Some solder paste to avoid

[8086]

So yesterday I went looking for cheap and cheerful small quantity solder paste on eBay. Unfortunately I ended up getting a rather smaller quantity than I thought.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mechanic-Solder-Paste-MCN-300-SMD-SMT-SN63-PB37-50g-/160690709235?_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D5%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D5513772716819418063

The listing states 50g net weight, but...




Only 39g including all the packaging! Scoundrels! 

[Rufus]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=5485.0

At least your supplier says approximately. I suppose 39g gross with a plastic bag is approximately 50g net.

[Fraser]

You have been unlucky.

I have two new pots of the exact same solder paste from two different suppliers...one weighs 50g whilst the other weighs 51g. I haven't used it yet so no idea how good it is.

Aurora

[8086]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=5485.0

At least your supplier says approximately. I suppose 39g gross with a plastic bag is approximately 50g net.

Except net weight is the weight of the product without packaging. So there's probably about 25g of paste in there.

[Zad]

Complain! The seller has 100% feedback and they will be eager to maintain that. It looks like they are physically located in the UK too, which is unusual.

[8086]

Complain! The seller has 100% feedback and they will be eager to maintain that. It looks like they are physically located in the UK too, which is unusual.

I have just sent the seller an email asking for a partial refund. They expect the buyer to pay return postage but that's just silly for such a low price item.

[8086]

Well, I got an interesting reply to my complaint.

Hi
I'll refund 50% for you no problem. But You never be able to buy anything from me. I'll block you. All supplier sells paste from the same vendor so all of as have the same pastas. And this is not my fault there is not enough inside. Anyway you have refund and good luck in searching 50g pastas on ebay.

- dmcomponents2011

I'm not sure if he realises there's at least 2 other sellers on eBay with the same product in the UK. I guess I'm about to be blocked, oh dear, oh dear. No more pastas for me from this guy!

[RCMR]

I've purchased the same stuff from various Chinese suppliers and found the weight to be highly variable.  I guess it depends on how tired the girl with the icing pipe is when she fills each one as to how much you get.

[metalphreak]

There was another thread on this before but it may have disappeared as it ended up being a "discussion" about chinese products 

I've always bought my mechanics paste from DealExtreme and I've not once been short changed on the quantity inside.

[Psi]

I've purchased the same stuff from various Chinese suppliers and found the weight to be highly variable.  I guess it depends on how tired the girl with the icing pipe is when she fills each one as to how much you get.

Also the time of day and level of paste left in the machine.

Worker isn't going to want to refill the machine if there's only 10min before end of shift.
So they will probably reduce the amount in each pot so it lasts.

[Fraser]

My paste will be longgggg past it's 'use by' date before I get to the bottom of it 

The ebay seller sounds a jerk though. Banning you for raising the issue of underweight product ....I was surprised at his response. Obviously not 'retail' trained !

[Zad]

Definitely report them to ebay. first of all they sold you a product which was not only "not as described" but with wilful intent to mislead. Then they make a threat against you because you complained about their illegal act. This tells me how they got their 100% feedback, they presumably don't show up when someone is banned.

[IanB]

I think the seller's attitude is bad, don't get me wrong, but he has a valid point. He is selling a pre-packaged product "as seen" for peanuts per item, and the product is exactly as described in the sale. It is a sealed jar of Mechanics solder paste as delivered from the factory. Whatever it is is what it is. If you don't like the risks of buying cheap stuff from eBay, buy from a retail store like Maplins. Asking for a partial refund on a £3.50 item does seem a bit pathetic. Honestly, suck it up and put it down to experience.

[alm]

The seller mentions the 50g figure several times in the listing. The seller is responsible for both the listing and the product. If he's not sure of the quantity, he should state so in the listing. The seller also picked the price. This is clearly a case of an object that's not as described in the listing, in my opinion.

[IanB]

Yes, the seller has a bad approach to business. I would hope a polite note to the seller along the lines of "The product did not weigh 50 g as promised when I received it, can you do something to put it right?" might have drawn a better response. I guess we will never know now.

[8086]

I think the seller's attitude is bad, don't get me wrong, but he has a valid point. He is selling a pre-packaged product "as seen" for peanuts per item, and the product is exactly as described in the sale. It is a sealed jar of Mechanics solder paste as delivered from the factory. Whatever it is is what it is. If you don't like the risks of buying cheap stuff from eBay, buy from a retail store like Maplins. Asking for a partial refund on a £3.50 item does seem a bit pathetic. Honestly, suck it up and put it down to experience.

I expect he knows exactly what goes into these.

And why is it pathetic to ask for a partial refund? I only got half the stuff inside. If you're Mr. Moneybags then good for you, I however, am not, and I won't let people scam me out of my money.

