Recommendations for Lead-free Solder?

[+Larry]

I've used a general purpose 60-40 solder wire of around .032" dia. for many years. Does anyone have recommendations for Pb-free solder wire for use on through hole soldering on our Atari's? I'd like to go lead-free if possible, but it needs to work well on our equipment.

 

Suggestions, sources, "avoids" ?

 

Thanks,

Larry

[Fixitguy74]

I got some lead free from Radio Shack a few years back and had good luck with it. I haven't looked for it lately though.

Edited December 28, 2011 by Fixitguy74

[mimo]

avoid it for as long as you can.

[Bryan]

All the solder already in your Atari equipment is lead based, so there's really nothing to be gained by using lead-free. Plus, 60/40 is much easier to work with.

[Rybags]

Unleaded is a bit of a bitch to work with, especially desoldering.

 

If you're worried about fumes then don't... practically all the smell and fumes you're getting is from the flux.

 

They're not exactly good for you either but if you do lots of soldering you can get fume extraction fans.

[Mathy]

Hello guys

 

You can't even get leaded solder wire over here anymore. So tips (other then "order some from oversees") are welcome.

 

Hmm, maybe not such a bad idea...

 

Mathy

[Bryan]

Irony:

 

http://www.okinternational.com/binary/articles/LF%20solders%20Increase%20Need%20for%20Fume%20Ext.pdf

[Ayreon]

I'm not an expert, but I have been told that you shouldn't mix leaded tin with non leaded as the melting/solidifying temps are different and can lead to bad soldering. (cracks etc.)

[Rybags]

Sounds totally plausible to me. The unleaded would start to solidify first so you'd probably end up with air gaps between the two types.

[Mclaneinc]

Avoid that lead free stuff as long as you can, its awful to work with.

 

Someone on youtube did a comparison solder flow experiment, lead free just blobbed into a ball while lead inc solder flowed freely. I recently tried to use it to fix a Nintendo DS with blown internal fuses, using that lead free was a joke, all I need to do was bridge two very close pads no more than 2mil apart (if that) and that stuff just made a mess.

 

If you can find it buy a nice big reel of lead inc...

Edited December 29, 2011 by Mclaneinc

[+poobah]

avoid it for as long as you can.

 

^ This!

 

As for mixing types, I use silver bearing solder when i have to do re-work on non-Pb boards. Seems to work well.

[spookt]

+1 for avoiding lead free. I found some 60/40 in a DIY clearance store over here in the UK and bought a few reels. It's getting pretty difficult to find here now, which is a shame since I'm nearly out

[mimo]

+1 for avoiding lead free. I found some 60/40 in a DIY clearance store over here in the UK and bought a few reels. It's getting pretty difficult to find here now, which is a shame since I'm nearly out

Have you tried grandata, I bought a huge reel from them last year

[Mclaneinc]

Nope all lead free..

 

Any other places?

[bombidragon]

we could always smuggle it across the pond (like Colombians) . Try to stick with the lead stuff!

[mimo]

Nope all lead free..

 

Any other places?

cpc still stock it, but not used theirs so not sure how good it is. Pricey too!

[Mclaneinc]

eek..too pricey for me..

 

Pee's me off, I had about 30 of those Maplin 99p bags from the old days, when my iron died and I'd stopped doing any stuff I gave them to my mate, he over the time passed bits on to his mates and its all gone

 

I'll keep looking...

[candle]

leaded is dirt cheap in poland, and much easier to work with

so +1 for avoiding the lead-free stuff as long as possible

it breaks, joints looks like overheated to start with and there is nothing worse from chemistry behind than unleaded solder

you won't do any harm to the envirotment if you're a hobbyst making some soldering work in your spare time

 

Mathy, if you need any solder, you can buy it online via tme.eu, they accept paypal

i don't know what is minimum order, but it should be reasonable

[Mathy]

Hello Candle

 

Oh man, just looked at that site. It's not gonna be easy, choosing the right one...

 

Mathy (who bookmark the site)

[kogden]

I generally find lead solder easier to work with as well. Flows nicer that's for sure. It also has a lower melting point. The point at which a lot of lead-free solder melts is pretty close to the failure point of some components meaning you have to be more careful not to cook parts.

 

I handle quite a bit of lead solder and have since I was a kid along with handling cast lead bullets and I've never had any heavy metal poisoning issues at 30 yrs old so far. Take some precautions but no need to treat lead like it's plutonium.

 

An area where silver solder really falls flat on its face is attaching BGA chips to PCB's. It's too brittle and if the solder balls are uneven at all it WILL fail eventually and several pins will break contact. Not just limited to BGAs either.

 

To make a long story short:

+1 LEAD!

 

Real leaded solder is still available from Radio Shack in the US. I buy it all the time. It's about the same price as the silver stuff if not cheaper. Is it illegal to have lead solder shipped to you in European countries that phased it out?

[Mathy]

Hello kogden

 

Not sure if it's forbidden to import it, even for private use.

 

Mathy

[+Larry]

Thanks for the suggestions -- guess I'll stick with 60/40 as long as possible.

-Larry

[candle]

most of the time i was using solder made by polish producer, but recently its easier to buy chineese stuff with polish label on it - so i guess its not impossible to import leaded solder to europe

BGA reballing service centers also use leaded balls instead of unleaded, because of their reliablity, and this what i know for sure - they have some problems importing these balls from china (custom's want to have detailed chemical specification of what they made of, and its not always included) but they still are able to get them

 

i wonder what is the outcome of this - i guess ecco guys wanted to have lead usage lowered and less lead lying out there on the dumpsters, so now they have less lead lying on the dumpsters, but much more electro-garbage in general, because life span of unleaded solder joints are shorter, and nobody cares for getting a repair these days

in my picture that pile that suppose to vanish is now twice as big, but its unleaded

i suppose its all about money and assembly hoses getting their equipment replaced for pb-free technology

 

its strange that they forced going unleaded in electronics, and did not care for car batteries