Leaded solder recommendation (China import?)

[ebastler]

While I have moved to lead-free solder for some of my hobby work, I still need leaded for repairing old stuff, and I do prefer it for through-hole joints. I didn't see the EU ban on leaded solder for consumer customers coming, so my stock is running low.

Buying directly from AliExpress seems to be one of the few remaining options. Can anyone recommend a brand of leaded solder with good flux which is available there? (Good activation, easy cleaning, not-too-nasty smell while soldering? I had some Stannol solder with halogen-free flux which gave off a terrible vapor; would prefer not to repeat that experience...)

Thanks for your recommendations!

[magic]

I once bought some no-name solder from an auction site and the flux had an absolutely awful smell. Kinda like reflowing solder joints in bottom of the barrel electronics from China, go figure. So I would be careful with AliExpress specials too.

Try brick and mortar stores or even hobby oriented internet stores selling brand name solder. A least here, many of them still haven't got the memo (or pretend so).

[Phaseseeker]

I checked Mouser and they seem to still carry leaded solder (both 60/40 and 63/37) with no apparent restrictions. Also, my local electronics store (I'm in Italy) still has it and the last time I bought some (a couple years ago max) they didn't even say a thing about it being banned; no idea which brand it is (the spool simply says "super solder wire") but I've never had problems with it (it doesn't have that nice rosin smell though)

[tunk]

Not used it myself, but I think it has been mentioned
in other threads that the Mechanic brand is ok.

[paul_g_787]

I buy my solder from CPC in the UK. I only use leaded solder. I never bother with the lead free.

https://cpc.farnell.com/multicore-loctite/x-39-60en-2c-0-7mm-s-500g/solder-wire-x39-22swg-500g/dp/SD02681

[ebastler]

Thank you all!

Local shops -- brick & mortar as well as mail order -- don't seem to be an option any longer. They all seem to have taken leaded sholder off their shelves in the course of the past year or two. 

(Long after RoHS became effective, and frankly I am unsure what regulatory requirement was driving this. RoHS only applies to electrical and electronic equipment. I.e. one can't use leaded solder in the manufacture of such equipment, but one can use it to make non-electrical stuff, repair old equipment, and of course for any hobby work which does not result in products that will be "put on the market". And I can't find any clause in the RoHS directioves that would stop a company from selling leaded solder in Europe.)

Anyway -- you seem to be right that non-EU vendors based e.g. in the US and the UK will still happily ship  to Europe. I am pretty sure that Mouser told me "sorry, can't ship this to Europe" when I tried to order leaded solder early this year -- but today I could get all the way to the "pay now" button without any objection. Same for CPC/Farnell. I have not pulled the trigger yet since I want to combine this with other parts to be ordered, but it seems to work now.

So thanks! I am much more comfortable buying solder from a known brand than some no-name import.

[magic]

It's not RoHS but some other idiocy about toxic substances and whatnot. There have been a few threads about it here.
You can't buy lead alloys of any sort at all. But you still can buy lead ammunition and fishing weights so that's how I source lead when I need it

[jpanhalt]

Amazon has Kester 44 solder in the US: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=kester+44&crid=25ROIXGCIKUXM&sprefix=kester+%2Caps%2C198&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_9_7

I only mention it, because it may have cheaper shipping. 

[NorthernWing]

I'd obviously keep looking for a source for good Kester #44/etc, but if you absolutely have to buy from Asia then I've used Mechanic branded 63/37 solder from LCSC and it's acceptable - the flux core was basically nonexistent in the spool I had and so I used a lot more RMA flux out of a can on those projects, but the solder itself turned out to be decent.

[tooki]

Thank you all!

Local shops -- brick & mortar as well as mail order -- don't seem to be an option any longer. They all seem to have taken leaded sholder off their shelves in the course of the past year or two. 

(Long after RoHS became effective, and frankly I am unsure what regulatory requirement was driving this. RoHS only applies to electrical and electronic equipment. I.e. one can't use leaded solder in the manufacture of such equipment, but one can use it to make non-electrical stuff, repair old equipment, and of course for any hobby work which does not result in products that will be "put on the market". And I can't find any clause in the RoHS directioves that would stop a company from selling leaded solder in Europe.)

