had a small repair job to do this PM and my beloved Weller soldering
station was left in my friend's garage as I've been helping him rewire
an old Avanti...

so I stop at Radio Shack on my way home and pick up the cheapest
soldering iron they have along with a small roll of solder... get home
and I realize the solder is marked "60/40 Rosin Core Solder." Now it
doesn't say what the 60 and the 40 stand for... but... I just realized
that this is the first time i've seen same in years... have the rules
been relaxed to allow the sale of non-lead-free solder again? or did I
stumble across some old stock? Last time I bought solder was maybe 5
years ago and I couldn't find goold old 60/40 to save my life...

nate
--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

On Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:37:36 -0400, Nate Nagel wrote:

had a small repair job to do this PM and my beloved Weller soldering
station was left in my friend's garage as I've been helping him rewire
an old Avanti...

so I stop at Radio Shack on my way home and pick up the cheapest
soldering iron they have along with a small roll of solder... get home
and I realize the solder is marked "60/40 Rosin Core Solder." Now it
doesn't say what the 60 and the 40 stand for... but... I just realized
that this is the first time i've seen same in years... have the rules
been relaxed to allow the sale of non-lead-free solder again? or did I
stumble across some old stock? Last time I bought solder was maybe 5
years ago and I couldn't find goold old 60/40 to save my life...

60/40 solder == 60% Tin / 40% Lead

There's nothing illegal about tin/lead solder in the US, at least yet
(Ssshhhh! Obama hasn't thought of this one). You do *NOT* want anything else
for electronics. Sure, lead-free (RoHS) solder is available unless you really
know what you're doing it's impossible to use. Leaded solder is not supposed
to be used for plumbing, however.

Nate Nagel wrote:
....

... Last time I bought solder was maybe 5
years ago and I couldn't find goold old 60/40 to save my life...
....

Only because apparently you were looking at plumbing supply instead of
electronics...afaik that's the only restriction.

--

On 2010-07-08, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:


There's nothing illegal about tin/lead solder in the US, at least yet
(Ssshhhh! Obama hasn't thought of this one). You do *NOT* want anything else
for electronics. Sure, lead-free (RoHS) solder is available unless you really
know what you're doing it's impossible to use.

It's used quite a bit in SMT (surface mount technology) soldering,
which I'll soon be exploring. Not exactly sure why, since I've heard
there are problems with non-lead solder forming "whiskers", over time,
which are bad mojo. I'm still learning about this.

As for lead solder, I keep hearing it's being phased out, but you can
still get it at many places. Radio Shack continues to list it in 1/2
lb and 1 lb rolls, but it's no longer available in the little 1/2 oz
tubes. I don't know if they're just running out their stock or what.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062714

There are still many electronics kits, specially for amateur (ham)
radio hobbyists, including $1K+ radios which still need lead solder. Some of
these companies (Elecraft, Ten-Ten) provide links to vendors who still
provide lead solder and lead solder irons, stations, and supplies.

nb

In article , Nate Nagel wrote:
had a small repair job to do this PM and my beloved Weller soldering
station was left in my friend's garage as I've been helping him rewire
an old Avanti...

so I stop at Radio Shack on my way home and pick up the cheapest
soldering iron they have along with a small roll of solder... get home
and I realize the solder is marked "60/40 Rosin Core Solder." Now it
doesn't say what the 60 and the 40 stand for...

60% tin, 40% lead

but... I just realized
that this is the first time i've seen same in years... have the rules
been relaxed to allow the sale of non-lead-free solder again?

That may be a state-by-state thing, but here in Indiana at least, the sale of
leaded solder was never prohibited.

or did I
stumble across some old stock? Last time I bought solder was maybe 5
years ago and I couldn't find goold old 60/40 to save my life...

You weren't looking in the right places, then. I've never had any trouble
finding leaded solder -- especially at electronics-supply stores. There's no
reason to require lead-free solder on anything but potable water.

