Lead vs. Silver solder

[SY]

Now we're getting into areas of my professional life. Lead from crystal is normally only a problem when beverages are stored in it for long periods of time. Pouring your single malt into a crystal decanter for passing around to your buddies who are using crystal glasses is perfectly safe. Storage may not be safe, but what self-respecting group of men would leave some single malt unfinished? Wusses can pour it back into the original bottle.

[Sch3mat1c]

Thank you. I figured as much..

Tim

[SY]

Oh, sorry Tim, just noticed your location. For all the Badgers out there, substitute "Tom and Jerry" or "Peppermint Schnapps" for the words "single malt."

[Sch3mat1c]

Hmm...

I'm no drinker but AFAIK, schnapps are pretty weak... so is that a crack against us Green&Gold'ers?

Tim

[Brett]

Silver bearing solder (for electronics) was introduced IIRC to stop the leaching away of silver plating on components when they were soldered and consequent embrittlement of the joint. I have lots of military surplus components as well as others, that use silver plated leads or sockets, so I use 2% Ag solder on them. Normally I use Savbit which is nornal eutectic PbSn with a small amount of copper in it.

As for the audibility of joints, providing all were done to Mil-spec, I think it will be a small effect, dependent on the circuit and the acuity of the listener, but a small change in the value of an anode load would <i>likely</i> be much greater.

Lead on landfills: I'm not a manufacturer, so I'm not adding many tons of the stuff to products with a short lifespan that are then thrown away, so I'm going to keep using what I do, as I make the best joints with it. I build gear for a long and reliable service life, so most of the <1kg or so of solder I use annually won't end up in landfills anytime soon.

I s'pose I'd better stop using mercury rectifiers too, eh?

[mrfeedback]

"Silver bearing solder (for electronics) was introduced IIRC to stop the leaching away of silver plating on components when they were soldered and consequent embrittlement of the joint."

I have been told in the past that the Germans employed Lead/Tin/Silver solder during WWII in the wiring looms of their aircraft.
The Britts had problems with wires fatigueing and breaking away from connections until they understood that the Germans were using Lead/Tin/Silver solder to help avoid this sort of unwanted failure mode.

Eric.

[Christer]

Originally posted by mrfeedback


I have been told in the past that the Germans employed Lead/Tin/Silver solder during WWII in the wiring looms of their aircraft.
The Britts had problems with wires fatigueing and breaking away from connections until they understood that the Germans were using Lead/Tin/Silver solder to help avoid this sort of unwanted failure mode.

Eric.

Did the germans use soldering at all? I recently read that
soldering in the context of electronics was invented by
the americans during WWII when trying to find a quicker
production method for electronics. If the germans used it,
I would suppose that must have been very late in the war.

BTW there has been talking earlier in this thread that the
industry is switching to silver solder. Maybe that is so, but
when I did some searching for info on solders on the net
in a previous discussion, I found a lot of info on companys
supplying industrial solders that mainly used tin in combination
with Iridium or Bismuth. These were intended as lead-free
alternatives and also offered even lower melting points than
ordinary 60/40 solder, if I remember things correctly.

[mrfeedback]

Hi Christer,
As I recall the usage was regarding wire looms soldered into connectors - the lesson was that the softer L/T/S solder reduced wire fatigue breakages due to vibration.

Eric.

[Joel]

Originally posted by Christer
...I recently read that soldering in the context of electronics was invented by the americans during WWII when trying to find a quicker production method for electronics.

Not true. I own an amp from 1937, and I can assure you that it is soldered.

[mrfeedback]

Joel,
I think he means PCB techniques.

Eric.