Solder with lead cheap now ??

hank reynolds 3rd · February 16, 2006, 02:55:52 PM

I was just wondering this,as I remember reading someqwhere it was being banned in 2006 ??

I got a 1/2kg roll dirt cheap off ebay, and this got me to thinking this??

Any thoughts??

Sam

gez · February 16, 2006, 03:49:35 PM

I was in Craplin a few weeks ago and bought a couple of jacks etc. As I paid, the bloke behind the counter said 'that's a fine selection of components you have there Sir'...I nearly burst out laughing at this point...'can I ask you a question?' There then followed some sales pitch to try and get me to buy some of the sh*t-load of unsold lead solder they still have..."A lot of people say lead-free isn't as good as the old stuff". I told him I love lead-free and walked out leaving him with a stupid little fixed grin on his face.

Yup, bargains galore for non RoHs stuff...

hank reynolds 3rd · February 16, 2006, 04:02:21 PM

'that's a fine selection of components you have there Sir'..
wtf??? I'd have just laughed in his face !!! Was he trying to get 'down wit u'

Gladmarr · February 16, 2006, 04:08:58 PM

You actually told him you "love" lead free?!? I guess I'm on the lead-free bandwagon, but I don't think the emotion of love ever comes into it.

puretube · February 16, 2006, 04:16:14 PM

solder with lead is cheap, now - but it doesn`t pay...

(on the other hand: I`m waiting for the first lead-free car battery {"accumulator"})

[like I`ve been waiting for the first gas/diesel-free car for over 30 years, too!]

gez · February 16, 2006, 04:27:29 PM

Quote from: Gladmarr on February 16, 2006, 04:08:58 PM
You actually told him you "love" lead free?!? I guess I'm on the lead-free bandwagon, but I don't think the emotion of love ever comes into it.

No, I don't love it, I just wanted to see the expression of dissapointment on his face when I said it...and it was worth it!

He wasn't the normal spotty little kid that normally serves me but some twerp from HO...must have been, he was old enough to shave!

Mark Hammer · February 16, 2006, 04:28:17 PM

Quote from: gez on February 16, 2006, 03:49:35 PM
I was in Craplin a few weeks ago and bought a couple of jacks etc. As I paid, the bloke behind the counter said 'that's a fine selection of components you have there Sir'...I nearly burst out laughing at this point.

Charming on so many levels. First, nice to know that Brits reserve resentful expressions for THEIR indigenous electronics retailers too. Craplin = Rat Shack.

Second, the sycophantism of the sales clerk is almost Dickensian. You kind of expect him to stoop, fawn all over you and say "Guv'nor" a lot.

"Would your lordship be needin' any resistors t'dye? 'Ows about a luverly pack of LEDs, then? For the missus?"

I had a discussion with a guy in Active/Future Electronics the other day about the lead free conversion, and we got to talking about the temperature and soldering iron requirements. He was saying that 25w and 35W irons were simply not going to cut it anymore. I mentioned that this might likely pose some heat-related challenges with many parts getting smaller. How on earth would an 80W or 100W iron/tip leave an SMD part (especially a semiconductor) still viable? His response was that the trick was to achieve solder flow fast and get out, and that in the grand scheme of things 100W applied to a small pad for 2 seconds might not be nearly as destructive to components or traces as 35W applied for 10-15sec. He may have a point there, but I think I'll need to see it first hand to get a more intuitive feel for his argument.

I'll say this, though. It's bad enough accidentally grabbing the shaft of a 25W iron or dropping it on your lap or the carpet. Lord only knows what doing any of that with a "lit" 100W iron would result in.

Ge_Whiz · February 16, 2006, 04:31:22 PM

Gez, have you managed to desolder lead-free with a braid or pump yet? Ah... I rest my case.

gez · February 16, 2006, 04:35:45 PM

Quote from: Mark Hammer on February 16, 2006, 04:28:17 PM
He was saying that 25w and 35W irons were simply not going to cut it anymore. I mentioned that this might likely pose some heat-related challenges with many parts getting smaller. How on earth would an 80W or 100W iron/tip leave an SMD part (especially a semiconductor) still viable? His response was that the trick was to achieve solder flow fast and get out, and that in the grand scheme of things 100W applied to a small pad for 2 seconds might not be nearly as destructive to components or traces as 35W applied for 10-15sec.

