On 17/09/2017 03:18, T i m wrote:

I've just fired my iron up with the new barrel and tinned the ends of
a couple of bits of stranded copper cable with my 6 tip and it seemed
to do so very easily. Maybe a 7 would be required if using unleaded
solder (which I'm not)?

Also check that the element switches off with no tip in it. The
mechanical switch that is operated by the magnet can get stuck/seized,
meaning that the iron gets much hotter than it should regardless of
which tip is in it. It's entirely possible that a properly working iron
with a number 6 tip is hot enough for what you are doing, but if you
find that it is too hot then perhaps the switch is stuck.

Chris