"jim rozen" wrote in message
...
In article , Lloyd E.
Sponenburgh
says...

Aw, Jim! I'm not parrotting some mantra I heard a few times. I was a
pro
in electronics for decades until I retired, then started a new business.

I've been a pro the business too, for decades. Still am in fact.
And I've never seen solder joints simply deteriorate over time for
no reason.

But I didn't say, "for no reason". A solder joint never exposed to heat,
oxidation, or mechanical stress will last virtually forever. That's not the
case with joints in most 'normal' physical environments.

A tour through the insides of an old BC-458 will give you a good look at how
well soldering can be done for _rugged_ use. An old "Silvertone" Sears TV
will show you the opposing case study.

LLoyd

In article , Lloyd E.
Sponenburgh says...

A tour through the insides of an old BC-458 will give you a good look at how
well soldering can be done for _rugged_ use.

And I've got a half dozen a****er kent radios that have been well used
over the years. They all use simple lap joints and none of them
have any degradation.

Look the properties of lead tin solder are well known. It doesn't
cold flow, it doesn't work harden. If something is attacking
lead tin solder chemically, wrapping the wire around the terminal
a half dozen times isn't going to help. The joint's still going
to fail.

Solder joints rely explicitly on the mechanical properties of
the solder to form a gas-tight joint. Think about it: if the
mechanical connection has a chance to take *any* strain then the
gas-tight nature of the joint's been compromised.

All that mil-spec gear looks great (and I love the aroma, too) and
it was a great idea to quantify the skills and train the solderers
in a uniform fashion. But the joints are excessive IMO.

Jim


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