Hi everyone. I just signed up for Instructables, but I have been a constant visitor for a while now. I'm also the happy owner of a cheap soldering iron I bought a while ago for some projects I had on mind, so I've been checking out all those Instructables about soldering to have a clue of how to solder without dying on the attempt. The problem is, most of them are for soldering circuits and I'm more interested in other kind of stuff like audio wires, speakers, LEDs, switches, and the most audio plug jacks.
So, I bought my soldering iron (a pretty cheap one) and started to use it but, hell, I just cannot figure out how to do it right.
The first time I used it I tried to tin it correctly but I think I might have let a spot I couldn't tin quickly and apparently that spot never heated correctly. After several days of use the tip of the darn thing changed a few times of color to finally corroded and the mentioned spot of the tip fell apart although I cleaned it and tinned it after every use. My second bigger problem is that after tinning the tip the solder appear to have life of its own. Usually I put the tip upon the place where I want to solder and next to the wires, apply the solder, and then the solder:
a) Melt, shrinks and go back the way it came.... or
b) A portion stays in place but manage to stay down, left or right from the wires to be soldered.
When trying to tin wires the solder always rejects them (I think running away from them).
So please, help. Could anyone tell me what am I doing wrong. Is it the solder?
Do I need to stop being cheap and buy a better soldering iron?? Is it me doing all wrong?? Can anyone post a "Soldering for less than dummies" Instructable???
Any help will be highly appreciated.