Solder selection for general repair work

The reason solder has changed is the enviromental nuts. Lead is very bad for you so it has been baned in most countries for electronics and water pipes. Just stick with the Kester 60/40 or better the 63/37 rosen core for copper material. For some nonelectronic works the acid core is ok. Just about all the other solder is a poor subistute.

Just to check it out I have tried several of the lead free solder for electronic work but did not feel that any of it is as good as the old stuff for electronic work.

Ok, that simplifies matters. I do recall that premium equipment (Tektronix oscilloscopes) used solder with a small proportion of silver. Were there any benefits to silver other than compatibility with the ceramic terminal strips Tektronix used? I'm thinking of strength, adhesion or wetting....

Thanks for writing!

bob prohaska

Just about anything off the electronics production lines these days is PBFREE or low lead, high tin.

I have used Kester a long time, I tried Indium brand solder a while back and its fine, cant hardly tell any difference.

You can still get good ol' Kester 44. It has RA flux, the more active version of the usual tree sap stuff, which is helpful when using old components.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Is there any electrical or mechanical advantage to be had among the more modern formulations?

Thanks for writing!

bob prohaska

They all conduct electricity pretty well. ;)

Lead-free is a bit stronger mechanically, but is considerably harder to use by hand--its melting point is higher, and (crucially) Sn63Pb gives lovely shiny joints. Besides being pretty, that lets you know when you've got a good joint--cold joints are dull-looking.

On the other hand, even a good Pbfree joint is dull, so you lose that nice visual feedback.

Ersin Multicore is also good.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

I was wondering if the newfangled alloys wet better or are stronger. Seemingly not.

Thanks for writing!

bob prohaska