Which solder for audio?

[rg12]

Im no expert, im looking in some websites and i see 40/60, 62/66....what
does it mean and what is the difference?
I need good quality (but not those crazy expensive like Mundorf).
Its for soldering resistors and caps to an audio amp pcb.

[SY]

Regular tin-lead with a small (2-4%) silver content if you're dealing with silver wire or terminals, 63/37 for anything else. Anything more exotic than that is hype.

[zigzagflux]

Amen

[rg12]

Originally Posted by SY

Regular tin-lead with a small (2-4%) silver content if you're dealing with silver wire or terminals, 63/37 for anything else. Anything more exotic than that is hype.

I have gold plated terminals, no silver wires (from what i know).
What is 63/37? don't i need audio grade for the amp? if so, than what brand?

[Trebla]

It's 63% tin and 37% lead, but it's probably not worth worrying about.
Better to acheive a good join with any old solder, than a poor one with designer stuff.
I'm afraid i don't know what audio grade solder is.

To be fair though, some solders are nicer to use than others. So you are bound to get some recommendations.

[SY]

Originally Posted by Trebla

I'm afraid i don't know what audio grade solder is.

Regular solder with a high price tag and a story.

I'd recommend Kester 44, Ersin Multicore, or (heaven help me) Radio Shack silver-bearing. Really, any "name" brand non-audiophile solder will work fine, some slightly better than others in some applications.

[LeonvB]

60/40 is the composition of the solder. Normally the default meaning is the Tin/Lead content in a percentage, or with the chemical symbols and the percentage if otherwise. So added together it should be 100, meaning 62/66 does not exist.

Nowadays I'm using Sn95Ag4Cu1 from Stannol. It's leadfree and silver based, so you can use it on almost anything including plating containing silver and it's almost the same as 'exotic' solders while costing much, much less (Mundorf is 95.5%Sn/0.7%Cu/3.8%AgAu (AgAu=99%Silver1%Gold)). Very easy to use, good flow. Very strong joins.

I agree that for anything not requiring silver content you could use much cheaper solders like Sn99Cu1. I would avoid lead based solders, but for DIY it's an obvious choice as you probably have some lying around and even if you don't it's still a little cheaper (but not that much).

[rg12]

Mine says 40/60, does that mean 60% lead? and why is lead bad?
Do i need silver in the solder?

[hispls]

I'd love to see any double-blind tests where anyone can "hear" the difference between lead/tin and silver/gold solder. LMFAO, I'm pretty certain that you would need incredibly precise equipment to see any difference whatsoever (and I mean reading thousandths of an ohm).

Electrons probably don't care too much how much you paid for your solder when they're flowing through it.

The only real downside with lead is it's toxicity AFAIK

[rg12]

Originally Posted by hispls

I'd love to see any double-blind tests where anyone can "hear" the difference between lead/tin and silver/gold solder. LMFAO, I'm pretty certain that you would need incredibly precise equipment to see any difference whatsoever (and I mean reading thousandths of an ohm).

Electrons probably don't care too much how much you paid for your solder when they're flowing through it.

The only real downside with lead is it's toxicity AFAIK

So...just look for any lead free solder?