Blackened soldering iron

[Gideon]

Is the barrel of this thing supposed to turn black?  It's my first time using one, and I was wondering if I did something wrong...

The reason why I ask is because when I see pics of soldering irons in tutorials online, they aren't black like mine.

[Jakobud]

Its just like soot and smoke and stuff.  Just clean it off.  Keeping it clean will help the soldering better because then you know the metal is right up against the solder.

[JustMichael]

Some will turn different colors do to the heat but the barrel really doesn't matter.  As long as the tip is shiny then you are ok.  The tip is the part that is supposed to be melting the solder.

[DrewKaree]

Having solder stick to your iron is not a good thing.  Clean your soldering iron off.  You should only touch the solder and the iron together when beginning, to get a bit on the tip to start.

The idea behind soldering is, this:
use the tip to heat the things you wish to solder until they are hot enough that, when touching your solder to the pieces to be joined, it melts and flows across the two, joining them together.  

You should try to NOT touch the wire to melt your solder to join pieces.  Eventually you will need to clean your iron of all the built up gunk on it.  

For a better "how to" see here:

http://www.aaroncake.net/electronics/solder.htm

or here:

http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderfaq.htm#howto

Hope this helps.

[Minwah]

I had an electric iron which turned pretty black along the barrel part - not thru touching anything, just thru heat.  As the others said as long as the tip is clean you'll be OK.

The tip will blacken up over time tho, you can use a special wet sponge to clean the tip, or if you're like me and forget lightly file the crap off when it gets so bad it stops working  

[Gideon]

Thanks, guys.  I appreciate your help.