Yeah, you need to get the iron a little hotter and feed the solder quicker, but a lot depends on the tip you use - how efficient it is at concentrating the heat etc. The only problem I've had with SMD stuff is when desoldering (as mentioned in a previous thread), the extra heat warms the glue that holds the traces down and if the traces are thin (the norm with SMD) the suction of a desoldering pump can pull the traces clean off!!

gez · February 16, 2006, 04:38:25 PM

Quote from: Ge_Whiz on February 16, 2006, 04:31:22 PM
Gez, have you managed to desolder lead-free with a braid or pump yet? Ah... I rest my case.

Phil, as a matter of fact I have (see the end of that thread)!

puretube · February 16, 2006, 04:52:18 PM

got my first iron @ the age of 8 (in fact: inherited it, when my father died...);
it was an instrument shape like a hammer (

), with an estimated 500 gram copper head, that was heated above a butane gas flame or a spirit burner.
(later I found his hightec 80W magic-electric engine in the basement...).

Lately I ordered a 0.4mm pencilpoint element for my regulated solder-station,
and half-millimetre leadfree wire (and still don`t love this combination).

(just my 100 dollars...)

Ge_Whiz · February 16, 2006, 04:55:08 PM

Quote from: gez on February 16, 2006, 04:38:25 PM
Phil, as a matter of fact I have (see the end of that thread)!

I cheerfully withdraw my case!

nelson · February 16, 2006, 04:55:38 PM

I am going to have to stock up on lead solder for repairs.

Lead free solder does NOT mix well with lead solder.

puretube · February 16, 2006, 04:59:06 PM

like mentioned in an other thread: "RoHS" has made a lot of stuff
ridiculously cheap (in europe, at least).

I don`t dare tell in public, what I "scored" lately, "for substitution purposes"...
(one of the few ways to get around the new regulations...)

gez · February 16, 2006, 05:04:38 PM

Quote from: nelson on February 16, 2006, 04:55:38 PM
I am going to have to stock up on lead solder for repairs.

Get yourself along to The Old Curiosity Shop...they have a veritable horse-shovel load of it Sir!

hank reynolds 3rd · February 16, 2006, 05:23:25 PM

Craplins and Ebay it is then...I wear a mask when soldering so I'm not too worried about poisoning myself

tiges_ tendres · February 16, 2006, 05:26:37 PM

Quote from: hank reynolds 3rd on February 16, 2006, 05:23:25 PM
Craplins and Ebay it is then...I wear a mask when soldering so I'm not too worried about poisoning myself

I was imagining a spider man mask, but I think I'm way off the mark there, you'd probably be much better with the respirator kind.

Silly me:)

formerMember1 · February 16, 2006, 11:23:41 PM

DANG!!

I just bought a 1lb of solder off Mouser a few weeks ago for alot of money. It has lead in it. I wish i would have got lead free cuz i am a health freak!
Does lead free solder the same as solder with lead?

I got 1lb of Kester 63/37 solder.

hank reynolds 3rd · February 17, 2006, 02:57:44 AM

tiges_ tendres

'I was imagining a spider man mask, but I think I'm way off the mark there, you'd probably be much better with the respirator kind. '

I thought someone might get that impression when I typed it !!! I suppose Spiderman is better than a 'Gimp' one

I've got a whole get up for when I'm soldering. I do it in a shed (it's freezing in the Steel City this time of year!!) ,And I've got an old Army Surplus Coat,Fingerless Gloves etc...So my Alter Ego could be 'Tramp Man', I guess

Peter Snowberg · February 17, 2006, 03:00:18 AM

No alloy I've seen can come anywhere close to the performance of 63/37.

Lead free is not heavy metal free.

News:

Solder with lead cheap now ??

formerMember1