[sdiy] unleaded solder

[mskala at ansuz.sooke.bc.ca]

On Sat, 2 Apr 2016, Phillip Harbison wrote:
> not have as much time to become fatigued. It seemed to take
> forever to get the solder flowing. I had my iron set at 430•C.
> I'm not sure if that is sufficient temperature, but it is near
> the iron's maximum temperature. I struggled to assemble a kit

I think it's probably too hot.  A couple years ago, after learning to
solder lead solder back in the day and then a number of years out of the
electronics hobby, I started soldering again, but with generic
tin-silver-copper alloy and a 370C fixed-temperature iron.  I found it
to be pretty easy.

Most solder alloys - and maybe this is especially true of lead-free - will
become less "sticky" if they are too hot.  So if you're having trouble
with it not wetting the joints, I'd certainly suggest a lower temperature.
If you can find a data sheet from the manufacturer of your solder (or
failing that, some other manufacturer's solder that is as close as
possible to yours) it ought to have a recommended temperature, and I'd
bet it will recommend a much lower temperature than 430C.

Cleaning and flux are more critical with lead-free than with lead, but
again, I didn't find that to be a big problem, only a difference big
enough to notice.  The biggest issue I had at the start was that the
lead-free joints look dull when they solidify, like "cold" lead-solder
joints used to, despite not being defective.  A smaller issue is that
desoldering with braid doesn't seem to work for me at all.  I don't know
if I need different braid, a different temperature, more flux than what's
in the braid, or what, but for the moment, I've only had any success
desoldering lead-free with a pump, and still not a lot of success then.

This solder oxidizes fast when it's on the tip of the iron.  I wipe the
tip frequently on a wet sponge (more often than was needed with the lead
alloy).  Many people swear by using a copper pot-scrubber instead of a
sponge; that'll get the tip cleaner, but wears it down much faster.  I've
found the sponge sufficient.

The bottom line for me is that the lead-free solder is a little more
difficult to use than the lead-based kind, but only a little.  The tales
I've frequently heard of it being completely unusable don't reflect my
experience.

-- 
Matthew Skala
mskala at ansuz.sooke.bc.ca                 People before principles.
http://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/