Tin Lead solder

[ef37a]

Getting trickier to find?
Just got a small, 50g reel from Amazon brand "ESSMETLUIN"and did a few test joints with it. Very good, flows and 'freezes' nicely with a bright finish.

0.8mm dia wire, should see me out now!

Dave.

[Folderol]

Doh!
You should have said something. I've got two 500G reels of the stuff (well, one is prolly down to 400G now).

[Dan LB]

I get mine from Radionics. I use their own RS Pro brand in 1mm. Always in stock anytime I’ve looked.

[ef37a]

Doh!
You should have said something. I've got two 500G reels of the stuff (well, one is prolly down to 400G now).

Thanks Will, try to bear you in mind but realistically unless I lose them I now have two small reels of Sn/Pb and they will last me a very long time.

This all started when son in France said he needed to repair some cables but couldn't find his solder. I told him I had some good 1.5mm stuff but he reckoned he was useless enough with 0.7mm solder and never manage thicker.

He also said he had nothing to practice with, a problem that must afflict many home recording bods new to 'the game'? Until it is broke how do you learn to fix it! So, I am sending him a bag of odd plugs and stuff and a variety of odd bits of cable and sleeving with of course some 0.8mm solder!

If there are any soldering virgins looking in and you want a few bits to mess about with I have a houseful. PM me but you will have to buy your own solder...13 quid for 50 grammes !!!

Dave.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I was given a new 2.5kg reel of Ersin 60/40 multicore leaded solder that was thrown out of the NATS maintenance room many years ago, and it will definitely see out the rest of my soldering days! ...And probably those of my grandson too!

[ajay_m]

I never really understood the logic behind the whole RoHS thing. Car batteries will always contain lead and setting up a disposal network for electronic devices with incentives as for bottle recycling makes sense because of the potential to recover other metals etc. Then there's roof flashing and in fact I think the entire roof of Slough station is lead.

[ef37a]

I never really understood the logic behind the whole RoHS thing. Car batteries will always contain lead and setting up a disposal network for electronic devices with incentives as for bottle recycling makes sense because of the potential to recover other metals etc. Then there's roof flashing and in fact I think the entire roof of Slough station is lead.

Lead is a very safe metal in most circumstances, it rapidly forms an insoluble oxide in air (and probably some complex sulphides and carbonates) and causes no further harm. It was also used for water pipes, my main from the street to as far as my bathroom is Lead then Copper* All is plastic now but I don't think there was ever a problem with Lead water pipes? Again the metal quickly formed a protective film.

But when added to petrol as an anti-knock component it was a nasty pollutant. I think comparative studies were done between children living along busy roads and those in very low traffic areas?

I was soldering every day practically for about 45 years with no fume extraction and I am pretty sure the Lead has done me no harm but I was doing repairs so I would be exposed for maybe 5 minutes at a time every hour or so in a working day. The ladies soldering in the factory I fetched up at had their heads down soldering for an hour at a stretch. They needed and had fume extraction, right at the tip of the solder iron.

*Same as Lead, forms a protective compound but metallic Copper is poisonous if ingested as indeed are most metals. I for instance am being slowly poisoned by Ferrous Fumarate but it does (they tell me)the anaemia at bay!

Dave.

[Folderol]

The other place where it was a problem was paint - especially for painters and decorators when sanding down paint layers to get a good finish.

[N i g e l]

but I don't think there was ever a problem with Lead water pipes? Again the metal quickly formed a protective film.

Lead water pipes produce toxic water which is known to give various problems, from learning difficulties in the young to cognitive decline in the old. This was more of a problem in soft water areas. I think the EU had a regional campagain/funding to replace lead pipes with plasitc.

[ef37a]

but I don't think there was ever a problem with Lead water pipes? Again the metal quickly formed a protective film.

Lead water pipes produce toxic water which is known to give various problems, from learning difficulties in the young to cognitive decline in the old. This was more of a problem in soft water areas. I think the EU had a regional campagain/funding to replace lead pipes with plasitc.

Yes, I have seen a bit about this but I am not sure how good the "science" was? Councils etc TEND to go "Ooo! LEAD! gots to get rid of that!" Same with random dog types and Cadmium...I mean WHO TF eats Cadmium?

There is of course the "precautionary principle" but it can get a bit silly at times.

I was safety officer some years ago at a rifle/shotgun range. The ground has been in constant use since pre WW1 and you cannot lift sod one without finding a bullet or a casing. Nonetheless the grass grows, the trees grow and the rabbits are thriving nuisance (they just duck! Honestly!)
Not, that I would eat any of the vegetation. Would probably eat a rabbit though.

Dave.

[Nazard]

Thomas Midgley Jr developed leaded petrol, (tetraethyl lead), and also chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) for use in refrigeration and as a propellant in aerosol cans.

Of course, he is now villified, perhaps unfairly, since he didn't know what the adverse health and environmental effects of his work would be. It would be decades after his death until they were.

[ef37a]

Thomas Midgley Jr developed leaded petrol, (tetraethyl lead), and also chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) for use in refrigeration and as a propellant in aerosol cans.

Of course, he is now villified, perhaps unfairly, since he didn't know what the adverse health and environmental effects of his work would be. It would be decades after his death until they were.

Well of course CFCs are completely harmless except for one unfortunate property. That of destroying the Ozone layer! Most of them are totally inert and quite safe to breath, in moderation! Prior to the development of the Freons, refrigeration had to use very nasty things like Ammonia.

Dave.

[Nazard]

Most of them are totally inert and quite safe to breath

CFCs were used as a propellant in inhalers at one time.

[DGL.]

CFC's were seen as wonder gases, loads of good uses, didn't usually react with anything and not toxic, alas the one thing (in combination with sunlight) that they would react with was ozone.

Talking about solder be aware that some companies will not sell 60/40 to home users, naturally you can get it from other suppliers but it's just a note of caution.