Continue to Site

Welcome to our site!

Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

  • Welcome to our site! Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

LEAD-FREE Solder

Status
Not open for further replies.
Here in the EU you can't buy lead solder but I've never used lead free because I've got loads of lead solder left over.

Everyone bought rolls of it when rumours started that it was been discontinued ! :D

However, this was false - it's still freely available - check RS Components for loads of different types of leaded solder.
 
well if your lungs can stand breathing complex-hydrocarbons from the infernal combustion cars-way..why give up smoking or the soldering fumes?
 
As Nigel points out , numerous types of solder are about. A couple of jobs I do require a high-flux variety and at the end of my working day the final chore is to use a heat gun to melt the gunk out of the extraction tube. Sometimes the 6mm tube atop the iron is blocked completely before then and my lab coat smells to the point my partner Julie thought I had changed my brand of cigars.

For the average hobbyist using a desk fan is more than adequate provided you not doing to much in a confined space, however there is some kudos to be gained if you build your own extraction system with filters.
 
There is only one leaded solder: Kester #44 63/37 core 66. All others bow down before it.

As an aside, there is an "audiophile" "quad-eutectic" solder made by Cardas (well known snake oil company). Does anyone know what the eutectic blend is for SnPbCuAg solder is?
 
well if your lungs can stand breathing complex-hydrocarbons from the infernal combustion cars-way..why give up smoking or the soldering fumes?

Because complex hydrocarbons are more volatile than solder fumes which don't get absorbed into the blood and are more effectively removed by the nose and respiratory tract.
 
There is only one leaded solder: Kester #44 63/37 core 66. All others bow down before it.

As an aside, there is an "audiophile" "quad-eutectic" solder made by Cardas (well known snake oil company). Does anyone know what the eutectic blend is for SnPbCuAg solder is?

What the deuce is quad-eutectic supposed to mean, even from a snake oil perspective?
 
Eutectic blend of four metals. Here's there 'reasoning' as to why it is better:

The vast majority of solders in the world are slurries or mixtures such as 60/40 tin lead solder. They go through a slurry stage as they solidify wherein one component solidifies first and then another. The result is a solder connection rather than a joint. Eutectic solders such as Kesters Ultra pure Tin/lead Silver are in fact excellent because they solidify at a temperature lower than any of the component parts thus they form a solder joint rather than a connection - the key here is the eutectic formula which must be very precise - the solders are obviously different in that they set up with a mirror finish rather than a dull finish, the reason they do this is because they solidify as a unit. The week link in the solders is contamination - the molten solder easily dissolves other metals, this is no problem if you are soldering to a metal that is part of the eutectic mixture (such as tin or lead) you will get contiguous flow right in to the joint (easy to see) but if you solder to a dissimilar metal (such as copper or silver) you will see an obvious dulling at the connection where the eutectic formula fails and and the continuous joint becomes a connection. Cardas Quad Eutectic is tin, lead silver, copper, eutectic. The results are obvious. Most highend products use this solder and other cable manufactures have been using it for over a decade - to them it represents good sound and absolute reliability. - George

Some audio people say it's actually a very easy to work with solder, so I was just wondering what the melting point was, if there is a true eutectic known of these four metals, and/or if he just gets stuff made with a LOT of active flux in the core.
 
Last edited:
Eutectic blend of four metals. Here's there 'reasoning' as to why it is better:



Some audio people say it's actually a very easy to work with solder, so I was just wondering what the melting point was, if there is a true eutectic known of these four metals, and/or if he just gets stuff made with a LOT of active flux in the core.
The only problem is, they still contain lead so have commercial use in Europe.
 
Many moons ago, I was an apprentice eletrician in sunny South Africa.

We were trained in cable jointing, thats 11KV (and above) cables by the way, well we had to wipe the joints where we joined the lead sheath to the steel armouring. Guess what we used as flux...

BEEF DRIPPING! :D

It worked very well. But boy did the smell make you feel hungry.
 
Yes, nothing particularly dangerous in fumes from soldering - the cause for concern over it was a VERY slight chance of the flux fumes triggering an asthma attack - although incidences of this were incredibly low, and ONLY in a production environment.

However, but because of this very slight chance extraction systems were developed, and the flux changed to a far less effective type, which doesn't cause the possible problem at all.

But solder fumes are the highest cause of asthma in the industry.
 
But solder fumes are the highest cause of asthma in the industry.

No, it's FLUX fumes that can cause asthma sufferers to have an attack in a very small number of cases - there are no fumes from the solder. The flux was also changed to prevent such a possibility, and extraction systems mandated for production faciliites. I was part of a test to see if service facilities had any such need, and the conclusion was that there was no such requirement - which was a shame, because we were going to be provided it free for taking part in the test! :p
 
Sorry for the late reply, I wasn't about. I know it has been said already but just so I can answer;

Yep I know it's the flux without doubt, that was what I was referring to when I said solder fumes. You know that nice black smoke that comes out of Resin-core solder we all know it well.

I am sure there is some vapor from the metal being heated to it's boiling point, but I also believe the flux fumes are the real source for the carcinogens, at least in the way of higher concentrations.

As far as the great lead debate;
I guess lead is not the best thing to put in our landfills and let sit around. Again later we would wonder where the heck all this lead in our water is coming from..lol

Cheers,
-BaC

Cigarette smoke is far worse then the solder smoke. Nigel has better info, but for the most part the fumes from solder are more or less harmless. The fumes are generated by the flux not the metal. If the lead and lead free solder use the same flux there will be no difference. Depending on what flux is used in the lead free solder, it could be worse.
 
I am sure there is some vapor from the metal being heated to it's boiling point, but I also believe the flux fumes are the real source for the carcinogens, at least in the way of higher concentrations.

No carcinogens in flux fumes, as I've said, the only concern was triggering asthma attacks, and that was rare.

Seeing as I was been tested, I asked lot's of questions about it :p
 
Actually all liquids have a vapor pressure, so technically there is some lead floating around in the air, but it is a very very very small amount for lead until you get above 850F :)
 
No, it's FLUX fumes that can cause asthma sufferers to have an attack in a very small number of cases - there are no fumes from the solder. The flux was also changed to prevent such a possibility, and extraction systems mandated for production faciliites. I was part of a test to see if service facilities had any such need, and the conclusion was that there was no such requirement - which was a shame, because we were going to be provided it free for taking part in the test! :p

You knew I meant flux fumes sheesh! :p
 
There are no carcinogens in the flux, just irritants (the flux we use is alcohol based). I myself suffer from flux fumes anytime I inhale them (usually in the form of hacking). The solder has a higher faporizing temp. then most soldering irons are set to (850-900 deg I think). So your fine as long as you don't eat any:) We also had testing done at our facility to test for lead among other harmful elements in the air, with me as one of the guinee pigs. The tests came back well below the safey limits.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest threads

New Articles From Microcontroller Tips

Back
Top