[Elecraft] Solder and stuff

Don Brown [email protected]
Fri Jan 23 10:02:05 2004


Hi

Lead free solder melts at a higher temperature and is harder to work =
with than tin/lead solder. The alloys listed below are from the Kester =
website. These are the commonly used formulations. The problem with the =
lead free solder is it does not wet the joint as well as tin/lead and =
the joints will not look as good. You can make good joints with the no =
lead but technique is more demanding. Japan has already phased out lead =
solder and Europe is due to phase it out in 2006. The US will probably =
be required to follow suit and the solder manufacturers are already =
addressing the problem with new products. I don't know what Elecraft =
will do about this but so far I have not heard anything about it and the =
recommended solder is tin/lead. Wayne, Eric or Gary should give us some =
direction on this as it will come up more and more as the tin/ lead =
solder gets harder to find. Maybe a test K2 or K1 should be built using =
no lead solder to develop a method and look for problems with the no =
lead solder. The Kester web site does warn about mixing no lead with =
tin/lead. I do not know if any of the components used in the K2 have =
tin/lead plating on the leads. If they do then this could be a problem. =
I think most component leads are tin plated now so it may not matter.  =
The water soluble flux should not be used as it is an acid based flux =
that requires special handling.

Don Brown
KD5NDB=20

For Hand Soldering Operations=20
  a.. Alloys=20
    a.. Sn96.5Ag3.5=20
    b.. Sn96.5Ag3.0Cu0.5=20
    c.. Sn99.3Cu0.7=20
  b.. Fluxes=20
    a.. No-Clean: 275=20
    b.. Water Soluble:  331=20
=20

  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Ian J Maude=20
  To: [email protected]=20
  Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 3:11 AM
  Subject: [Elecraft] Solder and stuff


  Hi all,
  While I am waiting for my K2 to arrive I am browsing everything on the
  site.  I came across the soldering tutorial and information on =
different
  types of solder.  Looking at the recommendations etc I noticed that
  silvered solder was not recommended and I can understand the reasons =
for
  it with the extra heat needed etc.  The one I am more concerned about =
is
  the very strong opposition to lead free solder.  Leaded solder is not =
as
  easy to get these days in the UK and of course has some inherent =
health
  risks.  I wondered what the reason was for such a strong bias against
  lead free solder?

  Ian
  --=20


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