ghostwheel Posted January 21 Posted January 21 24 minutes ago, rwillett said: Any recommendations for decent solder to go with the soldering iron please? Just ordered the £12 Amazon one andwondered if people can suggest a decent roll of solder to go with it. Thanks Rob I've always been happy with this: https://www.tubetown.net/ttstore/en/solder-1-0-mm-250-g.html Quote
nekomatic Posted January 21 Posted January 21 25 minutes ago, rwillett said: Any recommendations for decent solder to go with the soldering iron please? Just ordered the £12 Amazon one andwondered if people can suggest a decent roll of solder to go with it. Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted January 21 Posted January 21 I've got one of these. It's the dog's but a bit beyond the budget. https://www.antex.co.uk/store/p/m12-w9wdk-mg96e-7bnxp-hke3z-ndrtm-cjw7g-cws4k-56tfy Quote
Richard R Posted January 22 Posted January 22 Solder is very confusing. I have been checking out a makerspace but there is a rule of no rosin solder, and as solder isn't supplied I would need to buy my own. Because "rosin" seems to get used as such a general term for "flux", especially by cheap suppliers, I am struggling to figure out what I would need to buy. The other users have the same problem, and I know in many cases just don't worry because there is proper extraction anyway, but I feel obliged to do the right thing. The organisers don't have a list of approved products, and I think the rule has recently been imposed on them, so that obvious route doesn't help much Any suggestions? Quote
rwillett Posted January 22 Posted January 22 I'm as confused as you. The price differences for solder is quite large. Does paying more get you that much better? Not even sure I know what better even means 🤔 Quote
prowla Posted January 22 Posted January 22 44 minutes ago, rwillett said: I'm as confused as you. The price differences for solder is quite large. Does paying more get you that much better? Not even sure I know what better even means 🤔 The prices are in flux... 5 Quote
rwillett Posted January 22 Posted January 22 15 minutes ago, prowla said: The prices are in flux... How long have you been waiting to use that joke.... Quote
Richard R Posted January 22 Posted January 22 The only thing I am absolutely sure of, because it's physics, is that lead free solder generally has a higher melting point. Quote
bremen Posted January 22 Posted January 22 I might be wrong and bad, but I prefer to carry on with leaded solder at home. The lead free we're obliged to use at work isn't as horrid as it used to be, but the bad old toxic old shit just flows nicer. https://cpc.farnell.com/c/tools-maintenance/soldering/solder/solder-wire?st=Solder 1 Quote
80Hz Posted January 22 Posted January 22 Recently I too had to get a new iron as the Maplin thing I was bodging stuff with hit peak useless. I used to have a nice Hakko station but sold it when I moved from 60Hz to 50Hz land (what is it with me and Hz..??). I know the OP is sorted now, but in case anyone else is looking, I ended up with one of these, a Yihua 939D+ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BTY3NHZS Sadly the budget for simple guitar/speaker/microphone wiring couldn't run to a replacement Hakko or a Weller, but I still appreciate having a sturdy "station" with a separate holder for the iron, and the extra cleaning gubbins, etc. So far it seems to work nicely for what it is, plenty of heat for lead-free solder, and seems to hold temperature pretty well. My preferred solder is Kester leaded rosin core (44 I think?) Fairly expensive, but a roll got me through several years of hobbyist work. I'll need a new roll soon, probably should look a lead-free, but that's pretty low down my list of things I'm worried about dying from. Quote
Richard R Posted January 22 Posted January 22 (edited) My understanding is that leaded solder is fine provided you wash your hands and don't ingest it. Lead vapourises way above the melting point, so you aren't breathing lead fumes, nor would you breathi tin/copper fumes. It's the flux fumes that are dangerous. I've just found this HSE article, which probably explains the ban on rosin fluxes at the makerspace. https://www.hse.gov.uk/lung-disease/electronics-soldering.htm#:~:text=As exposure to rosin-based,health must be carried out. "Rosin-based solder flux fume is now regarded as one of the most significant causes of occupational asthma in Britain. When the asthmatic effects are fully developed they are permanent and irreversible. Continued exposure, even to very small amounts of fume, may cause asthma attacks and the person affected may be unable to do any soldering with rosin-based fluxes again." "Where reasonably practicable, exposure should be prevented" OK, I'm not gping to be using rosin based fluxes any more. But I still don't know what's in half the stuff advertised. Edited January 22 by Richard R Added quotations Quote
