Talk:Solder

Examples

There are all kinds of parameters/variables for solder. Diameter, core material and core diameter, types of metals, ratio of different metals, etc etc. Can we give examples of, for instance, a good leadfree solder for small hobbyist/repair electronics work, a good solder for small copper pipes, etc.? And explain why each aspect is best for that application. - Omegatron 16:33, Feb 11, 2005 (UTC)

http://www.efdsolder.com/PDF/EFD_-_Alloy_%2B_Flux_Selection_Guide.pdf

Lead-Free Solder

As a veteran electronics engineer, I think the disadvantages of lead-free solder should be exposed, despite the headlong rush to get lead out of electrical and electronic products. IBM researchers futzed around with lead free solders in the 1960s, and after wasting several years, gave up.

The simple fact is, most electrical and electronic parts are designed to work best with eutectic solder, i.e., the ones with the lowest melting temperature. The epoxies used to encapsulate integrated circuits already soften dangerously at the temperatures needed for reflow soldering of Sn60/Pb40 solder, and the higher temperatures and longer dwell times required for lead-free solders can damage them and cause premature failure. The platings used on component leads are optimised for eutectic solder. It is not enough to just switch solder formulas. The entire industry gets turned on its head in the effort. With higher processing cost and lower reliability, the end users bear the cost. Lower reliability means products will fail earlier, greatly contributing to the waste stream going into landfills.

Policies such as RoHS only be implemented because politicians are ignorant of science and technology. I take consolation in the hope that some of those politicians will meet their maker due to a critical component failure in the car or airplane in which they are riding.

-- Quicksilver 01:29, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I would like to add another potential concern with lead-free solder when used with electronic components. Over time where pure tin exists, the tin can actually grow or form small spurs often called "tin whiskers". These tin whiskers can cause short circuits or cause other problems in electronics equipment. The cause of the growth of the whiskers is not fully understood, but adding lead to the tin seems to help reduce or eliminate the growth. Many electronic components that are meant for use with lead-free solder are plated with pure tin in the factory (instead of tin/lead solder). This means that over time, they may produce whiskers that could cause failures of the electronics equipment. Many good articles are available for further research on the web. NASA has done a lot of reseach on the topic. C. D. Brown

This is completely off topic since wikipedia is not the place to discuss opinions. However it could easily be argued that politicians are simply more willing to believe in science and technology, as well as having their eyes on the future/long term rather then the hear and now, unlike detractors. They believe that we will be able to adapt to a lead free solder environment. Sure there will definitely be many initial problems as the industry is force to adapt and waste due to component failure may very well increase in the short term. But is there any real reason to presume they can't adapt? It seems rather unlikely to me that anyone has tried that hard to develop a lead-free solder industry simple because the costs are too great in the short run to be worth it considering there was never any great advantage to succeeding. Futzing around with an idea for a few years (in the 1960s too let's not forget) is hardly the same thing. By forcing the whole industry to adapt, all areas will have to be examined and improved where necessary so that they can work in this new environment. This surely gives the greatest chance for success for a lead-free solder environment. Who knows, in the long run reliability may be improved. If no solution for lower temperature lead free solder is found, then we can expect that the components will have to be properly adapted for soldering at this temperature. These components may very well fail less often under normal usage for this reason. N.B. Mission critical systems are currently exempt from most plans. Nil Einne 18:32, 25 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Both the solder article and the comments talk about Sn60/Pb40 as the stndard electronics solder. My experience has been that Sn63/Pb37 is preferable, because it has a lower melting point. We cleaned all the 60/40 out of my shop quite some time ago. Now we are working to develop a lead free shop.

 -Allison Sibert, Engineering Assistant, High Energy Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana, sibert@uiuc.edu

Etymology

I'm gonna move it into the first paragraph area. If that's not acceptable, move it back. Or something. --CCFreak2K 01:21, 29 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Done. The sentence doesn't look quite right grammatically though, so someone else should check it. --CCFreak2K 01:24, 29 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

the etymology is from pretty 'old' words; so, Im interested, when was soldering invented? --83.131.148.234 22:06, 23 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The invention is probably prehistoric, but the OED has a quote from 1374 concerning the soldering of lead roofs on cathedrals. --Heron 20:05, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Silver solder

Does anyone have any information to add about "silver soldering"? What makes it different? Is it purely the make-up of the solder being used or is the equipment/process itself fundamentally different?

R

It contains silver (Ag) instead of lead (Pb). If you look under "Lead-free solder" you'll see several different alloys containing silver. 205.154.230.3 00:42, 5 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Measuring the tin content in solder

Does anybody know how they measure the tin content in solder? Or anything about cone cutters? Rfwoolf 18:27, 4 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Does anybody know of a way to remove the lead from the circuit board besides using a soldering iron?

Misuse of "fusible"?

"A solder is a fusible metal alloy"? Surely a Fusible alloy is one with a melting point below the usual boiling point of water? Contrariwise, any alloy will fuse, i.e. melt, at some temperature. P.M.Lawrence.

Hobby

this article does not discuss about health hazard of soldering ... as a electronic hobbyist i do a lot of soldering ... and I'm worried about the fumes is it lead that I'm inhaling or simply the flux ?

66.130.178.129 03:26, 16 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Pronunciation

Why the heck is it pronounced 'sodder'? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.72.21.221 (talk) 20:37, 29 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A fair question, and one that for many years has been much on my mind .... I do know that it appears, among English speakers, that only in the USA is the 'L' silent. Eregli bob 23:34, 19 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I know the article introduction currently states the difference between North America and other countries, but I've heard it pronounced both ways in Canada - probably due to the British/American English split. Perhaps it should be edited to make a distinction between the two dialects.