Real solder would be eutectic 63/37

On Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:37:36 -0400, Nate Nagel wrote:

had a small repair job to do this PM and my beloved Weller soldering
station was left in my friend's garage as I've been helping him rewire
an old Avanti...

so I stop at Radio Shack on my way home and pick up the cheapest
soldering iron they have along with a small roll of solder... get home
and I realize the solder is marked "60/40 Rosin Core Solder." Now it
doesn't say what the 60 and the 40 stand for...

The stuff I have here is 63/37 - surprising how different it is to work
with (I really don't like it). I've got a huge reel of 60/40 over in
England that I'll move over here one day (well, customs officials
permitting - I'm not sure if there are rules about such things)...

On Jul 7, 11:44*pm, notbob wrote:
On 2010-07-08, wrote:



There's nothing illegal about tin/lead solder in the US, at least yet
(Ssshhhh! Obama hasn't thought of this one). *You do *NOT* want anything else
for electronics. *Sure, lead-free (RoHS) solder is available unless you really
know what you're doing it's impossible to use. *

It's used quite a bit in SMT (surface mount technology) soldering,
which I'll soon be exploring. *Not exactly sure why, since I've heard
there are problems with non-lead solder forming "whiskers", over time,
which are bad mojo. *I'm still learning about this.

We've been using a RoHS SMT process for a couple of years. Trust me,
you're in for a *lot* of pain.

As for lead solder, I keep hearing it's being phased out, but you can
still get it at many places. *Radio Shack continues to list it in 1/2
lb and 1 lb rolls, but it's no longer available in the little 1/2 oz
tubes. *I don't know if they're just running out their stock or what.

RS may be phasing it out (haven't they been phasing out all
electronics for years?), but deaded solder isn't going anywhere.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062714

There are still many electronics kits, specially for amateur (ham)
radio hobbyists, including $1K+ radios which still need lead solder. *Some of
these companies (Elecraft, Ten-Ten) provide links to vendors who still
provide lead solder and lead solder irons, stations, and supplies.

All the tools are the same, though if it's touched leaded solder it is
no longer acceptable to use that tool in a RoHS process.

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article , Nate Nagel
wrote:
had a small repair job to do this PM and my beloved Weller soldering
station was left in my friend's garage as I've been helping him rewire
an old Avanti...

so I stop at Radio Shack on my way home and pick up the cheapest
soldering iron they have along with a small roll of solder... get home
and I realize the solder is marked "60/40 Rosin Core Solder." Now it
doesn't say what the 60 and the 40 stand for...

60% tin, 40% lead

but... I just realized
that this is the first time i've seen same in years... have the rules
been relaxed to allow the sale of non-lead-free solder again?

That may be a state-by-state thing, but here in Indiana at least, the sale
of
leaded solder was never prohibited.

or did I
stumble across some old stock? Last time I bought solder was maybe 5
years ago and I couldn't find goold old 60/40 to save my life...

You weren't looking in the right places, then. I've never had any trouble
finding leaded solder -- especially at electronics-supply stores. There's
no
reason to require lead-free solder on anything but potable water.

Lead solder can be purchased in Ontario, Canada. It is illegal to use it on
potable water, but I went through a bit of it installing a tricky shower
control with body sprays. Tin/lead solder guaranteed that my joints were
good and not leakers. I have experienced non-lead soldered joints testing
good with no signs of a leak, but start to leak three months after they were
put into use. This could possibly be in a sealed wall, where a slow leak
could do a lot of damage.

(Doug Miller) wrote in
:

In article , Nate Nagel
wrote:
had a small repair job to do this PM and my beloved Weller soldering
station was left in my friend's garage as I've been helping him rewire
an old Avanti...

so I stop at Radio Shack on my way home and pick up the cheapest
soldering iron they have along with a small roll of solder... get
home and I realize the solder is marked "60/40 Rosin Core Solder."
Now it doesn't say what the 60 and the 40 stand for...

60% tin, 40% lead

but... I just realized
that this is the first time i've seen same in years... have the rules
been relaxed to allow the sale of non-lead-free solder again?

That may be a state-by-state thing, but here in Indiana at least, the
sale of leaded solder was never prohibited.

or did I
stumble across some old stock? Last time I bought solder was maybe 5
years ago and I couldn't find goold old 60/40 to save my life...