You are correct: you couldn’t find a relevant RoHS clause because there is no RoHS clause that applies to components. The reason shops can’t sell you leaded solder is because of the separate REACH regulation: https://blog.assentcompliance.com/index.php/difference-reach-rohs-compliance/

But yeah, you can readily order it from Mouser, Digi-Key, Farnell, etc. And many shops in the EU will sell you leaded solder if you say it’s for commercial use.

With that said, I don’t think modern lead-free solder is hard to work with at all. My favorite one so far has been the Felder ISO-Core "Ultra-Clear", Sn100Ni, which I got from Reichelt. I like it better than the Stannol, and it’s even a bit cheaper. Is it quite as nice as Kester 44 63/37? No. But it’s close. I’d choose the Felder over Stannol 60/40.

The only time you see difficulties with lead-free that you wouldn’t with leaded is when you are working at the absolute thermal limits of your soldering equipment, when your board is sucking away so much heat that you need every little bit. But frankly, the real solution is to choose a larger tip and maybe get a more powerful station.

[tooki]

Amazon has Kester 44 solder in the US: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=kester+44&crid=25ROIXGCIKUXM&sprefix=kester+%2Caps%2C198&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_9_7

I only mention it, because it may have cheaper shipping.

Mouser, Digi-Key and Farnell all offer free shipping to Western Europe on orders above around €50, so it’s easy to just add a roll of solder to an order you’re placing anyway.

[maxwelllls]

T12 solder is highly recommended, it can rise to 350℃ in about 10 seconds with a fast heating speed. You can find many brands, all of which are designed based on HAKKO's solder tip. You can even DIY a set through open source solutions, and the price is very cheap, less than 30 DOLLARS. A good alternative is' MECHANIC T12 Pro 'from AliExpress.

[tooki]

T12 solder is highly recommended, it can rise to 350℃ in about 10 seconds with a fast heating speed. You can find many brands, all of which are designed based on HAKKO's solder tip. You can even DIY a set through open source solutions, and the price is very cheap, less than 30 DOLLARS. A good alternative is' MECHANIC T12 Pro 'from AliExpress.

This discussion is about solder, not soldering stations!

Solder is the metal that you melt when soldering. It’s the material, not the equipment.

[ebastler]

Thank you again to all recent contributors. I will add a roll of leaded solder to my next Mouser order (who knows when importing will be restricted too...), but will also try the Felder ISO-Core "Ultra-Clear" lead-free which tooki recommended. Maybe there is room for improvement over the Broquetas ECO-4 (Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5, bought from TME) which I currently use for lead-free soldering.

By the way, I had looked at the REACH shortly after posting my earlier message, when it occurred to me that this might be the relevant regulation which prohibits sales of leaded solder. But it seemed to me that REACH only restricts lead for use in jewelry, shot, or things children are expected to put into their mouths.

Of course, the REACH registration requirements do apply for all lead products -- maybe the European sellers just couldn't be bothered with those? Not too likely that all major distributors would have reached tha conclusion more or less in sync though; there likely is some regulation which I am overlooking which actually prohibits sales to consumers.

[magic]

There was a thread or two about it since the ban appeared (March 2018 or 2019 IIRC), complete with links to some EUrocrat website with detailed information. Find it and you will know.

edit
https://ila-reach.org/2018/01/new-restrictions-and-labelling-requirements-affect-lead-from-march-1-2018/
That has some detail, hopefully you will be able to trace the relevant regulations from there if you are masochist enough to try.
I CBA to investigate any further, death to EU, death to America, fuck all this socialist bullshit, gimme nuclear war

[ebastler]

Thanks, magic. So they did indeed extend the scope of the earlier REACH directive which I had found, and have explicitly restricted the supply of lead-based products to consumers. It's not about protecting the environment in this case, but protecting us stupid sods from poisoning ourselves. 