The right course of action is to do my refund, and then to contact his supplier about the issue, and he can decide whether to continue to sell dodgy product or to stop using the supplier. It's not on my head to put it down to experience, I already know to avoid it in future, why should I not be refunded as well?

[IanB]

I expect he knows exactly what goes into these.

And why is it pathetic to ask for a partial refund? I only got half the stuff inside. If you're Mr. Moneybags then good for you, I however, am not, and I won't let people scam me out of my money.

The right course of action is to do my refund, and then to contact his supplier about the issue, and he can decide whether to continue to sell dodgy product or to stop using the supplier. It's not on my head to put it down to experience, I already know to avoid it in future, why should I not be refunded as well?

If the product you receive is not as described, the first response should just be a polite note pointing this out and asking them to put it right for you. Then they can refund you or send you more product at their choice. If you get a rude reply from that you could write appropriate feedback, and if the seller gets stroppy you could then file a complaint.

I'm just saying emails that begin with "I want a refund" are probably not the right place to start.

[8086]

I'm just saying emails that begin with "I want a refund" are probably not the right place to start.

You haven't seen my original email. It wasn't just "I want a refund, give it to me now". Wrong assumption, there. I was perfectly polite and not demanding, I just stated near the end of it that I felt the fairest course of action was a 50% refund, as there was only 50% product in the bottle, and return postage would be silly. This was not the opening line, either. He always had the option to email with a better idea if he had one, like sending more product. It's not like i put him in a corner, is it? He just decided to be rude to me because he was selling stuff with only half the product inside, and I called him on it.

[metalphreak]

I wouldn't be surprised if he himself got a bad batch from his supplier, and is now having to deal with complaints over what is probably an item he doesn't make that much money on for the effort. Still doesn't excuse him for being rude about it though. Threatening to ban you from future purchases wasn't necessary to add, but he probably won't have to bother since I doubt you'll be buying from him again

Google "Paul Christoforo" to see how not to do customer service.

[alm]

I wouldn't be surprised if he himself got a bad batch from his supplier, and is now having to deal with complaints over what is probably an item he doesn't make that much money on for the effort.

The proper solution in that case would be to add a notice to the listing. Something like 'This is part of a batch that received less than 50g of solder paste. I guarantee that you will receive at least 25g worth of paste. The price was lowered to reflect this.'.

Google "Paul Christoforo" to see how not to do customer service.

The response reminded me of him, too. Will he forever be synonym with bad, rude customer service?

[odingalt]

As a former e-bay seller, a purveyor of Chinese goods, and a guy who likes to get a good deal (I buy my cars at auction or used, for example) I just wanted to tell you that tightwads get exactly what they pay for when they shop on e-bay.

You are expecting to get high volume prices for tiny quantities, with unreasonably low shipping costs for a hazardous material.  E-bay and PayPal fees combined are normally up to 20% of the auction amount.  So after you deduct shipping and e-bay fees there's basically no way the seller can actually sell you 50g and make a living wage selling paste.

I hear this story over and over again regarding e-bay sellers.  Seriously, to all tightwads, you get what you pay for.  Pay an extra 1.00 next time you'll see a world of difference in quality and service.

[Psi]

Avoid chipquik brand paste if you intend to place the paste by hand with a syringe, their paste is too thick.

It keeps flowing out of the dispensing needle for 20sec after you stop pushing the plunger.

You could mix in some flux i guess, but it would be messy.

[Kjelt]

Avoid chipquik brand paste if you intend to place the paste by hand with a syringe, their paste is too thick.
It keeps flowing out of the dispensing needle for 20sec after you stop pushing the plunger.

That is why electronic dispensing systems have a short vacuum cycle after the pressure cycle. It is not as much the thickness as it is physics, gravity will keep on siphoning the stuff out, just pull the plunger upwards a bit after pressing and lay the syringe horizontally away instead of vertically.

[peter.mitchell]

Avoid chipquik brand paste if you intend to place the paste by hand with a syringe, their paste is too thick.

It keeps flowing out of the dispensing needle for 20sec after you stop pushing the plunger.

You could mix in some flux i guess, but it would be messy.

I use it regularly and have no issues, also if refrigerated it will last for a year or two. it is a little thick when fresh out of the fridge but fine once it warms up.

Much better all round than the mechanic shit though.

[wraper]

Avoid chipquik brand paste if you intend to place the paste by hand with a syringe, their paste is too thick.

It keeps flowing out of the dispensing needle for 20sec after you stop pushing the plunger.

You could mix in some flux i guess, but it would be messy.

Recently bought a lead free chipquik from farnell. Wouldn't say that it's thick but it contains hell a lot of an air bubbles. So no way to be applied from syringe as you never know the amount that will come out. Woks very well with a stencil thou. Residues are easily dissolved with an isopropyl alcohol unlike a Chinese mechanic paste residues.