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What to do with old lead free solder?

Stese

Dec 27, 2013
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Hi all,

Looking for a little advice.

quite some time ago, I bought some a large reel of lead free solder, and at the time, it worked for what I needed it for. It's now rather old, and being lead free, its no good for any soldering work at all... I'm basically throwing it out.

Question is, is there anything else I can sensibly use it for?

Regards,

Steve
 

Supercap2F

Mar 22, 2014
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..and being lead free, its no good for any soldering work at all...
Why is that? There's lots of people who still use lead free solder.... In fact, from tearing down a bunch of electronics equipment it seams to be getting more popular for manufactures to use it also...
Dan
 

Harald Kapp

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Nov 17, 2011
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Not only more popular: mandatory by regulation (with some exceptions).
The thing with lead free solder is that you typically require a few degrees more at the tip of your iron to melt it.

If you really dont want to use it any more, take it to a recycling yard.
 

Stese

Dec 27, 2013
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Supercap2F - I just can't get it to flow or tin at all. It seems to simply form balls, regardless of the temperature, or the materials being soldered. I suspect it's more due to the fact that the roll has to be at least 10 years old, and not always stored in the best of conditions, rather than the fact it's lead-free.

Harald - I'd prefer to use it for 'something' if it's not used for soldering...

I'm tempted to get an old pan, and melt the solder down into mini ingots and use them as weights for railway models... :p
 
Last edited:

BobK

Jan 5, 2010
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Yes, It sounds like a lack of flux is the problem. Does the solder have a flux core? If not, you must add flux when soldering.

Bob
 

ChosunOne

Jun 20, 2010
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kellys_eye

Jun 25, 2010
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Not only more popular: mandatory by regulation (with some exceptions).
One notable exception is 'individual/amateur' use. Its 'mandatory' use is aimed at industry. Can't say I've noticed anything different about the world/health due to its introduction - probably on the basis of some eco-tard's demands based on some dubious research etc.

I'd like to know the extent of the expense it has incurred due to the likes of 'whiskering' etc.
 

shrtrnd

Jan 15, 2010
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We've had multiple discussions about this here before.
Some world-wide electronics group I can't remember the name of decided that lead in discarded electronic equipment (solder with lead in it) was unacceptable. So. Completely ignoring the massive number of very extensive and expensive studies that were done 40-50 years ago, buy engineers and scientists who are retired now; it was decided to eliminate lead in solder by manufacturers (through laws).
Those old studies were done to find out why 'tin whiskers' were forming and shorting-out the newest low-voltage circuitry being developed in micro-electronics. It was determined that high-content tin solder in use at the time wasn't a factor in most electronics at the time because the currents were so high in most circuits that when tin whiskers formed, they were immediately blown-up when they formed a bridge to another contact point because of the current involved. The introduction of low-current circuitry showed the 'tin whiskers' to be a problem, and the studies determined that the introduction of lead in the tin solder, reduced tin whisker formation. If you've ever seen the old balls of very fine 'dust' in 1960's 1970's era television sets, that wasn't dust, it was balls of tin-whiskers.
Anyhow, kellys_eye is right on target about why lead was eliminated from today's manufacturing electronics, it was an eco-friendly, politically-correct decision. The rationale was determined to be acceptable because most of today's electronics for consumers is determined to be 3 years or less, and before tin whiskers start forming.
As Harld Kapp noted, there are exceptions to the new laws for critical circuits (not consumer oriented), that are expected to last much longer than 3 years without failing.
The first thing I'd ask Stese is if his soldering iron tip is clean. My experience with the problem he's having is that if the tip is not clean, it won't transfer enough heat to the solder to completely melt it, and all's you get are solder balls.
The second thing I'd say is that I too, have had old solder that just doesn't melt right anymore. I don't know the quality of the old solder you have, but I do notice that (while I don't know the right name for the chemical reaction) lead solder has a tendency to get some kind of 'oxyidized' film on it, especially if stored in humid conditions for long periods of time. I usually 'wet' a paper towel with rubbing alcohol and wipe the length of solder to get that dusty film off the solder to see if it'll melt right or not, and if not, I just toss the problem solder (Ooooo, make that 'recycle' it by the appropriate disposal method suggested by the laws in my area).
 
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