Is Sn62Pb37Cu1 solder available for hobby users anywhere? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: ehsmeng
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 07:29:27 am
content: Hi,60/39/1 or 60/38/2 (Sn/Pb/Cu) is easy enough to find, but I can't find 62/37/1 anywhere? Basically I'd like the nice characteristics of 63/37 with the tip saving of Cu. I understand Ag is pretty aggressive?Thanks,Marcus

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 11:50:59 am
content: Yeah, I agree, it's a bit hard to find.60/38/2 is available, but it's not eutetic as the 62/37/1, its melting point is 183c-190c instead of fixed 183c ... just go tohttp://uk.farnell.com/solder-wireand there's 23 options there for 60/38/2

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 12:42:14 pm
content: The extra tip life isn't worth the money or effort of digging for a specific solder alloy.

author: Orange
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 05:02:50 pm
content: It is also refered as SN62. We use to use this on military equipment. It was the only solder that was allowed by our QA system.It is mechanically also a bit stronger. It gives shiny results and is eutectic. I believe it has a melting point of 179 deg Celcius.It is also refered as LMP solder.It's my all time favorite solder, and use it all the time. It s not aggressive to solder tips either.Multicore made it, and if you look closely, Reichelt in Germany sells it on small spools made by Felder.http://www.reichelt.de/Loetzinn/L-TZINN-AG-0-807/3/index.html?&ACTION=3&LA=2&ARTICLE=10998&GROUPID=557&artnr=L%C3%96TZINN+AG+0%2C807

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 05:09:26 pm
content: Quote from: Orange on June 12, 2014, 05:02:50 pmThat's silver bearing solder, not copper.

author: Orange
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 06:01:56 pm
content: I was under the assumption that the OP wants silver bearing solder. Anyhow, Copper in electronics solder is no good, it gives you dull solder joints and weakens the mechanical strength. Some companies call it SAVBIT.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 06:09:58 pm
content: Quote from: Orange on June 12, 2014, 06:01:56 pmYou might actually read his post, then.

author: ehsmeng
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 06:37:45 pm
content: Oh, I naively thought Cu added some mechanical strength. Better to go for a percentage of Ag you mean?

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 08:44:56 pm
content: Quote from: ehsmeng on June 12, 2014, 06:37:45 pmSilver is stronger. The 'tip saving' benefits of copper alloys aren't worth the bother, just pick up whatever standard (60/40, 63/37, 62/36/2, etc) tin/lead or tin/lead/silver alloy is most easily avaialble to you.

author: Someone
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2014, 05:10:47 am
content: Quote from: mariush on June 12, 2014, 11:50:59 amDo you have any phase diagrams for copper alloy solders? The eutectic point may not be at 62/37/1. Multicore seem to have their savbit product as a 50/48.5/1.5 alloy of sn/pb/cu.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 02:26:33 pm
content: FWIW I've used Kester brand 2% silver solder exclusively for at least the last 15 years and I've never had to replace a soldering iron tip! I LOVE this stuff and laid in a big pile of it many years ago. The Kester silver solder has a low melting point so I can solder and get off the joint quickly so there's less chance of collateral damage, the stuff flows beautifully and leaves a nice clean shiny joint and it's stronger than regular solder. ALSO silver loaded solder doesn't leach the gold out of contacts, etc and leave a weak joint. That's why Tektronixused toinclude a small roll of the stuff with every one of their instruments.And No, I don't know where you can buy the stuff any more :-( But I do still find regular lead-tin solder in surplus stores and the like. I used to find silver solder there too but now everyone is looking for any kind of even simi-valuable metal so anything with silver (or gold) gets taken and sold for metal scrap. Again :-(BTW I started my career in electronics putting in telephone company central office equipment. I got all the nasty jobs like pulling cable and wiring up frame racks! Frame racks have THOUSANDS of terminal blocks each with hundreds of terminals that each had to wire wrapped and then soldered. I would spend literally WEEKS up on a ladder soldering terminals with a 100W American Beauty solderingironthat weighted about six pounds and would be literally red hot by the end of the day! The tips on them were pure copper and the lead-tin solder would gradually eat pits into them. I used to file them down to get them back into shape UNTIL one of the old timers caught be doing that and chewed me out! He said that copper is a soft metal and that you're supposed tohammerthem back into shape and that filing just wasted material and destroyed the tips sooner.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 04:01:56 pm
content: ^ The 2% silver you talk about is probably the 62/36/2 version, which is available :http://uk.farnell.com/multicore-solder/dlmp24-250g-reel/solder-wire-lmp-0-56mm-250g/dp/419552http://uk.farnell.com/edsyn/su35100/solder-wire-62-36-2-183-deg-100g/dp/871394It's eutetic like 63/37, but melts at 179c which is smaller than the 183c required for 63/37.If you don't mean this version, it's probably 50/48/2.

author: rob77
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 06:04:47 pm
content: guys don't get me wrong.. i like discussions like this - you can learn a lot from them...but searching for a eutectic soldering alloy and exact composition of solder alloy in order to save soldering tips... and all of this at hobbyist level... well... that reminds me of the audiophilesno offense ! just sharing my opinion

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 07:02:02 pm
content: Quote from: Free Electron on June 16, 2014, 02:26:33 pmYes, it does. As does normal tin/lead solder. It's not a problem with normal platings. What silver-bearing solder doesn't easily do is leechsilverfrom components, like SMD resistors and capacitors.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 11:53:47 pm
content: Quote from: Free Electron on June 16, 2014, 02:26:33 pmNo, that's wrong. Tektronix included silver bearing solder inside the scopes that were built on ceramic terminal strips, where the terminals were silver plated. After they switched to circuit boards, there was no need for this, so they switched to regular tin-lead solder.