WTB: (safe) lead free solder - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: tyguy2
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 10, 2015, 11:39:30 pm
content: I've been looking around the internet for lead free solder. I don't really trust what I've seen so far as far as quality and safety is concerned. I'm looking for something with a thickness around 0.015" (Imperial system). Does anyone know of a reliable source for this?

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2015, 01:02:51 am
content: The safest solder of all is 60/40 or 63/37 Sn/Pb. Lead free is particularly useless at soldering tin foil hats. It's the rosin you want to worry about breathing in, not the lead. Lead free is dangerous because its a lot hotter to melt and so can burn your eyeballs easier if you haven't produced a elfen safety report on how you stop yourself from stabbing the eye with an iron correctly.You really need some experts from OHS/WHS to advise you I think, not ignorant fools who choose leaded solder as a matter of course.

author: tyguy2
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 11, 2015, 01:50:58 am
content: Do you know any online sites that sell rosin core solder? To be honest, I'd prefer lead free solder, but I guess I could move to lead solder.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 11, 2015, 01:12:04 pm
content: Lead free is also harder on tips and causes premature wear because of the higher heat. Unless you are exporting to the EU or live in California, you would be better of with 63/37 solder because it is eutectic--melting and freezing temperatures are the same. I found Kester 44 63/37 with 66 flux core .031" on eBay and am happy with it personally. And, just for the record, you can burn your eyeballs just as easy at 650F as 850F when you stick your soldering iron in your eyeballs, no elfen safety report needed.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 11, 2015, 05:10:03 pm
content: Thanks, for mentioning that, blueskull. I forgot that high tin solders are corrosive to iron plated tips. Not to mention the possibility of tin whiskers which was the out for the medical equipment industry up until 2014 with RoHS 2 and a permanent exclusion for military and aerospace equipment along with other exclusions. Of course, someone correct me if I am wrong.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2015, 05:18:53 pm
content: Quote from: tyguy2 on October 11, 2015, 01:50:58 amMost electronic parts, hobby, supply, etc. places sell both conventional and un-leaded solder. You can find several hundred products even on Amazon.QuoteSorry, that sounds like simple free-floating anxiety without any actual basis in real-world facts.The bottom-line "danger"(?) from lead in solder is when you take mass amounts of discarded electronic waste and concentrate it into a small place to bury it improperly.Consider this. What about the lead in solder (or by itself) in non-electronic products that we have been using (and discarding) for 100 years.The whole "lead-free" "ROHS" craze is a creation of dilettante bureaucrats in the EU.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2015, 07:40:57 pm
content: I'm looking for (banned by RoHS) Cadmium low thermal EMF solder, just because I want to watch the world burn... Muhahahahaha

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2015, 07:52:29 pm
content: Quote from: tyguy2 on October 11, 2015, 01:50:58 amYou should, it's much easier to work with, especially rework.I hate the Pb free muck.For controlled manufacturing processes and the environment, fine use the stuff, but for hobbyist use and rework.

author: JoeB83
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2015, 06:45:20 am
content: Quote from: Macbeth on October 11, 2015, 07:40:57 pmHah. I actually have a half pound roll somewhere. It really does work well!