Buy solder at Temu or Aliexpress? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: eev_fan
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2025, 05:28:13 pm
content: Any recommendations on what to buy, must be Sn63/Pb37.

author: wilfred
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2025, 06:34:06 pm
content: BigClive did a video on some solder from Aliexpress earlier this year.https://youtu.be/lQ91gktACXw?si=gYGPijDbfTL5QUiB&t=446I cued the video up to the point he shows a 100g roll has a 61g spool inside. More spool than solder. Are they all like that? I don't know, but he did say that viewers had warned him of it.I'm has cheap as any you'd meet but I still buy solder at a more dependable source where the weight is more reliable.

author: mzzj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2025, 07:38:28 pm
content: Quote from: wilfred on October 01, 2025, 06:34:06 pmIf Denmark is anything like Finland its easier to buy metamfetamine than 63/37 solder.Try "Mechanic HX-T100""Mechanic" seem to be some sort of brand that is not downright 100% scamming. Packaging seem to also clearly indicate net and gross weight

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2025, 08:15:08 pm
content: My hobby budget is absolutely minimal. None of the cheap solders I've bought off eBay or Banggood a few years ago were worth their (low!) price, and I no longer buy solder or any kinds of wires off eBay/AliExpress/Banggood. Solder is either who-knows-what alloy that behaves oddly, or contains very little flux or some horrible flux I don't want near me. Conductors are often copper-clad aluminium or steel or some kind of impure copper/bronze alloy; and when genuine/pure copper, likely thinner than advertised. For flexible wires, instead of silicone, they tend to use overly plasticized PVA cladding, with the plasticizer leeching out over time, and bonding/merging the wire into any compatible plastic it is in direct contact with, and of course burning at temperatures many silicones can handle at least for a short while. You see this in e.g. the cheapest multimeter probes. The plasticizer also stinks horribly.In other words, it's money lost, not money saved.I'm hoping to include 24-6337-9702 in my next order from Digikey: 454g of Kester 285 in 0.51mm diameter. It's a lot, so one could split it by weight among friends to share the cost (about 49€ + VAT). I find the thinner ones much easier to solder SMD pads and similar; Ithink0.51mm is okay down to 0603, but I'm just a hobbyist. It's easy to feed in more, but very difficult to limit the amount when the wire is say 1mm in diameter.

author: mzzj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2025, 08:43:37 pm
content: Quote from: Nominal Animal on October 01, 2025, 08:15:08 pmI have bought bunch of silicone wire from aliexpress/ebay and latest ones from TemuSuper flexible fine-stranded wire with real silicone sheath. Never any problem but I have skipped the cheapest offerings. (silicone wires have funny smell when fresh off the boat but in my experience that applies to brand name wire also)HX-T100 solder was recommended by more than a few redditors & some others. While cheaper than ie. Kester it is not suspiciously cheap.

author: Shay
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2025, 11:26:32 pm
content: A better approach: buy a second-hand brand name. Look on FB marketplace or similar. You can usually find kester or multicore for cheap.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2025, 11:31:18 pm
content: I don't know if phonefix ships to denmark, but I would either buy from them or from a reputable ali seller, if you have to.https://www.diyfixtool.com/products/mechanic-sx-862-dual-core-tin-wire-lead-for-electrical-board-soldering?_pos=23&_sid=dc7b86ba1&_ss=rhttps://www.diyfixtool.com/products/mechanic-sn63-pb37-rosin-core-tin-solder-wire-for-phone-bga-repair?_pos=1&_sid=ccaffee46&_ss=rhttps://www.diyfixtool.com/products/mechanic-0-2-0-8mm-soldering-wire-bga-rosin-liquid-welding-repair?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=2251ffdc1&pr_rec_pid=7495062978789&pr_ref_pid=5337371738269&pr_seq=uniform

