[bperboy]

Umm, I think I use 63/37 plain leaded solder. Can't be positive, as I'm not near my supplies right now, but I know its not silver. IMHO, I'm honestly not sure that one could hear an audible difference, at least with the rig that I've got right now. I'd pick something thats easy to use and the money that you save by not getting silver, buy some more music!

 

[mono]

Kester 285 for *most* electronics. Kester 245 for situations where I can't (reasonably) clean the board later, or 44 for when the board or parts are older. Choose the Kestor flux % based on the parts, or if you really really want to avoid using a separate bottle of flux, choose the highest flux % available. Typically 1/2/3%

I think the key here is ideally you choose the solder based on the job. Silver bearing is certainly useful when soldering silver /plated wire. Some people might say that if you were building a uber-high-end-tweaked amp, with silver cables and no holds barred, you would feel compelled to use silver solder too, maybe even plating each lead of a component with it instead of the (now) lead-free mix any particular manufacturing is using. Personally I think this latter part is extreme, but at the same time I don't want tin wiskers growing after a few years and do recognize that all else being equal, there is a lot of snake oil in this world and if silver solder is snake oil, it is a lot more palatable than some oils. I mean, it would be the very last % improvement possible in most amps, I doubt any amp you think "Needs improved" would benefit enough from this, but depending on the individual, the psychological benefit of using silver solder might outweight any real benefit, it would be a matter of doing everything you possibly could, within (reason?), and finding that the end, a finality.

Some of the more exotic audiphile blends with lower melting point due to having copper in them might be suitable for especially hard jobs, but frankly offhand I don't know of any jobs that hard where you wouldn't just use an oven and solder paste instead, as it certainly has no benefit at all on regular surface mount or through-hole work. Maybe on cables where the connector block has a lot of delicate plastic, but I never melt typical connector blocks with 63/37 either so I have to feel the exotic solders will work, but negligible difference at a price premium.

I think a common mistake is thinking a solder is a cure for a different problem. Partrs that have poor surfaces that need prepped, or that no more solder was needed, only some flux to reflow, or a dirty soldering iron tip or other soldering iron insuitability for the job. In general, if you are making typical stuff shown on headfi and can't randomly grab a solder and use it w/o any problems, the problem probably wasn't the solder itself unless some kind of ill conceived lead-free mutant blend.

 

[ericj]

Qualitek RA-core 63/37 iirc.

 

[a1rocketpilot]

Cardas Quad Eutectic. Very easy to work with and always provides a reliable connection.

Aditya

 

[AndrewFischer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pars /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... 1/2lb roll of Kester "44" 60/40 that is over 20 years old, and this seems to be working nicely for ...

So much for the Urban Legend claiming that 60/40 solder has a 1 year shelf life.

Supposedly the metals oxidize and the flux gets 'stale'. I never did believe it.

 

[soloz2]

I use Kester no clean (244 or something like that) for work on circuit boards, but Cardas quad for everything else

 

[beerguy0]

Kester 245 (63/37), in various diameters depending on the situation.

I recently saw spools of Kester no-lead solder at work, so the ROHs stuff is starting to kick in. The stuff I work on still uses leaded, though.

 

[Roam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller /img/forum/go_quote.gif I tried this one and is pretty good, an cheap for a 4% silver solder: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=370-038

Mystery solder with unknown flux, and hyping the high melting temperature as a plus? No thanks, we have no idea what it's made of, what kind of flux it contains and in what percentage, only that it has 4% silver and a high melting point. If you don't mind having solder joints fail and having your electronics and possibly your home catching fire then go ahead and use it. Me? I'm not letting that mystery crap within a mile of my home.

For that matter, that's why I will never use Cardas, Wondersolder or any other of that boutique crap, they don't tell you what the heck is in their mystery mix, and that's just utterly unacceptable. It may sound nice for all I know, but I can't trust its reliability, and frankly, I value my home and my life. That's why all the solder I use meets Bellcore standards.

 

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roam /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you don't mind having solder joints fail and having your electronics and possibly your home catching fire then go ahead and use it.......It may sound nice for all I know, but I can't trust its reliability, and frankly, I value my home and my life.

whoa, chill out dude. We're talking about solder here, not bomb fuses

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinkfloyd4ever /img/forum/go_quote.gif whoa, chill out dude. We're talking about solder here, not bomb fuses

Are you sure?

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roam /img/forum/go_quote.gif Mystery solder with unknown flux, and hyping the high melting temperature as a plus? No thanks, we have no idea what it's made of, what kind of flux it contains and in what percentage, only that it has 4% silver and a high melting point. If you don't mind having solder joints fail and having your electronics and possibly your home catching fire then go ahead and use it. Me? I'm not letting that mystery crap within a mile of my home. For that matter, that's why I will never use Cardas, Wondersolder or any other of that boutique crap, they don't tell you what the heck is in their mystery mix, and that's just utterly unacceptable. It may sound nice for all I know, but I can't trust its reliability, and frankly, I value my home and my life. That's why all the solder I use meets Bellcore standards.

Mainly Dayton are rebranded products, from other manufacturers that BTW are very good, or made by their specs, I have not seen any Dayton really bad product till the date...this was the main cause I got it, and no complains of any kind till now. BTW this is the house brand from them, and if you ask them, probably you can get a lot more info that from the rest of the manufacturers, and a whole datasheet from the solder, BTW the specs are there on hte label...

"...Dayton Audio silver solder features 4% silver content and halogen-free flux that is very mild on your precious metal surfaces. The high melting temperature makes it less susceptible to in-use heat degradation (422.6ºF/217ºC). 1.0mm dia..."

There is not too much info about the flux chemical material and % and all those specs you are asking for, on the WBT, Cardas, Kester or any other neither BTW...

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller /img/forum/go_quote.gif There is not too much info about the flux chemical material and % and all those specs you are asking for, on the WBT, Cardas, Kester or any other neither BTW...

It certainly does have that info on my spool of Kester; lists the composition (63% tin, 37% lead), the flux type (44, activated rosin), and flux amount (66 core, 3.3%).

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitz /img/forum/go_quote.gif It certainly does have that info on my spool of Kester; lists the composition (63% tin, 37% lead), the flux type (44, activated rosin), and flux amount (66 core, 3.3%).

And what does 44 activated rosin means??? Anyway, for the ones interested i emailed them asking about the chemical composition and the flux material etc...

BTW after all those datasheets, that we will probably get, you can draw your conclusions, but just for the records the worst two I have used are the Cardas and the Homeground silver one, and both are considered audiophile grade...I even preffer the RS one to those two...

 

[Teh Interweb]

The cardas one is really slushy, never gets fully liquidmetal-like and looks pretty ugly even when used properly. Still feels stronger than the radioshack 2% silver one. Still the rs 63/37 feels the most durable.

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller /img/forum/go_quote.gif And what does 44 activated rosin means???

Now you're just being silly.