Solder pot solder type

Hi all, production handed me a triangular piece of bar solder used in a solder pot. KESTE(R) is embossed on the surface, (the R has been cut off) but any other numbers are gone. What's the easiest way to try and identify what type of solder it is?

Thanks, George H.

Reply to
George Herold
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Depending on what measurement is easier for you, you could get a pretty good idea of how much lead is in it by measuring either density or melting point (solidus / liquidus).

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Reply to
Glen Walpert

older pot.

er numbers

it is?

The easiest way is to use a xrf meter. But not practical unless you alread y have access to such a meter.

I would try to measure the melting temperature and also see if it changes f rom solid to liquid without going mushy.

I suspect you are mostly interested in knowing if it has any lead in the so lder. I do not know how well this would work ,but you can get tests for le ad at places as Lowes. They are intended to test old paint to see if it co ntains lead. Or testing water to see if it has lead in it.

Dan

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

Oh density! (duh) Thanks Glen!

George H.

Reply to
George Herold

Distinguishing between leaded and non-leaded. An automatic centre punch will indent deeper,bigger cone, in leaded. Try "soldering" a stainless steel sewing needle, non-leaded solder will stick to the needle much more firmly than leaded solder, when you try scraping it off.

Reply to
N_Cook

We've tried the 3M leadcheck on PCB's and it does work. It should also work on solder stock too.

Cheers

Reply to
Martin Riddle

You might try measuring the specific gravity and weight.

Lead about 11, tin about 7. Google will give better numbers.

Reply to
tom

Would this be useful to you?

Reply to
John S

Would this be useful to you?

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And to go with that, here is a table of physical properties of solder alloys from Kester, including the specific gravity:

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----- Regards, Carl Ijames

Reply to
Carl Ijames

Beautiful! Good find.

Reply to
John S

Rushing out today I told the production person they could figure it it out by measuring the density... blank stare. "You know, ratio of weight to volume", (nothing) "Archimedes, the crown and the bath tub." "I never heard the story", she says, then smiling, "and I don't go into men's bathrooms."

I'll figure it out on Monday.

George H. Oh and thanks for the specific gravity link.

Reply to
George Herold

You should have asked how she knew Archimedes was a man.

Figure out She in production, or what?

Reply to
John S

Hi all I remembered to measure my solder today. Density is ~7.25 g/ cm^3. Which according the the nice chart linked to by Carl

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means I have 100% tin solder*. Does this make sense for a solder pot used to strip the insulation off magnet wire?

It certainly will run hot.

George H.

*(OK or tin with a little bit of something else... I could check for whiskers :^)
Reply to
George Herold

Hang it in some diluted wine vinegar for a while. If it sweetens the vinegar, it has lead in it.

Or

If it's just the difference between tin/lead and lead-free that matters, heat it to 200'C and see if it melts - an easy way is to solder a large SM component to a PCB and see when it drops off in an oven with a thermocouple next the part.

In high temperature work, this is how you can tell if a subcontractor has used tin/lead against your instructions. The parts fall off :-)

I would guess the difference between, say, 96S, 99C and 100C would be much more difficult. HMP is rarely used, but is pretty nearly all lead and melts at around 300'C.

HTH

Cheers

--
Syd
Reply to
Syd Rumpo

It does; sometimes you get bar solder that's 50/50, sometimes 63/37, but you can also get pure tin or pure lead (and the ratio is yours to control).

More likely, though, is it's a lead-free solder with that same density (Sn 96** types at the bottom of Kester's listing).

Reply to
whit3rd

Aha! It's a TRIANGULAR bar! Look at the pictures here:

The (multiple types) of lead-free solder are sold in triangular bars. So as not to confuse with the 'old' types.

Reply to
whit3rd

I have some relatively inexpensive lead-free solder- it's 99.3% Sn

0.7% Cu

Digikey lists that stuff, plus Sn96.5 Ag3.0 Cu0.5 and Sn42 Bi58

tin-copper.

So you can just melt it in a little solder pot, immerse a thermocouple, and plot the temperature vs. time as it cools. ;-)

--sp

--
Best regards,  
Spehro Pefhany 
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Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

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