How can I troubleshoot soldering failures?

[JoshuaPK]

Hello,

It's been a long time since I did electronic stuff, but I've been playing with a few Arduinos lately. So I need to do some soldering. But it's not working- I end up melting plastic or destroying a component before the solder even melts.

I have a 40 watt iron, which is brand new. I am trying to use .050" and .039" (1mm) solder. First, I will plug in the iron and give it about 15-20 minutes to heat up. Then I'll clean the tip with the sponge. Then I'll tin the tip- or try to, anyway. If I touch the solder very close to the heating element, it melts quickly... then if I drag the little molten solder ball to the end of the tip, it stays molten. But if I take the solder away and re-touch it to the tip, it takes 20-30 seconds to melt. I will try to solder something to a circuit board using the recommended method- heat the connection, then apply the solder. But if I do this, the solder just never melts... it's almost as if the iron is defective (does not get hot enough) and/or the connection I'm trying to solder will wick away enough heat so that the solder doesn't melt.

Is my iron defective, or is my technique defective?

Thanks!
-JK

[zener]

It sounds like maybe the tip is bad or dirty, or maybe the iron is not getting hot enough. When you clean it in the damp sponge does it get nice and silvery shiny? When you touch the damp sponge does it make a sizzle sound?