Re: Solder balling up and not sticking
Grind the tip into chisel shape like you did with your 40W iron. Let iron heat up for about 5 minutes (20 minutes is way way too long... even 10 is too long). Grind tip a little bit again just to clean any oxidation. Do this while the iron is hot. Apply solder on the tip. It should flow nicely this time.
I have a cheap 35W Radio Shack pistol-grip iron I bought ages ago. Still works great. Came with a conical tip, but within the first year I wore it out into a chisel-shaped tip just from usage. When that happened, the iron started working a lot better than before. Moreover, since then, the tip has never again needed a cleaning. I regularly use lead-free solder with it, too. In fact, I don't recall when was the last time I soldered with leaded solder.
Originally posted by Gorrillasnot
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I have a cheap 35W Radio Shack pistol-grip iron I bought ages ago. Still works great. Came with a conical tip, but within the first year I wore it out into a chisel-shaped tip just from usage. When that happened, the iron started working a lot better than before. Moreover, since then, the tip has never again needed a cleaning. I regularly use lead-free solder with it, too. In fact, I don't recall when was the last time I soldered with leaded solder.
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