(Unless we elect to poison ourselves by licking lead-based ammunition, lead sheets for architecture, or lead-based batteries, which are OK.  )

[xavier60]

There are low working temperature lead free solders for sensitive components.
This is what I have been using for power LEDs.
  https://www.caplinq.com/buy-bi58sn42-eutectic-leadfree-low-temperature-melting-solder-spheres-solder-balls-online-bi58sn42.html

[maxwelllls]

sorry for my poor english,but MECHANIC still is a good choice,It's my favorite brand,You can choose from lead-free wires with a melting point of 210 ℃ or even ultra-low ones with 138 ℃

[paul_g_787]

So thanks! I am much more comfortable buying solder from a known brand than some no-name import.

I always buy my solder from a reputable manufacturer such as CPC / Farnell / Mouser. Whoever I need to do an order with for free shipping usually

Multicore is the brand CPC stock.

I have not really found a difference using different 'brands' as such.

What you want to search for is 60/40 solder (which means 60% tin, 40% lead) with rosin flux core.

I am not a fan of the 'no clean' flux for general soldering applications. It is easy enough to use some IPA alcohol and cotton buds to dissolve the remaining rosin residue afterwards.

[zzattack]

Agreed with Paul, the loctite/multicore 60/40 is affordable, well available, flux is effective but leaves minimal easily cleaned residue, does not smell and exists in a good variety of diameters.

[tooki]

I don’t understand why people recommend 60/40 other than habit: 63/37 is no more expensive these days, and in hand soldering, it is just that little bit better that makes it nicer to work with. 63/37 is true eutectic, 60/40 is near-eutectic, but not quite, meaning it has a brief moment when cooling down during which it’s in a slushy state, subject to disturbance. True eutectic goes straight from liquid to solid with no in between.

[xavier60]

sorry for my poor english,but MECHANIC still is a good choice,It's my favorite brand,You can choose from lead-free wires with a melting point of 210 ℃ or even ultra-low ones with 138 ℃

I just noticed, my 138℃ solder wire here is MECHANIC XW5. Works fine. Care needs to be taken as to where 138℃ solder should be used.

[sleemanj]

For china sourced solder, I prefer "Best" brand myself, or at least I have a few spools of it with good results.  According to the label it has a higher flux content than most at 2.25% which probably helps.

Of course, from china so YMMV from one day to the next.

[lfldp]

Thank you again to all recent contributors. I will add a roll of leaded solder to my next Mouser order (who knows when importing will be restricted too...), but will also try the Felder ISO-Core "Ultra-Clear" lead-free which tooki recommended. Maybe there is room for improvement over the Broquetas ECO-4 (Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5, bought from TME) which I currently use for lead-free soldering.

By the way, I had looked at the REACH shortly after posting my earlier message, when it occurred to me that this might be the relevant regulation which prohibits sales of leaded solder. But it seemed to me that REACH only restricts lead for use in jewelry, shot, or things children are expected to put into their mouths.

Of course, the REACH registration requirements do apply for all lead products -- maybe the European sellers just couldn't be bothered with those? Not too likely that all major distributors would have reached tha conclusion more or less in sync though; there likely is some regulation which I am overlooking which actually prohibits sales to consumers.

hi! if you wants to solder with lead-free solder wire and enjoy similiar effect to leadded solder you may try patented lead-free core wires Sncu+NiGe , ive use STANNOL solder wires lead-free type but with added nikiel+germanium with it you get similiar effect to leadded solder (just dont exceed tip temperature a lot)
this is patented core wire type and there also few other companies who manufacture this kind of solder wire

i attached photos with solder wires which i use and i can highly recommend it , when i soldering with usuall lead-free solder wire sometimes i must add flux to getting desired effect but by soldering with Sncu+NiGe i have no problem at all its 95% nearly like leadded solder !

[lfldp]

and btw. the sciencist still working on to find proper materials for replace leadded alloys to getting desired or similiar soldering effect and i am sure in near future they finally find 100% equal solution to eliminate this poison from soldering products