Soldering on.....

Keep a look-out for outfits disposing of NOS rolls of 60/40 as they seek RoHS compliance- a while back I took a chance on a 2kg roll of Duratool brand 1mm 60/40 that was something like £20. On first trying it, I thought, "that'll teach you, mug" as the flux smelt more like melted polythene than traditional rosin- surely this was some modern ultra-safe but also ultra-ineffective replacement? In fact, it seems to be very good at cleanly and rapidly wetting even mildly tarnished surfaces (of course, it's taken as read here that cleanliness really is next to godliness where soldering is concerned) with very little residue. Not sure how professionals rate Duratool stuff, I tend to think of it as ranking along the likes of Draper in the "hardly pukkah, but cheap enough if you take things carefully for light use" sort of way. Happily, there is still plenty of 60/40 around but maybe best to look for a clearance of a known brand.

I use Multicore 'Savbit' with type 362 flux; doesn't get any better than that IMO.

CPC sell it at about £24 for 500g in either 0.71 or 1.22mm diameter - but sadly it's on back-order at the moment.

I also have a couple of reels of Multicore lead-free using the same flux for 'modern' kit, along with a separate soldering iron with a hotter bit.

If something is really recalcitrant at being soldered (galvanised wire for tuning drives, for example) there's always the tin of Fluxite!

I came across a nice unused 2.5kg reel of multicore 60/40 solder the other day whilst searching in my w/shop for some dial cord. Should last me out! Malc.

I have not bought solder for years so I had no idea of the price, I have a 0.5kg reel of solder that I have had for 20 years and there’s is still a lot left, that was given to me so I didn’t know the price then.

When I had a choice it was always UK made Mulicore Savbit, never found anything better, the RS web site shows it is made in Malaysia now, is it any different than the original?

I think that a substantial amount of the world's tin is extracted in Malaysia, so it probably makes sense that the solder is alloyed there- as anything involving metals extraction/processing is generally somewhat toxic and polluting, it probably makes "economic sense" to do as much processing as possible in low labour cost countries where H + S considerations are less significant.... That's capitalism and globalisation, folks. I'm not convinced that Made in (Country X) was always the whole truth in the past, either! There was always politics and smoke and mirrors in international trade.

I'm afraid to say that the new lead free rubbish that perports to be solder lost me 2 jobs! Now I am generally restoring and refurbishing old monitors and TVs, I now use 60/40 as a matter of course, and it's still readily available on ebay. You could say that lead-free has killed the hobby electronics market - I've been using soldering irons since 1976 and know a thing or two about reliable joints. It's interesting to note that lead free solder is banned in the aerospace industry due to poor joint strength and the dreaded tin whisker syndrome. I question the reliability of PCBs in cars that control all aspects of cars and are subject to vibration and harsh environments and massive temperature cycling. Even simple structures such as musical instrument jack sockets are not immune (my wife's guitar jack socket has become unsoldered at least twice in the last 5 years). Lead based solder has been around for hundreds, if not thousands of years, well before electronics came about. Why change something that works well?

Posted by: MongooseDC

Why change something that works well?

Try asking that in the third world communities where our electronic waste gets dumped for 'recycling', and land and water courses are destroyed by the lead and other toxic chemicals.

If you have difficulty working with lead-free solder, I'm reminded of the old adage about workmen blaming their tools.

The reason that so much modern electronics gets dumped is because of lead-free solder. 90% of the faults I dealt with in the measurement industry were solder faults which resulted in thousands of pcbs not even making it out of the factory. The amount of e-waste was measured in tonnes per year. Not only that but kit would fail on the field due to solder whiskering, and these days that means replacing an entire PCB, as the lead free is not practical to rework. The reliability factor of lead free is truly frightening in critical situations, which is why some industries have banned it completely! I suppose that this whole thing is the product of our throwaway age. What I like about vintage electronics, particularly that of a certain age (1965 to 1989 approx) is that it is reliable and easy to fix. If looked after, like some of the sets our forum members own, should be able to last 60 to 70 years, even with some moderate everyday use.

