Re: Solder selection for general repair work

On 2024-11-17 11:57, bp@www.zefox.net wrote:

Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

>
You can still get good ol' Kester 44.  It has RA flux, the more active
version of the usual tree sap stuff, which is helpful when using old
components.

 Is there any electrical or mechanical advantage to be had among the more
modern formulations?
 Thanks for writing!
 bob prohaska
 

They all conduct electricity pretty well. ;)
Lead-free is a bit stronger mechanically, but is considerably harder to use by hand--its melting point is higher, and (crucially) Sn63Pb gives lovely shiny joints.  Besides being pretty, that lets you know when you've got a good joint--cold joints are dull-looking.
On the other hand, even a good Pbfree joint is dull, so you lose that nice visual feedback.
Ersin Multicore is also good.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510
http://electrooptical.net
http://hobbs-eo.com