Does regular 60/40 63/37 type of solder have a expire date? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Hagis2k
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2016, 05:12:48 pm
content: Hi i bought two old rolls of "Ersin Mulitcors 3 Core solder" on a swedish auction site the price was really good butit makes me wonder i do believe that the flux has dried in it?! Because it feels tacky and does not flow as i wantit to, but if i add a bit of bga rework no clean flux on the joint before i apply the solder then i feel it will flowproperly...Anyone else that experienced this?On the label on the roll i can see 1984 lol i wonder if this is the year it was produced?

author: Ampera
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2016, 05:42:37 pm
content: My dad has an older roll of solder from I think about the same time, and it's perfectly fine. I think it's also 60/40 with Rosin, but I don't know. It could be a variety of issues causing it, so old solder might not be the one culprit.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2016, 06:32:55 pm
content: I think like with tinned food items an expiry date is really a "best before" date vs. "use buy" date.I've got a trusty roll of 60/40 that I have had for >20 years and works just fine. I'm sure if I compared it with something fresh it would be noticeably different in use, but then I would have to readjust to the new solder characteristics anyway.

author: woodchips
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2016, 08:36:48 pm
content: No, but you aren't soldering with a lead free soldering iron are you? When the lead content drops much below the 37% it doesn't work in solder.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 09, 2016, 08:48:10 pm
content: I still have a little bit of a 1 pound roll of 60/40 I bought in 1997. It's on the thicker side so I save it for soldering wires together and PL-259 connectors on coax. Still works just fine.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2016, 08:53:24 pm
content: Just wipe the solder clean if it's dirty and it'll work fine for the next 30+ years.

author: RGB255_0_0
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2016, 08:58:22 pm
content: Have some ofthisstuff which has the consistency of creamed corn and crumbles away and never wets properly so probably the same issue.

author: Jay_Diddy_B
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2016, 09:40:03 pm
content: Quote from: Hagis2k on September 09, 2016, 05:12:48 pmIt should be 5 core solder.Take a sharp knife, cut the solder and look at the end with a magnify glass. There should be 5 cores of flux.Ersin, used different kinds of flux. There should be a number, normally 3 digits, indicating the type of flux.I have lots of old solder and it all works fine for me.Regards,Jay_Diddy_B

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2016, 10:07:11 pm
content: Solder does go bad, but on much longer time scales than most people here are talking about. I have quite a bit of flux core solder vintage 1960-1970 that is just fine. I do have some slightly older flux core that has perished, but it had nicks that penetrated the core. In normal use the ends of the solder are well sealed and will last for decades. If you have small broken pieces of flux core solder I would recommend using them quickly, within a small number of years.Acid core solder, once used in plumbing degrades relatively quickly, even if the ends of the solder are sealed at storage. Time frame is a few decades.Solid solder oxidizes slowly in air. I have some examples inherited from my grandfather that are nearing 100 years old that have a thick crust of oxidation on them. Still usable with difficulty, but that is largely because solder sizes were much larger in that era, on the order of 2 to 5 mm diameter. I suspect that in today's sizes the solder would be unusable after five or six decades.These experiences have involved somewhat benign storage conditions - relatively dry and modest temperature swings. If your conditions are worse you might end up shortening the life of the solder somewhat.

author: whitevamp
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2016, 11:03:51 pm
content: i have a 60/40 role of solder from the 70's and it still solders just fine. ( No Plastic spool here, just a metal spool.)and i have 10 roles of 3/60/37 from the 80's that i haven't touched yet.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2016, 11:15:52 pm
content: Quote from: whitevamp on September 09, 2016, 11:03:51 pmJust check the pricing for that stuff these days.Greenwith envy.

author: whitevamp
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2016, 12:17:31 am
content: Quote from: tautech on September 09, 2016, 11:15:52 pmlol yea i know. but at least i didn't pay nothing for them, got them all for free a couple yrs back. along with a bunch of parts. 1000+ ltz1000 and other stuff, all new.

author: ANTALIFE
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2016, 12:48:53 am
content: Quote from: RGB255_0_0 on September 09, 2016, 08:58:22 pmThat's what you get for buying cheap solder, also what are you trying to melt it with?