soldering iron
 

am i being stupid or something, just gone to solder up my 22 but before i did i filed the tip just to make sure was nice and clean, its defo getting hot enough and melts the solder easy but i cant tin the tip or solder anything with it, any one got any ideas

soldering tip
 

you need some tip tinner see link http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Soldering-iron...item20b830ae67

managed to get it going again, i let it cool down and then turn t back on again but while waiting for it to warm up hold solder around the tip and it took it :-)

I used to file mine clean regulary and had no problems with this solder
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SOLDER-REEL-25...item45f982e4f9

I'd never file a tip down. Just use a damp sponge, solder, damp sponge >.
I once used to work as a pcb assembler and this keeps the tip in A1 condition.