 2 wires together, the solder crumbled into soot. so my question is:

does solder go off? could it by my iron. the iron is new. i used it on a project earlier in the year and this is the second time i used it.

thanks in advance

octatonic

Have you tinned the tip?
What size iron is it?

Sporky

finest1 said:

the solder does not "take" to the iron.

You shouldn't be putting the solder on the iron. The iron heats the joint, the solder is applied to the joint.

Modulus_Amps

Sounds like you need a new iron tip, or at least a clean iron tip, do you have a wet sponge to clean the tip before every joint?

finest1

hi all,

to answer the above

yes i tinned the tip

yes i had a damp sponge. once i rub it on the sponge you can see the tip get shiny again. when i went to apply the solder, not much was happening. i mean, to solder to wires together, should take seconds. the solder just runs off onto the solder mat.

iron is about 30cm and 45w

Modulus_Amps

well something is not right, so you have to change one at a time..... or the whole lot

lasermonkey

What sort of iron is it? On some irons the tips come in different operating temperatures. Is it possible that the tip is for lead-free solder, which has a higher melting point to 60/40 tin/lead? Or if the iron has a variable temperature, is it set too high? Does the tip go blue or red?
 Something is definitely amiss, for sure.

finest1

@lasermonkey
not sure. no variable temperature .  the tip does not change colour

thanks

lasermonkey

Something I have just remembered- many years ago I encountered a reel of solder where the flux core had disappeared part way through the reel of solder. If my memory serves correctly, that exhibited similar issues. I wonder if that's what has happened here?