[Elecraft] OT: Another quick question about solder...

[K2QI]

Thanks Don, and everyone else that replied!

I'm not that good with a soldering iron.  I am learning though.  My father
on the other hand (who happens to be a retired electrical engineer) was a
genius with a soldering iron... I probably should have paid more attention
to what he was teaching me when I was young, rather than go out and play
with friends.

Anyway, I'm about to nervously perform the VFO noise mod and jumper mod to
my K3.  I'm not looking forward to it.  I have soldered other things
together like the repair work on my SB-220, but I've never been happy with
the quality of my solder.  They're not cold or weak joints, but they are
ugly.  Probably because I was using this roll of solid wire thinking it had
flux in it.  That's probably why it also took me longer than normal to get a
good solder connection.

I will order the Kester 285.  Thanks again to all for your suggestions.
I've also been doing some reading between the differences between type R,
RA, and RMA solders; never knew there were so many different options.

Wish me luck!  I hope I don't kill my K3 in the process.

Vy 73,
James K2QI

On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 8:24 AM, Don Wilhelm <w3fpr at embarqmail.com> wrote:

> James,
>
> I would suggest that using the non-cored solder might be 'tricky' (but then
> I don't know your experience or skill level).  You may want to get a rosin
> flux pen and experiment with it, but if it were me, I would get the spool of
> Kester 285 for general use and be done with it.
>
> I am not sure why hams spend a lot of money on a transceiver and then balk
> at getting the right tools to service it.  To me it is about the same as
> buying a Porshe and trying to use an old set of pliers to change the spark
> plugs.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
> James Sarte wrote:
>
>> Per Elecraft's soldering notes/suggestions:
>>
>>
>> Kits submitted for repair which HAVE been assembled using No-Clean or
>> Water-Soluble fluxes
>>
>> MAY be refused service..!
>>
>>
>> Yet in the same PDF, they have a list of recommended solder.  Kester 245
>> is
>> one of them and happens to be a no-clean MA solder.  It is not rosin
>> cored.
>> Should I just buy a spool of the Kester 285 and be done with it?
>>
>>
>> Vy 73,
>>
>> James K2QI
>>
>>
>