| Electronics > Beginners |
| Soldering tip melts |
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| tooki:
--- Quote from: soldar on February 02, 2019, 03:13:21 pm --- --- Quote from: Ian.M on February 02, 2019, 01:05:46 pm --- --- Quote from: Keosintal on February 02, 2019, 12:25:58 pm ---- I use Burnley soldering paste. It states on the package containing zinc chloride --- End quote --- That's a very aggressive acid flux, and is only suitable for plumbing and sheet metalwork. --- End quote --- I did not know the brand but searching online shows they make soldering paste for electronics so it depends on what he got. --- End quote --- I did a bit of deeper searching earlier, and despite it saying “made in Canada” on it, every single vendor seems to be in Asia, other than vintage tins. The manufacturer listed on the tin does exist (they are a plumbing supply company), but lists no product with that brand. So my suspicion is this: 1. That brand of plumbing flux did originally exist, in Canada. 2. It got counterfeited in Asia. 3. The manufacturer in Canada stopped making it, but the counterfeiters continue. 4. Through Chinglish translation, eBay listings for it say “pine resin” and whatnot, making you think it’s electronics flux, even though it’s not, because someone googled “flux” and just chose something. P.S. The OP stated clearly in the original post that his flux paste contains zinc chloride. |
| tooki:
--- Quote from: Keosintal on February 02, 2019, 03:06:45 pm --- --- Quote from: mariush on February 02, 2019, 02:35:56 pm ---Anyway, can't you order things online? --- End quote --- I can't for different reasons. --- End quote --- Well, find a way around those reasons, if your local retailer cannot procure quality supplies for you. It makes no sense to dick around with garbage solder and flux that will never produce a satisfactory result. |
| Audioguru:
I use an electric temperature-controlled soldering iron with 63/37 rosin core electronics solder and the tip lasts for many years. I use a gas torch with plumbers solder and acid flux for soldering water pipes. |
| tooki:
--- Quote from: Psi on February 02, 2019, 01:48:02 pm ---Need to sort out terminology. I'm not entirely sure what you are referring to when you say "Paste" Saying "paste" should always refer to 'solder paste' the stuff that looks like gray toothpaste. If instead it's clear/yellow then it's either flux gel or liquid flux. --- End quote --- Mmmmm... not 100%. 1. In the past especially (and still commonly for plumbing), “soldering paste” was used to mean “paste flux [for soldering]”, and this was occasionally shortened to “solder paste”. It wasn’t until the much later invention of the solder-particles-suspended-in-flux that “solder paste” came around with the modern meaning. You can still sometimes find paste fluxes labeled “solder paste”. 2. Paste and gel flux are NOT exactly the same! Paste flux (for electronics) has historically been rosin flux dissolved in petroleum jelly, usually an amber color. (I have a tin of Kester SP-44 from the 80s, and a tube of Radio Shack paste flux from the 90s, both being rosin in petroleum jelly. The Radio Shack one is a thinner one, the Kester very, very stiff.) Modern gel fluxes, on the other hand, use solvents like glycol ethers and aromatic alcohols. I’ll admit that there’s no clear line — fluxes exist in a fluid continuum from liquid to solid, with every viscosity in between. Nowadays, we often say “gel” for runnier pastes, and “paste” for thicker pastes. Kester doesn’t even bother — they just call them “tacky” fluxes. 3. Fluxes, whether liquid, gel, or paste, can be clear, yellow, or dark amber — or any shade in between. --- Quote from: Psi on February 02, 2019, 01:48:02 pm ---Paste = solder paste, a mix of flux and tiny balls of solder used for soldering surface mount parts with hot air Flux = a clear/yellow liquid or gel that you can add to joints to help improve soldering Solder = A metal wire that melts under 450C/842F and has flux embedded inside it. It comes in two main categories, acid core solder for plumbing and electrical solder for electronics --- End quote --- No. Solder is the alloy. “Flux core solder wire” is what you described here. |
| soldar:
--- Quote from: tooki on February 02, 2019, 05:51:16 pm --- I did a bit of deeper searching earlier, and despite it saying “made in Canada” on it, every single vendor seems to be in Asia, other than vintage tins. The manufacturer listed on the tin does exist (they are a plumbing supply company), but lists no product with that brand. So my suspicion is this: 1. That brand of plumbing flux did originally exist, in Canada. 2. It got counterfeited in Asia. 3. The manufacturer in Canada stopped making it, but the counterfeiters continue. 4. Through Chinglish translation, eBay listings for it say “pine resin” and whatnot, making you think it’s electronics flux, even though it’s not, because someone googled “flux” and just chose something. P.S. The OP stated clearly in the original post that his flux paste contains zinc chloride. --- End quote --- Counterfeit goods on eBay? Say it ain't so! My trust in humanity is shaken! ;) Seriously though, good investigation. |
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