Another case in hand - mobile phones. I have a non RoHS model, my wife has a RoHS model. Mine has never required repair, hers has had 3 solder related repairs costing over £100.

Posted by: MongooseDC

 It's interesting to note that lead free solder is banned in the aerospace industry due to poor joint strength and the dreaded tin whisker syndrome

It's also banned from medical equipment for the same reasons.

I'd like to see some evidence for this, please - not hearsay.

A quick search on the web shows that many RoHS exemptions have been applied for, in draft and been granted by the E.U. These exemptions are renewed or not, as and when technology advances are made or review dates. Despite painted as inflexible it would seem the E.U in certain areas, can when required, be pragmatic not dogmatic.

Here is just one adopted this year 1st Mar 2018, related to the use of leaded solder in high melt temperature situations. I can't be asked to spend more time looking at or listing others on what is a very dry (pun) subject matter. In light of the categories granted below its not such a great leap of faith to imagine military (perhaps restricted to our eyes) and medical papers equally exist. I suspect if folk want to delve further there will be examples to be found as suggested and in support of Matt and Rich's statements.

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiatives/ares-2017-4565026_sv

Note: The exemption above granted until 2021 when it will be reviewed. Areas were  Large household appliances. small household appliances, IT and telecommunications equipment, consumer equipment, lighting equipment etc.

The company I work for does some military stuff which has to be lead solder only. All our irons are labelled up to make sure we don’t contaminate leaded with unleaded, or other way round.

 Regards 

Lloyd

Posted by: Cathovisor

I'd like to see some evidence for this, please - not hearsay.

That's a fair question. It was certainly the case when I worked at another safety test lab who did medical equipment, that was over 8 years ago. The standard may have changed and I'll see if I can find out.

The reason I ask is because I have no difficulty whatsoever reworking lead-free kit, despite the protestations of some - and I see a lot of it. I also hear a lot of BS about lead-free, hence my request for evidence rather than hearsay on this matter. After all, anecdote does not equal evidence or data. 

Well like most things that deal with safety compliance, certain items can appear a little vague. When Cathovisor requested evidence that medical equipment was exempt from lead-free solder I felt obliged to check further. My initial comment was based on the situation around 10 years ago when consumer electronics went 'lead-free'. At the time I was working for a test house that dealt with medical equipment and we were informed that lead-free would not apply to medical equipment. Several reasons were given one of which was reliability. At the time it seems that lead-free was causing reliability problems in Consumer Electronics.

However times change and having looked up on the subject it now seems that the medical manufacturing industry does have to comply with lead-free construction. However the time-lines have been vastly different. Whereas Consumer Electronics had to comply fully (I think) by 2008, the medical industry was not included in the RoHS 1 requirements. However there is now RoHS 2 and this does include medical equipment. It seems that this must now comply by 2019 and fully be 2021. There is information here https://www.conformance.co.uk/adirectives/doku.php?id=rohs for anyone interested.

Thanks for that Rich, very interesting. So it looks like motor vehicle electronics are exempt, which surprises me.

I note that Beryllium and its compounds are now to fall within scope. That could have some interesting ramifications - Be is a nasty little element and it is widely used alloyed with copper in contacts, and ceramics of its oxide are widely used in RF power devices. 

Posted by: Cathovisor

Thanks for that Rich, very interesting. So it looks like motor vehicle electronics are exempt, which surprises me.

I note that Beryllium and its compounds are now to fall within scope. That could have some interesting ramifications - Be is a nasty little element and it is widely used alloyed with copper in contacts, and ceramics of its oxide are widely used in RF power devices. 

There's all sorts of nasty places to find Beryllium. If I remember correctly, it only has one stable isotope, which makes it a very good neutron reflector. One of the uses for it is in nuclear weapons, so that any neutrons that escape the initial chain reaction, get bounced back for another go!

Happy thoughts now, back to soldering!

OT a bit, but why do Americans pronounce solder and soldering seemingly with a silent "L" IE: soder and sodering ? I though it may just have been shango066 in his videos, but noticed the same thing in an "Undercover Boss" episode in Peavey Electronics ??

Canadians do it too.