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2025, 05:49:14 am
content: Quote from: mzzj on October 01, 2025, 08:43:37 pmTested with the flame test?(Silicone liquifies rather than burns, PVA etc. burns; copper-clad aluminium/steel curls (and alu burns), copper doesn't.)Resistance per length meter is also indicative of the conductor material, but is highly dependent on the diameter and temperature, requires a resistance meter with an accurate milliohm range, and a micrometer to accurately check the diameter. Just as an example, one meter of single-strand 0.564mm diameter (23-24 AWG or 0.25mm²) copper conductor at room temperature has 68mΩ to 86mΩ of resistance; copper clad aluminium is 100mΩ to 140mΩ.For multistrand wires, comparing to known-good wire with the same physical dimensions (strand diameter/cross-sectional area and strand count), for example with relatively high DC currents (also measuring the wire temperature), is easier/better/more reliable. And doable even for a hobbyist.Quote from: mzzj on October 01, 2025, 08:43:37 pmI have heard that too (and from Mechanic brand in general), but it is one that I have not tried myself; I do believe it is a good suggestion.For me, ~60€/454g for a "name" brand and type often recommended here (Kester 285, ⌀ 0.51mm), is a better value proposition; I'm sure I spent at least that in the small spools of random crappy solder off eBay and Banggood during the few years back when I tried to find good cheap leaded solder. Here in Finland, vendors simply won't sell leaded solders to hobbyists/private customers; only to businesses. Lead-based solder alloys are onlyrestricted, though, not at allillegalorbannedper se. The idea is that individual users are not trusted to be responsible enough with their use and proper disposal, butcompaniesare.

author: Zenith
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2025, 11:09:57 am
content: I'd grasp the nettle and go for Multicore, Kester or another major brand. The problem with things like solder from Aliexpress is that corners are likely to have been cut, and you will notice a difference in performance which might be frustrating. A problem with buying a quantity of a cheap consumable, such as solder or MMA electrodes, which is not up to snuff, is that you have a choice of throwing it away, or going through the unpleasant experience of using it. I'd rather not buy house brands from major distributors for the same reason.I've bought second hand (NOS) solder and it's generally been good. There's a chance it will be tarnished and so not as good as new stock. I was given a couple of huge spools of Multicore which had been kept in a damp garage for years. It was unusable as it was, but I found that if I stripped a length off and ran it through a rag a few times, it cleaned up and was fine. That was given to me. I'd be annoyed if I had to do that with something I'd paid for.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2025, 11:48:03 am
content: I concur on the Mechanic HX-T100 solderhttps://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008216404014.htmlbeing reasonably good. Bought a 0.8mm spool of 500G and it was on weight. Flows well and solidifies fast. Can't tell on long term effects though, since I just only recently used it for soldering any projects.Used to have a spool of Multicore for many years, but finished it off a while back.

author: EC8010
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2025, 01:07:03 pm
content: Whether it's obviously corroded or not, clean solder by pulling it through kitchen roll wetted with Brasso, then polish it with dry kitchen roll. In the end, soldering is all about cleanliness, so you want clean parts to be soldered and clean solder. Simple, really. I use Multicore solder but was fortunate enough to be given two 454g reels of Tektronix solder having 3% silver as well as lead. Lovely stuff. I keep my solder in jam jars with their lids tightly closed until I need it. Again, cleanliness.Finding faults due to poor joints is hard work. It's just not worth saving a few pennies on solder; buy the proper stuff and use it carefully.PS A1 litrebottle of Brasso is twice the price of a 150ml bottle. You can also use Brasso to polish Perspex, aluminium, and (presumably) brass although I've never tried it. It's too abrasive for polycarbonate motorcycle visors, though.

author: ftg
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2025, 01:07:52 pm
content: I have no experience with solder wire from Mechanic, but their solder paste has worked fine for me so far.Unfortunately they are also a victim of counterfeiting, so the cheapest listings might not be legit.

author: mzzj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2025, 01:36:48 pm
content: Quote from: Nominal Animal on October 02, 2025, 05:49:14 amDo you take me for a fool?"Trust but verify"..no make that "don't trust and verify"Silicone cable is easy enough to test: It will handle Metcal with 370Cel tip without melting or burning for short-term (couple of seconds contact)And yes, have also checked the wires for correct resistance. 1A or 10A from lab power supply and 34401A for measuring voltage drop gives sub-microohm resolution. For smaller wires even something simpler works.Last time I bought 4AWG fromtemuand resistance was spot on for ~21mm2 copper. IMO Measuring actual cross-section is not that relevant as long as you get something close to copper and not 10 times thicker steel or aluminium instead.Besides if you were to measure the invidual strand diameter you would need to also count them... and 21mm2 superflex silicone cable has 5000 invidual strands. Even I'm not gonna be counting those.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2025, 02:57:39 pm
content: Quote from: mzzj on October 02, 2025, 01:36:48 pmOf course not! I just wanted to askhowyou checked, and also tell others how to check for themselves, at the same time. (I'm trying to learn how to shorten my posts, you see.)(Even the leads for the Aneng AN8008 multimeter that I otherwise like are overly plasticizedPVAPVC and not genuine silicone.)Quote from: mzzj on October 02, 2025, 01:36:48 pm🤯I promise I was only thinking about the typical 27 AWG / 0.1 mm² to 17 AWG / 1 mm² wires a hobbyist is likely to use in their projects!You know, like a set of different color spools of single-strand or multi-strand wire one might use for PCB projects, or one of those few-dozen-gram spools of soldering wire.For anything specific, one can find reputable vendors at AliExpress. For embedded Linux devices, I have: for example, an 8 GB RAMOrange Pi RV2for some router experiments from one of the Orange Pi official AliExpress stores that the orangepi.org site links to from its navigation bar, and several microcontrollers and small Linux SoCs from SpotPear (on AliExpress).Similarly, if we knew a factory in China producing good-quality 63/37 eutectic lead solder similar to the aforementioned Mechanic stuff,andthey had an AliExpress store selling smaller say 100g spools (not necessarily run by the manufacturer, but by an affiliate responsible to the manufacturer, so will not swap the product for something cheaper), I'd buy some.Like everywhere else, there is crappy stuff, good stuff, and everything in between. The problem is sorting the wheat from the chaff. We're used to our importers doing that for us, and many people have learned to use the "branding" as a guide (), but at AliExpress and similar sites, we have to do the sorting ourselves, somehow.

