500G "Multicomp" 0.7mm solder: £18 + free shipping

[iamwhoiam]

Hey guys. I may sell my spare reel of solder (brand new), Multicomp brand, 0.7mm "Kristall 505".

Selling for £18 + free shipping.

Now see the silly prices online: http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=multicomp+0.7mm+500g&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=933&bih=596&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=10416768114186226893&sa=X&ei=ZcWlT4vVJqya1AWh6IWXBA&ved=0CDkQ8wIwAA

[IanB]

Does it have any gold in it? Silver?

[Monkeh]

Lead free. No ta.

[IanB]

Yeah, here's your problem. Lead free solder is more expensive than lead solder because tin is more expensive than lead. But lead-free solder performs much worse than lead solder so you are paying more money for big disadvantages. It would be amazing if you could even give lead-free solder away for free. Who wants such bad news?

[Monkeh]

Edit: Actually, just tried some - what's the fuss over it? Seems good to me!

It's just not as easy to work with as lead solder. Personally I only buy 63/37 for hand soldering, as there are precisely zero reasons to use anything else.

[IanB]

Here's the secret. Any device manufactured with lead-free solder is more or less guaranteed to fail within 5 years.  Why do you think the manufacturers were so compliant when ROHS was introduced? They don't have to design in planned obsolescence any more, it has been legislated by the EU! Manufacturers are overjoyed that every television, DVD player, hi-fi system they sell has a built-in time bomb. It is guaranteed to fail and need replacing! Woo hoo!

Just think about it. Way back when, when solder was introduced, scientists worked out what the best solder formulation was. It so happened, it was the traditional tin/lead composition. You don't think they decided to put lead in the solder because because lead is "bad" do you? They put lead in it because that is what works best!

So yes, use lead-free solder if you want to drink the Kool-Aid. But don't kid yourself that politicians have half a clue about science or engineering. If politicians make a law against it, you can guarantee the law is suspect. All the laws prohibiting really bad things were made hundreds of years ago. These days there are no bad things left to outlaw, so all they can outlaw today are things that were perfectly fine to our ancestors.

[Monkeh]

Edit: Actually, just tried some - what's the fuss over it? Seems good to me!

It's just not as easy to work with as lead solder. Personally I only buy 63/37 for hand soldering, as there are precisely zero reasons to use anything else.

"easy to work with" ?

63/37 melts at a lower temperature and is eutectic. Lead-free solder requires more heat, more time, less movement, and more hassle.

[Monkeh]

Ah, so the whole spate of Xbox/Nvidia chipset BGA failures is caused by how brittle this stuff is, then? I've been involved with BGA repair and re-balling - it's a right pain.

That, and poor thermal design, poor mechanical support, and planned obsolescence.

Except my nice Quadro unit in my Thinkpad, which actually has adequate cooling and a proper chassis. The chip is identical to any old GeForce unit (if binned for superior quality).

[T4P]

Ah, so the whole spate of Xbox/Nvidia chipset BGA failures is caused by how brittle this stuff is, then? I've been involved with BGA repair and re-balling - it's a right pain.

That, and poor thermal design, poor mechanical support, and planned obsolescence.

Except my nice Quadro unit in my Thinkpad, which actually has adequate cooling and a proper chassis. The chip is identical to any old GeForce unit (if binned for superior quality).

A higher end chip, lucky as you are, but wait, was it pre lenovo OR post lenovo?

Ah, so the whole spate of Xbox/Nvidia chipset BGA failures is caused by how brittle this stuff is, then? I've been involved with BGA repair and re-balling - it's a right pain.

Crazy temps accelerates tin whisker growth that can short out neighbouring pins. This and the too small heatsink is to be blamed,
Thank god they integrated the GPU+CPU now and used a big fat heatsink

[Monkeh]

Ah, so the whole spate of Xbox/Nvidia chipset BGA failures is caused by how brittle this stuff is, then? I've been involved with BGA repair and re-balling - it's a right pain.

That, and poor thermal design, poor mechanical support, and planned obsolescence.

Except my nice Quadro unit in my Thinkpad, which actually has adequate cooling and a proper chassis. The chip is identical to any old GeForce unit (if binned for superior quality).

A higher end chip, lucky as you are, but wait, was it pre lenovo OR post lenovo?

Same chip. Just binned. But in a much better designed laptop.

[krivx]

Here's the secret. Any device manufactured with lead-free solder is more or less guaranteed to fail within 5 years.

While I'll agree that lead-free may have higher failure rates, what does this 5 year limit mean for those of us living in ROHS regions? I have a lot of stuff with lead-free solder joints that are older than 5 years.

[IanB]

While I'll agree that lead-free may have higher failure rates, what does this 5 year limit mean for those of us living in ROHS regions? I have a lot of stuff with lead-free solder joints that are older than 5 years.

A bit of hyperbole on my part, no doubt. But I have experienced more than a reasonable frequency of failed solder joints in devices subject to thermal stress like televisions.

[T4P]

Here's the secret. Any device manufactured with lead-free solder is more or less guaranteed to fail within 5 years.

While I'll agree that lead-free may have higher failure rates, what does this 5 year limit mean for those of us living in ROHS regions? I have a lot of stuff with lead-free solder joints that are older than 5 years.

High temps accelerate tin whisker growth and you know what that means