School me on solder please???

[tommycataus]

tommy, I have a roll of "duratech" from jaycar. it bubbles, as though it's boiling, as you take the iron away. I mentioned this in a thread a while back, but got no conclusive answer as to what it was. I don't remember seeing similar with other brands.

That's really odd. I got myself a large roll of that same stuff soon after I landed here and have had no problems with it using a little 30w iron. Still using it now. I know Jaycar falls into the maplin/tandy/radioshack category inasmuch as you wouldn't go doing a bulk buy there. It's a bit pricey and quality can vary between products, but it's a real place you can drive to if you have run out of 10uf caps. Maybe you picked up a bad batch? I've never seen or heard of that sort of thing before but will be wary from now on...

[PRR]

> if we all start to notice the price of solder climbing.

It _has_ climbed. I think your $20/lb is obscene; it used to be $5-$7/lb. But indeed your recent benchmark price does reflect the recent price of Tin. (For once I am glad I made a lifetime buy.)

[hymenoptera]

> if we all start to notice the price of solder climbing.

It _has_ climbed. I think your $20/lb is obscene; it used to be $5-$7/lb. But indeed your recent benchmark price does reflect the recent price of Tin. (For once I am glad I made a lifetime buy.)

Wow, maybe I should stock up before it gets any crazier. 

[PRR]

Found more history of Tin prices.

For many decades a cartel fixed the price of tin to ensure steady supply (neither sellers nor buyers were hurting). A burst of worldwide inflation and a credit crunch ended that, a Tin Crisis. The US had a large stock of Tin and sold-down. Tin stayed low for decades, then rose. I do remember the 1980 bump.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin

[J0K3RX]

It's possible to get a contaminated or bad roll of solder, I have had a few over the years... Maybe they sat somewhere for a long time in a warehouse or storage and who knows what got on it.. In a warehouse it could be anything from humidity, exhaust fumes from trucks, bug spray, rat piss or just about anything in a uncontrolled environment!  Some of the better solders will have a "shelf life" and "expiration date" printed on the roll. I use Alpha Metals water soluble pure core 63/37 and it's the best stuff I have ever used.. The solder joints wet quick, harden super fast and strong and shine like a brand new silver dollar every time! Best thing is you can wash the flux right off with a little bit of water on a brush and looks just like it came out of a wave machine.

Something I have noticed is when you have been using a tip with one brand of solder for a while and then you break out a new roll of a different brand it will sometimes not bond well with your tip even if it's supposed to be the same percentages of tin/lead etc.. Stick a new tip on and then seems to work fine..

Most people are not gonna shell out $50 for a 1lbs roll of solder but, if that's not a issue then you should give it a try!
http://www.all-spec.com/products/Alpha/Soldering_and_Rework%7CSolder_and_Soldering_Chemicals%7CSOL-0C/110333.html

If the diameter is not an issue here is 1 lbs .032 for $17.23
http://www.all-spec.com/products/Alpha/Soldering_and_Rework%7CSolder_and_Soldering_Chemicals%7CSOL-0C/110347.html

[hymenoptera]

Great thread! And I thought I knew something about solder!

Wow, Jim, you use .010? And people think I'm nuts for using .020! I think I'll buy some of that Alpha stuff after payday.

Good to know about the shelf life of solder. Some of stuff is clearly decades old just by the packaging. Maybe I shouldn't be buying it from estate auctions and ebay haha!

Paul, I see a huge production dip during world war two. I would have thought tin production should have shot up with all of the tin canned food being produced. I guess all the other consumer goods, toys, roofing, which mostly ceased production just outweigh canned food altogether. Or were they using steel for food by then? I'm not even sure what the main uses for tin were/are. And I suppose the earlier dip in the 30's was a result of the depression? I'm not suggesting you were around then, lol, just thinking out loud I guess.

