Brand New Soldering Iron Tip Turns Black, Solder Won't Stick
Answer : As pointed out in the comments and other answer, you need to clean the tip. There are two options for cleaning, depending on what you have, or what came with the Iron. A Compressed Cellulose sponge, which has been wetted with water. You want it to be damp, but not soaking wet. If it is soaking it just cools the tip down and doesn't help clean it. If it is dry, the sponge will burn, putting more crap on the tip. Image from here A Brass Wire cleaning sponge. These are not the same as steel wool. Steel wool is an abrasive which will damage the tip (as will sand paper). The tips are made internally of copper which is great for heat transfer, but will be damaged/dissolved by the tin in the solder. To allow the tip to work, it is plated with Iron which will withstand the soldering process, and is key to ensuring the tip can be used. This plating is thin and can be easily damaged by abrasives, or scratching against things. The brass wire sponges are not abrasive,...