I recently came to the realization that I’ve been kinda punishing myself with cheap no-name solder that is really difficult to work with.
I reluctantly bought this (rather expensive) lead free solder for around $25 and the difference really took me by surprise - it melts and flows so easily!
Kinda got me wondering what everyone else has been using for solder, or what’s worked well for you so far at least?
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Hi, i did some commercial but small scale hand soldering once and one thing i learned from that: Its not just about the alloy – the flux and the amount of flux is nearly as important.
I burned my fingers so many times when soldering large power connectors before i learned that large solder connections should be done with a low-flux solder wire (<2.5% flux, ideally below 2%) because otherwise you’ll just sprinkle around the boiling flux. Also the kind of flux is important for health reasons if you solder a lot. Avoid anything with rosin if you solder more than two days a week or you might get nasty allergic rashes from the fume.
If you can not find any rosin free solder wire and notice problems it might be worth it to invest in some simple fume extraction.
I use cheap trash solder, and dislike soldering, very possibly because of it
I’ll look into upgrading my solder, thanks 👍
I got some cheap solder with my solder station and it was the bane of my existence. Found some leaded solder I think I got from radio shack years ago and it works so well. I hate to say it but I haven’t yet had good success with unleaded solder. Someone please save me from the brain damage.
Avoid brain damage by using a soldering fume extraction fan
fume extraction does not help against smearing microscopic lead particles over your hands and then over your food or face. ;)
Wash your hands after using leaded solder!