Silver Solder

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#65
VT-52 said:
Nothing, I just don't want chinese stuff. Those two brands I see pop up in most places as a sure bet. I can't really find any PB/SN/Ag solders here except those audio brand ones asking €300/lb.
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Even regular solder is expensive stuff. Kester 63/37 tin/lead eutectic is UKP 177 for half a kilo. Ersin multicore is cheaper (made in Malaysia); their 62, 36, 2 Sn, Pb, Ag is about UKP80 for half a kilo.
 
#66
I just ggled "eutectic solder alloy" and also "Western Electric solder alloy" to understand if tin+silver+copper (which I much prefer as an alternative to the lead-free that can still be found here, but would be prohibited from selling to "non-professional" buyers) and I was surprised to read that the simple tin-lead alloy is considered eutectic because it melts (or cools) at a lowest temperature.
Until now I had instead mistakenly believed that it was a question of which metals to put together to obtain easy and good soldering and a long life of it.
 
#68
@ItsAllInMyHead OK, so I scoured that site for an hour earlier this week and got no results other than the Kester which was all (not in stock). I made the mistake to specify diameter, which for some reason excluded everything else. They have Aim, ChipQuik and Kester in 0.020 and 0.025 diameters (5+6mm). The Kester was €138/pound, the Aim and Chip was much cheaper at €58/€73 per pound, so I got one roll of each of those last two to see.

I once had a very thin silver solder that worked so nicely, but it was a 100g roll and just too thin, and then it was all gone. Can't remember the brand, dark blue plastic roll. Anyway, been using some cheap chinese 63/37 and that is just trash for some reason, doesn't melt fast, very lumpy and desoldering is a pain.

These two rolls should last my life-time.


Thanks for the tips!!!!
 
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#69
https://www.google.com/search?q="Sn62Pb36Ag2"&client=opera&hs=Lhx&sca_esv=2869b885359252a9&sxsrf=AE3TifOED-3tp2ORUx9XuSRNKOOtRyXLcg%3A1748426490523&ei=-t42aKaeH_vai-gPubf6-AE&ved=0ahUKEwimg4if9MWNAxV77QIHHbmbHh8Q4dUDCBA&oq="Sn62Pb36Ag2"&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiDSJTbjYyUGIzNkFnMiIyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBBAAGB4yBBAAGB4yBBAAGB4yBBAAGB4yBBAAGB4yBBAAGB4yBBAAGB5IsVZQ_A5YqkRwAngBkAEAmAHRAaABzwOqAQUwLjIuMbgBDMgBAPgBAZgCBaAC7wPCAgoQABiwAxjWBBhHwgINEAAYgAQYsAMYQxiKBcICChAjGIAEGCcYigXCAgYQABgHGB6YAwCIBgGQBgOSBwUyLjIuMaAHyxGyBwUwLjIuMbgH4wPCBwMyLTXIBxo&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

copy all this and paste in browser

of Chinese brands, "Mechanic" is having good stuff
got one roll of 0.5 from a friend, doing all my smd work with that
 
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#71
TungstenAudio said:
The most important thing for good soldering is keeping the iron tip clean. It is good to develop a habit of wiping the tip on a wet sponge whenever you pick up the iron.

With the HASL or ENIG finish that we are most likely to see in PCBs, the Kester Sn63/Pb37 rosin core is pretty much the best there is. It flows well and doesn't need as high a temperature as other alloys.
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I would add "always use flux" to this statement.
 
#72
Btw, to add to the thread, what are you prefered pad material on pcbs according the solder you use ?

I always purchase my pcbs with classic HASL with lead pads as a logic choice as I use 60/40 (never found 63/37 here). Is that good enough or shoulld I invest in Sn62Pb36Ag2 for all those smd nowadays passive parts ?

Someone inputed about manufactered soldered pcbs as well. Btw what about diy oven soldering and the pastes used ? My understanding is it is har untill spending many monney to have something that control the temp good enough ? What are your opinions please ?

I still solder smd with Quester flux a 0.5 tip and 0.5 60/40, is it bad practice ?

Thanks
 
#74
Well I am jealous of the clean soldered pcb from factory.

The solder is very thin as such you can see the smd pins heigth of active deviced. Wondered if it could be copied good enough with diy. Humm, I will ask to my therapist...ah, nope, he likes audio diy as well!🤔🧐😤
 
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