Whats the best solder out there?

[azatplayer]

Leadfree important?

[Firestorm]

Leadfree important?

Not unless you like crappy solder or do business in the socialist world (Europe and California).

[FYL]

High quality fluxed eutectic Sn63Pb37 is perfect for most applications, you may fancy silver- or copper-enriched solders depending on the build and soldering equipment.

Lead-free solder is quite difficult to use properly - you need a high temp tip and hours of practice before reaching satisfactory results. And even then long term reliability is a problem.

Kester 245 and 275 solders are pretty much the industry standard.

http://www.kester.com/SideMenu/Products ... fault.aspx

[tubeswell]

Leadfree is the product of irrationality and twisted politics. An amp made with this will be prone to constant failure and will end up in a landfill sooner, where all the other nasty heavy metals will do more damage than the lead free solder would. So landfills will not be any better off. Whereas an amp made with leaded solder will probably last several lifetimes (all other things being equal). Ipso facto, leaded solder must be more environmentally, economically and mechanically sustainable. There you go.

[Structo]

Yeah I like the Kester "No Clean" eutectic Sn63Pb37 in .031" dia.

Really works well.

If you look around you can find it for $20-25 lb.

[breakfastbuddy]

is this one good ?


http://cgi.ebay.com/CARDAS-Tri-Eutectic ... hash=item1

[FYL]

is this one good ?

Cardas caters to the audiophool with more money than neurons.

Get some Kester.

[FYL]

Leadfree is the product of irrationality and twisted politics. An amp made with this will be prone to constant failure and will end up in a landfill sooner, where all the other nasty heavy metals will do more damage than the lead free solder would. So landfills will not be any better off. Whereas an amp made with leaded solder will probably last several lifetimes (all other things being equal). Ipso facto, leaded solder must be more environmentally, economically and mechanically sustainable. There you go.

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[Structo]

No kidding.
I had to touch up some solder joints on a little Palimono V8 (read Crate).
I didn't even stop to think that it had lead free solder in it.
When I heated up the joint the crap that was there bubbled and got crusty quickly.
So when I added real solder to it I was not sure if I was making it better or worse.

I agree with taking care of our planet but we just need to use some common sense when dealing with harmful metals or waste.
Why not melt down old circuit boards and recycle the lead?

I know that they were doing that with some circuit boards that had gold plating at one point.

[Cliff Schecht]

There are monetary benefits for using RoHS solders in your products even here in America. Or at least there were before they made us follow the actual EU RoHS laws.

Also, the modern lead-free solders have come a LONG way since they were first introduced. They aren't nearly as problematic as they once were, especially the infamous "whisker" issues of the past, but they still do require a different process and a hotter tip to work with. I'll stick with 63/37 as long as it's available mind you, but the RoHS stigma I think will slowly start to fade away in the next 20 years. It's just unfortunate that we make enough throw away electronics products that something as dumb as RoHS even has to exist!

[David Root]

billyz recommended that Cardas solder in another recent solder thread, and he said some would think he was nuts.

Well, I got a pound of it ($44) and have started using it on a new build. It goes on pretty much like a regular 63/37 eutectic, and of course I won't know if it has any audible differences until I finish the amp, but I will say this, it sets up shinier than regular 63/37, even if the wire shifts a little after you remove the iron, whereas regular 63/37 loses its shine when that happens and I have to remelt until it is bright.

That last point would seem to indicate it might generally make a better electrical connection. That could be audible in a complete amp if you are a less than perfect solder artist like myself.

I'll have to note more closely solder joint resistance after I do them , as I do measure each one after I've done it.

[Cliff Schecht]

Problem is the leads of your DMM are more resistive than that solder joint so you'll never get an accurate reading that way. You can measure voltage drop and current to get a more accurate reading but this is not always an easy task to do, especially in circuit.

But the resistivity of solder is something that worries me about the flush turret board builds I see. The ones that RJ uses in his Express board set are fantastic units IMO, tall and easy to mount the parts to (plus everything is strongly electrically connected by the post itself). Just setting the components near each other in a large hole and using solder to make the connection doesn't seem like a great method for getting your interconnects, definitely not as good as every part physically contacting one another at least.

[David Root]

Cliff, I just compare my DMM crossed probes minimum reading with the solder joint reading and if it's more than 0.01 ohm above I remelt.

[Cliff Schecht]

Yeah same here. When I'm ohming out low value resistors or caps I just add or subtract the meters parasitics to get the "real" value.

[Andy Le Blanc]

it be lead free or die soon enough, I like a silver bearing solder, don't use it
generally but like it. the rohs means you need to gear up with a proper
solder station that provides the correct temp, then is not an issue.