50 years is good for anything to still be working.

Looks a bit like a horse shoe nail problem.

Or buy a new one. LIDL sells them, temperature controlled for about 17 €, a simple version for 10 €. My first soldering iron was an ERSA, the first WELLER magnastat a bit too expensive. In 1969 I finally bought a real magnastat, dark blue case, 24 V transformer inside. Still in working order. For electronic circuits I prefer my new light blue Weller.

I was in Lidl on Tuesday and spotted a very good soldering station for about €13.  I was tempted but I'm saving up for a huge garage bill on my van.

I now own three working soldering irons. The new Antex Xs25, the very cheap 12V emergency car version (cost £2.75 and my original Antex E. Here are a few photos showing my efforts today while it was rain stopped play in the garden.
They are in the next post.

Having just had to replace the charging connector on OH's laptop (again) I wish I had thrown some money at the Lidl one I spotted. My usual simple iron is always a nuisance trying to find a way of setting it down between dabs. Usually bring a g-clamp in from the workshop and attach it to the table, then hang the iron over the clamp. I never thought I would be soldering more than once every few years but now it seems more stuff is breaking down on a regular basis.

After replacing the charger connector on the laptop I decided to put a bead of Araldite all around it to reinforce its grip on the pc board. It is the constant flexing of the board that fractures the connection, a common problem with this model. Then after spending the whole day doing the job I now find the damned laptop is dead. Stone dead.