Solder - Kester vs generic

[13engrsapper]

I think the tin/lead stuff is still produced or in inventories in large numbers. I think the rules are that it is not to be used for new commercial production in consumer electronics. Perfectly fine for repairs and private projects. Also, all of our projects combined here over the course of a year do not add up to what is used by say... iPhone production in a day. We would not even be on Big Brothers Radar, unless you are trying to get CE or UL listing etc.

 

[Admiral-dk]

Honestly this is the stuff to get : Alph Fluitin 1532 SAC307 - ALL the other LeadFree stuff, I have tried is Crap !!!

Never tried anything better - and I have solder quite a bit over the last 45 years - including being in production and repair.

That said - two things ; You need to have the Temperature a bit higher than the old Lead/Tin Solder + if you really insist on Sn/Pb, then for God sake get the Sn62/Pb36/Ag2, as it is miles better than the plain Sn60/Pb40 stuff - that bit of Silver really makes a Huge difference ....

Per

 

[jp8]

Honestly this is the stuff to get : Alph Fluitin 1532 SAC307 - ALL the other LeadFree stuff, I have tried is Crap !!!

Never tried anything better - and I have solder quite a bit over the last 45 years - including being in production and repair.

That said - two things ; You need to have the Temperature a bit higher than the old Lead/Tin Solder + if you really insist on Sn/Pb, then for God sake get the Sn62/Pb36/Ag2, as it is miles better than the plain Sn60/Pb40 stuff - that bit of Silver really makes a Huge difference ....

Per

We have Edsyn SU35100 at work for lab prototype soldering, which is Sn62/Pb36/Ag2 and it solders extremely well and leaves very little flux residues. So I bought it for home use too. We also use lead free solder from Loctite and Kester (245 type), but that wicks up to the solder tip and does not solder as good as leadfree Edsyn SAC35100 that we got recently.

Jan

 

[Newmarket]

I think the tin/lead stuff is still produced or in inventories in large numbers. I think the rules are that it is not to be used for new commercial production in consumer electronics. Perfectly fine for repairs and private projects. Also, all of our projects combined here over the course of a year do not add up to what is used by say... iPhone production in a day. We would not even be on Big Brothers Radar, unless you are trying to get CE or UL listing etc.

At least wrt EU Directives - it's not okay to use it for repairs on a commercial product that is otherwise RoHS compliant.

 

[MicMaven]

I used to strip insulation from wires with my teeth....

Yep - I am embarrassed to say I did that when I was a kid building short wave radio kits and it is a wonder I did not damage my teeth ... um ... ahem ... please, don't tell anyone I said this, OK? Anonymous

 

[JohnRoberts]

Yep - I am embarrassed to say I did that when I was a kid building short wave radio kits and it is a wonder I did not damage my teeth ... um ... ahem ... please, don't tell anyone I said this, OK? Anonymous

In hindsight I am more concerned about ingesting lead from tinned conductors.

JR

 

[Brian Roth]

Over the decades, I remember more than a few guys who held a piece of solder in their mouth while they used one hand for the soldering iron and the other hand to hold the work.

I bought a Panavise decades ago....

Bri