Steve Browning Posted January 22 Posted January 22 (edited) Deleted. Responding to an older post (and didn't notice!!). Edited January 22 by Steve Browning Quote
80Hz Posted January 22 Posted January 22 1 hour ago, Richard R said: It's the flux fumes that are dangerous. Fair enough - I wasn't aware it was the rosin! Looks like a good time to research flux alternatives. Monitoring the thread with interest. Quote
LukeFRC Posted January 22 Posted January 22 7 hours ago, Richard R said: Solder is very confusing. I have been checking out a makerspace but there is a rule of no rosin solder, and as solder isn't supplied I would need to buy my own. Because "rosin" seems to get used as such a general term for "flux", especially by cheap suppliers, I am struggling to figure out what I would need to buy. The other users have the same problem, and I know in many cases just don't worry because there is proper extraction anyway, but I feel obliged to do the right thing. The organisers don't have a list of approved products, and I think the rule has recently been imposed on them, so that obvious route doesn't help much Any suggestions? I was talking to @jimbobothy about this and he recomended a lead free rosin free solder he used in his professional capacity. Quote
LukeFRC Posted January 22 Posted January 22 4 hours ago, 80Hz said: I'll need a new roll soon, probably should look a lead-free that's what I'm doing too. Quote
rwillett Posted January 22 Posted January 22 21 minutes ago, LukeFRC said: that's what I'm doing too. I was surprised at the range in prices of them. Quote
LukeFRC Posted January 22 Posted January 22 37 minutes ago, rwillett said: I was surprised at the range in prices of them. yeah - £100 a roll down to way less - which makes me think there's got to be major differences Quote
80Hz Posted January 22 Posted January 22 This document https://www.kester.com/Portals/0/Documents/Knowledge Base/Lead-free-Hand-Soldering.pdf was of interest. As I read it, a lead-free, tin-silver-copper alloy seems to be the most widely used, and in terms of flux, "no-clean" is widely used. I'm far from an expert, but this is where I'm going to start looking, cross-referencing with manufacturer safety info sheets. It's entirely possible these are specialized solders made for specific types of manufacturing. Happy to be enlightened by those in the know 😉 Quote
rwillett Posted January 22 Posted January 22 1 hour ago, LukeFRC said: yeah - £100 a roll down to way less - which makes me think there's got to be major differences @LukeFRC Why don't you buy a few different rolls, test them out and let us know? 1 Quote
LukeFRC Posted January 22 Posted January 22 Just now, rwillett said: @LukeFRC Why don't you buy a few different rolls, test them out and let us know? I've had my last roll of leaded for maybe 20 years and only just getting to the end of it! Several rolls would last my children till their retirement age! Quote
prowla Posted January 22 Posted January 22 4 hours ago, Richard R said: My understanding is that leaded solder is fine provided you wash your hands and don't ingest it. Lead vapourises way above the melting point, so you aren't breathing lead fumes, nor would you breathi tin/copper fumes. It's the flux fumes that are dangerous. I've just found this HSE article, which probably explains the ban on rosin fluxes at the makerspace. https://www.hse.gov.uk/lung-disease/electronics-soldering.htm#:~:text=As exposure to rosin-based,health must be carried out. "Rosin-based solder flux fume is now regarded as one of the most significant causes of occupational asthma in Britain. When the asthmatic effects are fully developed they are permanent and irreversible. Continued exposure, even to very small amounts of fume, may cause asthma attacks and the person affected may be unable to do any soldering with rosin-based fluxes again." "Where reasonably practicable, exposure should be prevented" OK, I'm not gping to be using rosin based fluxes any more. But I still don't know what's in half the stuff advertised. She was good in Moloko. 2 1 Quote
Richard R Posted January 22 Posted January 22 1 hour ago, 80Hz said: It's entirely possible these are specialized solders made for specific types of manufacturing. Happy to be enlightened by those in the know 😉 That seems to be the case. No clean means residue can stay on the board and does not require washing off - ie it's not dielectric, capacitive, conductive etc etc. My reading says that's what gets used for manufacturing at scale. I had a friend who used to work in small-scale electronics development. Not spoken to him in a while, so I shall have to cold call him and renew our acquaintanceship. Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted January 22 Posted January 22 I made a fume extractor that sucks the fumes through a carbon filter using cooker hood refill. 3D printed and has a computer fan fitted. Front Fuselage.stl Fume Extractor Base.STL Filter Housing.STL 5 1 Quote
.jpg.518c69c2d9e1581799f3c11301dc2da5.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.