I'm a hobbyist that's been soldering on and off for the past 20 years. I've had a stash of solder from around 2000 that's finally finished and had to order a new roll.
I"m now finding it almost impossible to solder with the new stuff.
Found the spec for the old solder:
Tin 60%
Lead 40%
Diameter 0.5mm
Flux content 1.15% (0.1%Tol.)
Melting point 185ºC
The new stuff I first ordered a roll of 63/37 from eBay. 0.5mm. Flux 2% which when I try to solder it doesn't flow as easily as the old stuff, and I have a big issue with heating up and soldering pins to ground planes. The solder almost seems to break off in chunks. Soldering single pins is a bit easier. Electronics solder pump is also having issues removing the solder cleanly.
I then tried ordering 60/40, 0.5mm, Flux 2% which is a little better but still not as good as the orignal. It just doesn't flow the same. Also same issues with soldering ground pins.
Is this just a problem with this modern rubbish? I've been reading about lead free solder and the problems people have with it. Could I just bought rubbish solder from eBay? Perhaps its lead free even though labels say different?
Both the 60/40 and 63/37 rolls are Jinhu from China. Maybe that's the issue