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Do you still use leaded solder? I was today refused to buy it ...

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james_s:

--- Quote from: Halcyon on November 21, 2021, 06:38:52 am ---My point still stands... why switch? No one has provided a good reason yet.

I can understand not using it as a manufacturer in order to meet local/environmental requirements, but none of those apply to me.

--- End quote ---

I wasn't suggesting you do. I'm still using good old 60/40. I have some 63/37 too but I actually was not all that impressed by it.

nigelwright7557:

--- Quote from: james_s on November 15, 2021, 08:36:54 pm ---You can probably still buy it direct from China no matter where you are. Nobody seems to track that stuff.

--- End quote ---

Buying solder can be a minefield.
From high melting point through to solder without flux its a pain.
I bought some in from China and it would barely melt.
I got some off ebay and it had no flux in it !
Absolutely useless.
So got some from a reputable dealer RS Components and that has been great.

I wont use lead free as it whiskers over long periods. Some satellites went faulty due to this.

PKTKS:
LED FREE is a liability

It is not meant for quality
It has other goals

Paul

Kjelt:
In the starting days of ROHS I remember we all got new Weller 80W soldering stations since the old 50W were not up to the job. I don't remember what the green multicore leadfree composition was, what I do remember that I had to relearn soldering since it neded higher temperature, more time to melt, it did not give this nice shine when it cooled down (a proof you soldered correctly and did not have a cold joint). It looked cooled down  like a bad solderjoint matt and brittle. Then after two years when I needed to reprogram an old prototype board it did not work, i opened it up and almost all the solderjoints were literally corroded.
Mind you this was one of the first alloys and it sucked big time. 1+ year later on we got new lead free solder and now over 15 years later most alloys are pretty good to solder.
Still I prefer lead solder for my own stuff, just that shine  8)
Even for reflow, it is just lower temperature, less stress on the components during reflow, less risk.

TheBay:
I've had no problem getting Pb solder from RS or Farnell, but I used to get MG Chemicals 63/37 from Amazon UK which was really good value for money but lately there seems to be very little Pb solder available on Amazon.

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