You weren't looking in the right places, then. I've never had any
trouble finding leaded solder -- especially at electronics-supply
stores. There's no reason to require lead-free solder on anything but
potable water.


63/37 (eutectic) is the usual replacement for 60/40 in
electronic/electrical work.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

It's always been for sale here in Maryland, just not allowed for plumbing
use or other uses where it would contact potable water.


--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation
with the average voter. (Winston Churchill)

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar. org

On 07/08/2010 12:44 AM, notbob wrote:
On 2010-07-08, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:


There's nothing illegal about tin/lead solder in the US, at least yet
(Ssshhhh! Obama hasn't thought of this one). You do *NOT* want anything else
for electronics. Sure, lead-free (RoHS) solder is available unless you really
know what you're doing it's impossible to use.

It's used quite a bit in SMT (surface mount technology) soldering,
which I'll soon be exploring. Not exactly sure why, since I've heard
there are problems with non-lead solder forming "whiskers", over time,
which are bad mojo. I'm still learning about this.

As for lead solder, I keep hearing it's being phased out, but you can
still get it at many places. Radio Shack continues to list it in 1/2
lb and 1 lb rolls, but it's no longer available in the little 1/2 oz
tubes. I don't know if they're just running out their stock or what.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062714

There are still many electronics kits, specially for amateur (ham)
radio hobbyists, including $1K+ radios which still need lead solder. Some of
these companies (Elecraft, Ten-Ten) provide links to vendors who still
provide lead solder and lead solder irons, stations, and supplies.

nb

Not sure where I bought my last roll, probably one of the horrible Big
Boxen, but my only choices were plumbing solder and "lead free flux
core" solder. I guess I ASSumed that since I didn't see something it'd
been outlawed or at least restricted, but maybe it just means that my
local stores suck (this isn't really news.)

I'm thinking of going back to the Shack and getting a pound or so
because I forgot how much easier it is to work with. Plus I keep
hearing people bitch about cracked solder joints with lead-free stuff.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote:
On 07/08/2010 12:44 AM, notbob wrote:
...snipped...
Not sure where I bought my last roll, probably one of the horrible Big
Boxen, but my only choices were plumbing solder and "lead free flux
core" solder. I guess I ASSumed that since I didn't see something it'd
been outlawed or at least restricted, but maybe it just means that my
local stores suck (this isn't really news.)
...snipped...

At my local HD, only lead-free solder is on the shelf in the plumbing
section, but in the tool dept. you can find tin/lead solder near the
propane and butane torches.




--
Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar. org

On 7/8/2010 8:56 AM Jim Yanik spake thus:

63/37 (eutectic) is the usual replacement for 60/40 in
electronic/electrical work.

Just curious: how different is eutectic from 60/40? If eutectic is the
best, why make 60/40 at all?


--
The fashion in killing has an insouciant, flirty style this spring,
with the flaunting of well-defined muscle, wrapped in flags.

- Comment from an article on Antiwar.com (http://antiwar.com)

On 07/07/10 8:37 PM, Nate Nagel wrote:

so I stop at Radio Shack on my way home and pick up the cheapest
soldering iron they have along with a small roll of solder... get home
and I realize the solder is marked "60/40 Rosin Core Solder." Now it
doesn't say what the 60 and the 40 stand for... but... I just realized
that this is the first time i've seen same in years... have the rules
been relaxed to allow the sale of non-lead-free solder again? or did I
stumble across some old stock? Last time I bought solder was maybe 5
years ago and I couldn't find goold old 60/40 to save my life...

63/37 is the ideal mix of tin and lead.

I bought a 5 lb roll of 60/40 solder in Atlanta at a Hamfest in 1976.
I'm about 1/3 way through the roll.

On Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:28:33 -0700, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 7/8/2010 8:56 AM Jim Yanik spake thus:

63/37 (eutectic) is the usual replacement for 60/40 in
electronic/electrical work.

Just curious: how different is eutectic from 60/40? If eutectic is the
best, why make 60/40 at all?

