soldering iron Q's

[completeandutterNEWB]

okay i just got a soldering iron to start me off in the addiction we know as modding
but when i turned my iron it it started smoking and the metal around it turned yellow, then black, and now a purpilish hue
is this normal?
and while i was soldering some solder got stuck to the tip and i cant get it off
how can i remove it without replacing the tip?

[flanzig1]

If it is a new iron, that is pretty normal. As for the solder on the tip, that is called tinning which is good. It helps corrosion from building up. To keep the tip tinned, wipe the tip after each solder with a damp sponge or paper towel. That will clean any flux off the tip.

[TwoRails]

Maybe this like will help a little:

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...ghlight=solder

[Blakhart]

My guess is it is running a bit too hot.

[completeandutterNEWB]

thanks for the tips
yea it was a new soldering iron and i knew that i wasnt doing something right when i was melting the solder with the iron lol

but for keeping the solder tip clean, i cant seem to melt the stuff that is sticking to the soldering iron to wipe it off
can i use sandpaper or something?

[enhanced08]

with a new iron you want to get solder all over the end of the tip (like 1/4in from the end) this is called tinning and after soldering you wipe off the tip with a damp sponge or paper towel as flanzig1 said. you don't want to use sandpaper onit to take off the solder on the tip. it should stay there.
you can use some flux remover to keep it looking nice but other than that just wipe it off every now and then.

with the color changing thats normal. metal changes colors when its heated.the iron get to be like 300 degrees if i remember correctly

[completeandutterNEWB]

yea i noticed the extreme heat with an unlucky encounter