Price of Silver Solder

[graybeard]

My Tektronix 575 Curve Tracer died two days ago.  It was working fine when I turned it off the night before, but was dead when I turned it on the next morning. 

For troubleshooting I need to desolder some of the connections on the ceramic terminal strips.  These strips require the use of Silver bearing solder.  Use of standard Sn/Pb will leach the silver from the surface of the terminal strip and destroy them.

It has been many years since I have bought solder anywhere but the W6TRW Amateur Radio Club Swap Meet.  I was a bit shocked that a 1 lb. spool of 31 mil Kester Sn62Pb36Ag2 3% RMA flux solder from Digikey costs $97.59 or more for finer gauges.  I have managed to get excellent quality 63/37 solder at the swap meet for $5/lb or less.  Digikey was the only place I could find that had it in stock.  I suspect this spool will be the last one I need.

Chris

[TimFox]

Yes, Kester prices on leaded solder are very high now.
Mouser has essentially the same thing from AIM at about half the price.  I hope that the last roll of the AIM product I bought will last me for what's left of my lifetime.
https://www.mouser.com/c/tools-supplies/?q=SN62%20solder&product=Solder&product%20type=Solder&type=Wire%2C%20Rosin%20Core

[2N3055]

https://www.newark.com/multicore-loctite/362-sn62-5c-0-56mm-r-250g/solder-wire-lmp-0-56mm-250g/dp/20J5272?ost=419552

I use this one. It is good.

[strawberry]

 Sn96,5Ag3Cu0,5 13EUR 100g: https://www.tme.eu/en/details/sac305-1.0_0.1/solder-wires-lead-free/cynel/
not used 3 Ag before

[graybeard]

https://www.newark.com/multicore-loctite/362-sn62-5c-0-56mm-r-250g/solder-wire-lmp-0-56mm-250g/dp/20J5272?ost=419552

I use this one. It is good.

I should have asked before ordering

[TimFox]

Sn96,5Ag3Cu0,5 13EUR 100g: https://www.tme.eu/en/details/sac305-1.0_0.1/solder-wires-lead-free/cynel/
not used 3 Ag before

That unleaded solder is not the same as used in the old Tektronix equipment with the ceramic terminal strips.
In general, it is not a good idea to mix leaded and unleaded solders on the same joint (including the residual solder on the original terminal strip for this repair).

[2N3055]

https://www.newark.com/multicore-loctite/362-sn62-5c-0-56mm-r-250g/solder-wire-lmp-0-56mm-250g/dp/20J5272?ost=419552

I use this one. It is good.

I should have asked before ordering

Sorry!
But what you ordered is a pound (so almost twice the size) and this is 250g .
Take that into account and price is not so much worse.
I guess you'll be good for quite some time...

[strawberry]

250g for couple month maybe
take some ingredients and make some alloy

[SiliconWizard]

Yeah, one pound is a LOT of solder for hobbyist work. It would probably last a lifetime.

[jh15]

Glad to see this post, reminding me mainly to power up my 575 for a few hours. I have a plastic tube of radioshack silver solder that should outlast me. From what I remember from Tektronix, minor lead soldering was OK on a terminal.  The worst is the joint could lift from the strip, it won't cause the entire scope to fall into the ocean. Wrap a wire around all the leads in the joint if you are worried. 
     Post any updates on your unit, glad it wasn't scrapped for guitar amp tubes.

[macboy]

If you only rarely need the silver stuff, look at the pocket-pak which is Kester solder repacked into a 10 g (0.35 oz) tube. I bought a couple of 83-7145-0415 for just a few $ each a couple years ago. It's SnPbAg with 44 flux (my favorite).

[Garywoo]

I'm looking to buy around 500g of 60/40 solder wire, but the prices on the UK CPC site don't make any sense to me. Why is it cheaper to buy 5x 100g reels, or 2x 250g reels, than 1x 500g reel? The bulk pricing is seemingly backwards. What's going on?