EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Electronics => Beginners => Topic started by: sportflyer04 on September 11, 2020, 07:45:41 pm
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I made a very small "solder pot" by attaching a 1/2 inch Hex shank socket drive to a 60W soldering iron. It's for tinning 12 ga multistrand silicone insulated wire.( The type used between Lipo batteries and the connector). I used 60/40 solder to fill the small pot just to try out the device . It seems to work fine . Now I want to use 63/37 solder instead. I have removed most of the solder but there is some remaining in the pot at the bottom. Will it be OK if I just fill up the remaining with 63/37 solder? Tks
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Probably. It depends on how much of a perfectionist you are and how close to true eutectic composition you need it to be. The composition could be corrected with a small quantity of tin or a high tin alloy, e.g bismuth-free Pb-free solder, *IF* you knew fairly accurately how much 60/40 alloy remains.
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I think any reasonable calculation will show that the difference is virtually unmeasurable. The difference is 3% but the 'contamination' alloy is such a small part of the total it probably will make the resultant closer than its original tolerance. How close is 63/37 to the actual allloy composition? What is the standard deviation?
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I am not a perfectionist so I will just not worry about and refill with 63/37 solder . Tks
BTW are there any serious differences between the various solder bars on sale for example from Rotor Metal , Alpha , Kester , and others for my purpose ? I just need the basic. I am leary because last week I purchased a small roll of 63/37 rosin solder from an unknown brand on Ebay and it turned out to be awful.... it wont even stick to resistor leads . I returned the roll.
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I had a similar problem with solder from China. The solder itself is okay but the flux isn't. I got a refund and got to keep the solder. I have a very old tin of soldering paste that works with that solder. In any case, I have better stuff.
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Since the solder bars have no resin in them, I think it should be fine between manufacturers .Maybe the difference whether one has more dross than the other. For my needs a little more dross is no big deal.
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For our wave soldering machines we usually used alpha bars. Dross needs to be removed periodically anyway, use a dross reducing powder. It allows you to keep the useable solder and pull out everything else(use a steel spoon with holes in it if you really want to keep solder loss to a minimum).