Oh wow, how'd you do that? Take a flat blade screwdriver and scrape it clean. Try not to use anything abrasive or you could remove the iron plating. After scraping heat it up and poke it into a brass or copper wool pad. If you don't have one you can use steel wool but only with a cold iron. Hot irons can ignite the trace lubricant on steel wools. After this heat it up and wipe it on a wet sponge and go for the tin. You could also precede the tinning with a quick dip into flux if you have any. That should do the trick pretty well.
Do you have a proper soldering iron sponge or one of the brass swarf pads? (and do you use them?)
The last image looks like the tip has never been wiped, but the problem may be more than that.
If it looks like this *after* you've used the correct cleaning devices, then you have problems (yes, you use them while the iron is hot - obvious to me, but maybe not obvious)
The last image looks like the tip has never been wiped, but the problem may be more than that.
If it looks like this *after* you've used the correct cleaning devices, then you have problems (yes, you use them while the iron is hot - obvious to me, but maybe not obvious)
You're probably going to need to scrape it now that it's so far gone. Scrape it then hit it with the sponge, like I said in the first response, if you don't have any metal wool scrubbers. You should be giving it a quick wipe on either the damp sponge or a metal wool pad between every joint, or every few if you're moving quick, for the most part. If you're going to leave the iron sit for a while with the heat on, make sure to add a good blob of solder to the tip so it is protected. This way the oxidation takes place on the solder's outside surface rather than the tip, and it's easy to wipe right off.
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