Electronics > Manufacturing & Assembly

Good lead free solder for hand soldering

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peter-h:
A while ago I evaluated a load of LF solders and found them to be basically crap, except Almit LFM48S - Japanese.

This has gone up to £100 for 0.5kg which is ridiculous. It is about 10x of leaded solder, and all prototyping is done with leaded because it works so much better, but for stuff that goes out of the door we have to use LF, just in case somebody checks.

Can anyone recommend a really well flowing LF solder?

Someone recommended Stannol from Germany but it is the same price as Almit.

kayvee:
I presume you are talking about wire, we use Kester K100LD 0.8mm wire, which gives us great results.

For lead-free paste we use with Alpha OM-338T (S3).

peter-h:
WOW that costs even more than Almit: £91 for 1lb (0.45kg) inc VAT.

bdunham7:
I have a roll of AIM SN100C Glow Core which I use for the occasional lead-free task.  I would rate it as acceptable on new, shiny components and usable on repairs with some supplemental flux-pen cleaning.  I only have it in 1.0mm because I spotted it in surplus dealer (All Electronics).  I suspect if you had to buy it through normal sources at 0.8 or 0.5mm it would also be fairly expensive.   However, I don't see where you get 10X the cost of leaded--here a pound of Kester 44 Sn/Pb eutectic is about $30 or so, the K100LD is $60 or so and the 44 Sn/Pb/Ag is $90-ish. 

https://www.amazon.com/Kester-24-9574-7610-Lead-Free-Solder-020-Diameter-Low/dp/B00FGHTX5A/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2JHLZ790KUMJO&keywords=k100ld&qid=1643040226&sprefix=k100ld%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-3

jc101:
I've moved to Solderking, UK made, 0.5Kg ~£55 in VAT (https://kaisertech.co.uk/products/soldering/solder-wire-and-flux/solder-king-solder-flux?wire_diameter=0.70mm).  They may even send you a free sample if you drop them a line.

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