Original poster: Terry Fritz <vardin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Hi Skip,
There is a massive push to remove lead (and other nasty metals)
from all consumer items. Thus you will see "lead free" all over
when looking for electronic components now. China and Nigeria
finally found out why we were happy to give them all that old
electronics stuff for free. They used to laugh at the lead
contamination risk, but they have definitely stopped laughing
now!! So lead is now on the way OUT big time for mass produced
consumer stuff...
I have used tin/silver/copper and some others lead free hand
soldering wire and they suck compared to using good old tin-lead
for hand soldering. Factories can play with processes and go
though hoops to get it all to work in wave and IR soldering, but I
could never even give my dumb roll of lead free wire solder
away.... I was trying to make one of my little products lead free
about two years ago but had to give that up since the hand
soldering was too hard.
Tin lead solder flows really well and just works really good and
that is why it has taken so long to replace it. Tin-Lead also has
a fairly low melting point compared to the newer types that require
components to withstand far higher soldering temperatures. Lead
free needs to be HOT and you do need a temperature controlled
soldering iron. Of course, the added heat make the usual problems
with no clean or aqueous clean solder fluxes that much worse...
I could go on for a few days telling you all about it, but lead
just works really well compared to the substitutes. Fortunately,
the threat of lead contamination killing us all has finally forced
Japan, EU, and US to change now. The US actually tried to do it
about a decade or so ago but the technical problems then were too
daunting. In a year or so, almost everything you buy electronic
will not contain lead or the RoHS nasties.
I think lead hand solder will be around for awhile though. The
lead free does work though if your really have to use it. For
Tesla coiling, it should not be a big deal at all aside from the
DRSSTCs that will see some part component costs go up for awhile
(or there will be big sales trying to get rid of left over lead
stock ;-)). If the wire solder goes away, hopefully the components
will be able to take the added heat needed for lead free solder. I
like to think that after years of hybrid and general electronic
work that I am a super good solderer, but lead free hand solder is
a real bear to work with... You can just forget trying it with SMT
parts... Hopefully, they can figure out something to make the lead-
free solder wires better, I don't recommend getting any right now
until they figure it out or you will just keep trying to give it
away to get rid of it like I did.
Cheers,
Terry
At 05:52 PM 12/15/2005, you wrote:
We use lead free solder here for plumbing. Why not electronics?
Instead of Tin and Lead, it is Tin and Antimony.
Skip
At 07:21 PM 12/15/2005, you wrote:
-Phil LaBudde
(what do they use to wire things together over there in Europe?
Lead-free solder?)