[J0K3RX]

lol  I don't use .010 but, I do have a box of the .032 pure core and a few roles of the no-clean telecore and some rolles of the  water soluble Aqualine 6000 .020 which is also excelent! I sort of "got lucky" and got all of it when a company I worked for closed the doors and sold/gave away a bunch of stock equipment before moving the operation out of the country (Mexico) so,  when I say "got lucky" I am only referring to the solder and electronic equipment that I was given as a parting gift in exchange for my employement status... or, should I say unemployment status? Anyway, that was years ago and this solder is still good so, not sure how much weight the shelf life and expire dates hold..? As a matter of fact I have some really old Federated Solder 60/40 rosin core that must be at least 50 years old and it is good stuff! I also have a really old Heathkit soldering iron with a bunch of different sized tips and it's a friggin beast, still working strong to this day! It's nothing more than a big old transformer with 4 different taps for different wattage but the thing is great and the tips obviously last a lifetime because they may be older than me! Can't control the heat but I use my stuff cranked anyway to have the least amount of dwell time, in and out in a matter of a couple seconds or less...

[hymenoptera]

I'm like that too, with "too much" heat and in-and-out like a bandit. I think it's just something that happens as you get better. I also figure it's because of the really sharp and long pointy chisel tips I prefer which don't have a lot of thermal capacity, too.

Sorta on topic, doesn't anyone have an opinion on multicore flux solder?

Dave Jones at EEVBlog goes on about the stuff in his soldering tutorial vids (must-see content, btw, for anyone who hasn't seen them!), but I've never even seen multicore solder. All of my solder has always had a single core of flux up the middle.

[davent]

When i finished a long ago purchased roll of Multicore branded solder and didn't find more, bought Kester 245, the Multicore was easier to solder and with nicer, shinier  joints.
dave

[PRR]

> multicore flux solder?

Capital-M Multicore is a trademark of a very good company, the stuff is excellent. Priced similar to other Known Brands' premium solder, several bucks more than generic flux-core electronic solder. Considering how little solder we should be using, the price difference is trivial.

Multicore covers many different configurations from thin to fat to bulk, 60:40 to eutectic to lead-free, pine-sap or water-wash flux in mild or active.... don't just "buy Multicore".

I've never noted a real difference between 5-core and good-brand 1-core flux in my work. It started as a marketing gimmick, no real benefit, but a great name.

[LightSoundGeometry]

Since I got my 50 dollar Weller, I have had hardly any problems with my connections. the video is for the new forum users here.

[greaser_au]

Hi Brendan,

The *good stuff* from an expensive, but reliable supplier :   http://au.rs-online.com/web/p/solders/0555235/   Multicore 0.71mm Wire Solder 40% Lead, 60% Tin, 500g, 362 (not water clean) flux. Looks like it will currently cost a little over $35 (inc GST), with free postage to your letterbox in 1-3 working days. When looking at other sources bear in mind it will cost $8-13 to post this weight in Australia...   I'd have to guess this (or the kesters equivalent) is what you would have been using previously, based on it's source.  I've used this in a factory environment, on the road fixing video games, and in a small-scale repair facility.

What you are describing sounds like either lead-free solder, or 40/60 tin/lead (much higher melting point),  or inadequate flux in the wire...

best wishes from sunny Adelaide!

david

[hymenoptera]

Capital-M Multicore is a trademark of a very good company

ah! Now it's starting to make sense.  Thanks! 

[greaser_au]

tommy, I have a roll of "duratech" from jaycar. it bubbles, as though it's boiling, as you take the iron away. I mentioned this in a thread a while back, but got no conclusive answer as to what it was. I don't remember seeing similar with other brands.

Duck,

We used to see this if there was contamination or moisture on the PCBs. we used to wash them in freon before assembly and then bake them at 60C for an hour just before soldering and we got much better results.

Could also be a little processing grease/oil on the wire. Did you get to see all those Royston Electronics training videos back in the '80s? Maybe give the solder wire a good wipe with isopropyl alcohol in lint free tissue (metho and a bit of bogroll will do for the purposes of the test!), and see if the bubbling goes away.

david

[amptramp]

Ersin Multicore used to be a big name, advertised in all the electronics magazines.  They made various alloys including eutectic (63% tin, 37% lead), 60-40 and a few others.

[PRR]

> Ersin Multicore used to be a big name

THAT'S the name!! Looks like Henkel (a global glue+ company) bought the Multicore brand but isn't using the Ersin name now.

[duck_arse]

ersin was the big name around here, too.

greaser - now that you say that, it may be that I steal-wool the boards under running water, then whack them dry, and sit them on the windowsill for a couple of hours before soldering.

and no on watching soldering videos. there was probably better things to be doing when I was that age.

ahh, and another of my needed re-reads indicates Paul said "Capital-M", and not the first read "Captain-M".