[sdiy] Which solder is safer for home projects ?

[Tom Bugs]

Personally - Warton Metals Omega II Fast Flow 2% Flux Lead/Rosin Free Solder
(not sure if available in US - I get here: 
http://www.rapidonline.com/Tools-Equipment/Warton-Metals-Omega-II-Fast-Flow-2-Flux-Lead-Rosin-Free-Solder-22SWG-500g-85-6196)

Lead-free -- I have always used lead free solder (apart from old 
repairs), partly as it is required under RoHS legislation (can of worms 
about to be opened, no doubt).
As to lead poisoning, I always thought that if you handled leaded solder 
you should wash your hands before eating/smoking etc.
This Warton one flows very nicely at a normal soldering temperature (in 
comparison to the usual requirement of lead-free needing higher temps 
than leaded)

Flux -- yes, that's the nasty stuff you'll breathe in - this one has 
'nicer' flux, not based on pine oils, so meant to reduce the chance of 
asthma

NoClean -- as it say, don't try to clean it! Without a lot of work 
you'll just end up with sticky gunk everywhere (even if you use, for 
example, Warton's specially formulated stuff for their own solder, then 
try further with IPA [the cleaning alcohol, not the beer!]). There is 
rarely any need to worry about cleaning in a non-production environment.


Frankly, I wish people (US in particular) would finally get on board 
with lead-free - it is not f'ing scary.. It is annoying to get kits that 
are non-RoHS in this day & age. Many PCB houses are now making RoHS 
boards as standard and most components are RoHS as standard too 
(otherwise they'd miss out on a chunk of the market). Sure, a small guy 
can easily fly below the official RoHS radar, but that's not really the 
point.

On 23/10/2015 14:09, Michael Zacherl wrote:
> On 23.Oct 2015, at 14:50 , Roman Sowa <modular at go2.pl> wrote:
>
>> Use no clean flux, avoid water soluble ones.
> is there no cleaning at all with "no clean" solder or do you use e.g. isopropanol to rub off the board?
>
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