I'm preparing to fix my TV. I've borrowed all the soldering equipment I imagine I could ever need, including a nice, temperature-regulated Weller WES50 soldering station with a pencil-tipped iron. I've got desoldering braid and a solder sucker. I've got rosin-core solder. I've got the ICs to replace in my TV. I'm ready.

Before I destroy my TV, I figured I should practice, since I've never done anything like this before. I'm having trouble and thought I'd ask for advice. I'm having absolutely terrible luck making good solder joints. The various FAQs I've read said it only takes 2-3 seconds for the iron to heat up the wire and PCB, and that's about right for when I've practiced desoldering, but it's taking much longer to solder, and I'm often getting the solder ballng up rather than flowing smoothly.

Based on the FAQs, I think my problem is that I'm not properly tinning the iron. How exactly is this supposed to be done? I've tried a variety of different temperatures, but anything hot enough to melt the solder seems to evaporate it and leave behind a dark, wet-looking coating on the iron, versus the silver coating that I want. Do I need to clean the iron first? Any advice?