author: up8051
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2025, 03:16:03 pm
content: https://www.tme.eu/dk/en/katalog/solder-wires-lead-based_113747/?params=1683:1465282_alloy-composition:sn63pb37

author: MAS3
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 09, 2025, 10:38:10 pm
content: Quote from: mzzj on October 01, 2025, 07:38:28 pmI happened to have just ordered that on AliExpress, and received it today.Solder wire is quite expensive, i bought a set of 3 500 g coils, each 0.8 mm because i like that the best for hand soldering.Seller just stated 500 G.Attached picture shows the label.It says gross weight 500 g, net weight 488 g, so the coil must be 22 g.It's not as bad as with other examples i saw, but over here in the Netherlands that is still a scam.You buy the solder wire by its weight, the reel's weight shouldn't matter (of course for logistics it does matter, and it may matter for the total price. but selling 500 g is not the same as selling 488 g).I just revisited the order page to write a review, and now the page clearly states NW and GW in the header, i didn't notice that when ordering so that's on me or they changed this in the meantime (can't tell any more).If this was already there when i ordered, then there's no scam at all and you get exactly what you order, so i had to make this edit to this post.I tried the wire and it's OK, but not the best seen ever.After cooling, the joint will be matte, not shiny as i would like to see (tip temp @ 319C).I ordered some WZ-100 wire of this brand back in 2019, and that does cool down into a shiny surface (it qualifies as the best solder yet i bought at AliExpress), but can't find that any more.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2025, 06:44:56 am
content: Quote from: MAS3 on October 09, 2025, 10:38:10 pm500 gram or 488 gram of solder, the difference is not that big, only 12 grams, not 22 grams and that is a margin of 2.4%. Not as bad as what BigClive showed in his video. Plus it is clearly shown on the label on the spool. And keep in mind that it is Chinese company you are buying from and not a Dutch one, so different rules apply.About the title of the product order page, they might have had someone complain about it and change it. Not consistent though, because the single spool page does not mention it in the title, at least not yet.Three spools:https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008768694736.htmlOne spool:https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008216404014.htmlIt does harden matte, I have noticed that too, but that does not mean the solder joint is bad per se. Time has to tell.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2025, 09:20:27 am
content: Quote from: eev_fan on October 01, 2025, 05:28:13 pmYes: buy name-brand solder from a reputable vendor like Digikey.I don’t understand why people want to go cheap on solder: with AliExpress, etc, you have no guarantees that what you get is genuine, and if it’s not genuine, whether it’s good or bad. The cost of top-quality solder is minimal — sure, the whole roll is kinda expensive, but it lasts forever. The amount of solder used in a circuit is nothing. Why risk damaging a circuit (either from needing to heat too long, or because the flux is crap and later corrodes it) to save literally fractions of a cent?To me, spending $60 on a roll of Kester every 15 years is well worth the piece of mind of knowing that what I am getting is definitely good.

author: ftg
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2025, 11:20:07 am
content: Because now you need a company name and sometimes VAT ID to buy leaded solder, even from Digikey.Temu cares so far less about RoHS.

author: Haenk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2025, 12:08:06 pm
content: Quote from: ftg on October 10, 2025, 11:20:07 amTME (tme.eu) still lists about 100 leaded solder items.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2025, 01:14:53 pm
content: Quote from: ftg on October 10, 2025, 11:20:07 amSince when? Even recently people in Europe have written about buying it from Digikey for personal use.