5 Oct
2007
5 Oct
'07
10:54 a.m.
Hi,
Ian Primus said:
Lead free solder doesn't flow, doesn't stick properly,
and barely even melts completely. Cold joints are
assured in most circumstances. I accidentally bought a
roll of it once. I kept tring to use it at different
times figuring "Well, maybe with this iron" or "maybe
since I'm just soldering two wires together". Not only
that, but it smells bad when it melts. So far, I have
found that I can use it only as a paperweight. It does
that pretty good.
Lead free solder == total garbage. Neat idea, but it
doesn't work.
I've been using it for repairs to lead-free equipment for
a year or more now with no problems. You *do* need an iron
with a tip temp of around 370 deg C and capable on maintaining
that temperature while you're making the joint.
In my experience the solder with a small amount, 4% or so, of
silver flows signifcantly better then the plain tin/copper stuff.
--
Cheers,
Stan Barr stanb at dial.pipex.com
The future was never like this!