Not that much difference. 60/40 melts at 370F and 63/37 at 361F (pure lead
melts at 621F). 60/40 should be a little harder. Often the mixture is set
for a specific melting point such that the part can be soldered without
another joint melting. For common electronics use, either will work.

In article ,
David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 7/8/2010 8:56 AM Jim Yanik spake thus:

63/37 (eutectic) is the usual replacement for 60/40 in
electronic/electrical work.

Just curious: how different is eutectic from 60/40? If eutectic is the
best, why make 60/40 at all?

Tin costs more per pound than lead. If your making tons of product per year
even the 3% differential between eutectic (63/37) and 60/40 adds up. There
are also situations where a slightly longer elastic phase might be
beneficial, compared to the almost instant "freeze" of eutectic solder


--
When the game is over, the pawn and the king are returned to the same box.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar.org

On Fri, 9 Jul 2010 02:29:06 +0000 (UTC),
(Larry W) wrote:

In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote:
On 07/08/2010 12:44 AM, notbob wrote:
...snipped...
Not sure where I bought my last roll, probably one of the horrible Big
Boxen, but my only choices were plumbing solder and "lead free flux
core" solder. I guess I ASSumed that since I didn't see something it'd
been outlawed or at least restricted, but maybe it just means that my
local stores suck (this isn't really news.)
...snipped...

At my local HD, only lead-free solder is on the shelf in the plumbing
section, but in the tool dept. you can find tin/lead solder near the
propane and butane torches.

That makes sense. AIUI, leaded solder is good for plumbing because
drinking the water from it will leave a lead lining in your stomach
and intestines that will cut absorbtion and help you not gain weight.
But it also gets absorbed into your blood where the heavy lead weighs
down he red blood cells and causes them to settle in your feet, and
other places to move too slowly.

So it ends up doing more harm than good and that's why it's banned
from plumbing.

This must be true because I read it on the net.

mm posted for all of us...

That makes sense. AIUI, leaded solder is good for plumbing because
drinking the water from it will leave a lead lining in your stomach
and intestines that will cut absorbtion and help you not gain weight.
But it also gets absorbed into your blood where the heavy lead weighs
down he red blood cells and causes them to settle in your feet, and
other places to move too slowly.

So it ends up doing more harm than good and that's why it's banned
from plumbing.

This must be true because I read it on the net.


I always thought all the lead settled in my A$$ because I don't do nuttin.

--
Tekkie Don't bother to thank me, I do this as a public service.

Nate Nagel wrote:
had a small repair job to do this PM and my beloved Weller soldering
station was left in my friend's garage as I've been helping him rewire
an old Avanti...

so I stop at Radio Shack on my way home and pick up the cheapest
soldering iron they have along with a small roll of solder... get home
and I realize the solder is marked "60/40 Rosin Core Solder." Now it
doesn't say what the 60 and the 40 stand for... but... I just realized
that this is the first time i've seen same in years... have the rules
been relaxed to allow the sale of non-lead-free solder again? or did I
stumble across some old stock? Last time I bought solder was maybe 5
years ago and I couldn't find goold old 60/40 to save my life...

nate
Hmm,
Lead is poison. It's bad for our health and environment.
Lead paint is long gone. Pure lead solder will too.

On Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:18:31 -0600, Tony Hwang wrote:

Nate Nagel wrote:
had a small repair job to do this PM and my beloved Weller soldering
station was left in my friend's garage as I've been helping him rewire
an old Avanti...

so I stop at Radio Shack on my way home and pick up the cheapest
soldering iron they have along with a small roll of solder... get home
and I realize the solder is marked "60/40 Rosin Core Solder." Now it
doesn't say what the 60 and the 40 stand for... but... I just realized
that this is the first time i've seen same in years... have the rules
been relaxed to allow the sale of non-lead-free solder again? or did I
stumble across some old stock? Last time I bought solder was maybe 5
years ago and I couldn't find goold old 60/40 to save my life...

nate
Hmm,
Lead is poison. It's bad for our health and environment.
Lead paint is long gone. Pure lead solder will too.

What a bunch of crap. Just don't eat old electronics.