I need help with and to see if anyone else who's purchased this kit has had a similar issue with the soldering iron.
I just received the Make Your UNO Soldering Kit which I was thrilled. I plugged it in, dialed up to 350C and began tinning the tip. I was doing the first exercise; soldering in the heart shape on the practice board. I made contact with the exposed metal in one of the holes and waited a few seconds for it to heat up. I tried touching the solder to the same metal ring (NOT directly on the tip) and nothing happened. I waited for approximately 3 minutes and still nothing. I then touched the solder directly to the tip and still nothing. I unplugged and replugged it. I wiped it on the wet sponge and tried again.
I repeated this a few times, and tried with a few other tips and the same issue persisted.
Why would the solder melt first tinning the tip and then not melt again when contacting the the tinned tip? Has this happened to anyone else?
I appreciate any advice.
EDIT: It is the voltage. I got a European soldering iron with 220V and I'm in Canada eh! Big thanks to @TomGeorge and to everyone who responded.
I have no idea what they pack out in those kits so can't say much for what the kits include.
As to slobbering err rather soldering. It's just a skillset that comes with work and practice.
In your case something is wrong. You make enough heat to tin the pencil. When we place the tip on a junction or any point to solder we expect a heat loss but not to where we can't ass fresh clean solder. If the iron is working as advertised then it's just a learning curve. If the iron id defective it goes back and as mentioned I have seen new stuff fail in a week.
A final rule, once things are running well. When soldering, the bigger the blob, the better the job. (Not True).
Tips oxidize very rapidly and the oxide layer is an insulator.
You need a wet sponge and wipe the tip before EACH use. Then, re-tin and use the "wet" spot as the contact point. You can do several consecutive solder pads, but if you stop, or "holster" your iron, then wipe and re-tin. Pro tip: After soldering is complete, use high octane alcohol (>90% if possible) and a short bristle acid brush (the cheap kind with metal tube handles) and scrub the rosin off the pcb. This will also remove any specks of solder that could cause shorts.
Tip is raw metal (easy to corrode) probably smelled of burning grease or plastic (protectant of shipping). Stab the tip into your flux. Use more flux than you think you should. Then stab the hot tip into fine copper scrub pad. Then wipe tip on moist sponge. Then re-tin. Clean up the flux mess. See @TomGeorge
I have a similar iron, it's easy to inadvertently change the temp setting on the protruding yellow dial, check that. I would drop it back to 275 ~ 300 until you get some practice.
(Not True).
