[Elecraft] Solder Question...

[Ted Buckley]

At 05:47 PM 5/28/03 -0500, Dick Foster wrote:
><snip>
>60/40 alloy and 2% silver are two different animals.  60/40 is just "poor
>man's" eutectic.  That is, something close to 63/37 that the manufacturer's
>process is too sloppy to hold to +or- 1%.
>
>The 2% silver solder is NOT used for higher conductivity.  The 2% won't make
>any significant difference especially at RF when skin effect has the current
>flowing on the surface of the conductors.  It is usually used because it is
>mechanically stronger, that is, it has higher tensile strength than eutectic
>solder.

Back in the "olden" days, silver bearing solder was used in Tektronix 
oscilloscopes on the ceramic strips because regular solder would, after an 
application or two, remove the silver conductive material from the slots in 
the ceramic strips.  Some folks used it for other purposes because, since 
it was expensive, it must be better than regular solder; but it isn't!  On 
surface mounted parts, there is some advantage in that it remains in a 
plastic state just a little longer, reducing a tendency for parts to 
'tombstone" as the solder rapidly goes into a solid state.  IMHO, a good 
63/37 eutectic solder is just fine for almost all work.
Just my 2 cents worth. . .
Ted WA7DFD K2 3202