Glad I bought a roll 2 years ago ! I think it about $80.00 a roll now for the good stuff . Kester .031 63/37

Was wrong about the price ! It's $90.00 a roll . See Pinball Life for details .

I use multicore lead free silver solder myself. This stuff smokes when you use it and you don't want to be breathing that lead in.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong... the smoke is not lead

If there's lead in it, I'd imagine there would be lead in the smoke fumes. No?

I'm new to soldering. Just going by what others have suggested to me and what I have researched.

First off the flux smokes, lead doesnt burn or smoke, it is a metal. Don't try and breathe it in, but it is safe. I solder for hours and hours every day. Second off silver solder is terrible idea. These old pinball machines are made with lead solder, you don't want to mix. Silver solder is also more difficult to use. I get annoyed when i have to work on a board someone used silver solder on.

Get solder from Amazon. Kester 44 60/40 and 63/37 are my favorites. Radio shack 60/40 is pretty good as well.

60/40 1 lb spool. $22.50 http://www.amazon.com/Kester-Rosin-Core-Solder-Spool/dp/B00068IJPO/ref=sr_1_1

63/37 1 lb spool. $34 http://www.amazon.com/Kester-Rosin-Core-Solder-Spool/dp/B00068IJX6/ref=sr_1_2

If pinball life sells solder for $90 a spool they should be embarassed as that is a blantant high markup rip off. I know they need to make more money than amazon, but 3x the price of amazon is just BS.

Andrew

It's not the lead that smokes, it's the flux - which you shouldn't breath in on leaded or pb free solder. That of course, hasn't stopped me from accidentally breathing in flux fumes for over 30 years. More important to wash your hands after soldering with leaded solder, it absorbs through the skin.

As for core sizes, I use .020 for fine pitch and .050 for everything else. The smaller the diameter of solder, the more you have to feed the joint when soldering large joints...so I use a larger diameter solder. For tiny joints, larger solder can lead to solder bridges and is harder to work with, so you want a smaller diameter there. If you are not soldering fine pitch, .032 is fine.

I just pick up a roll of rosin core solder at the electronics counter. It's primarily designed for PC work and cost about $15 I think. I've done 2 pins with the roll, recapped a '61 Seeburg jukebox, done some odds and ends and still have a lot left.

Other than rosin core to chemically clean the connection, the most important thing is how you solder. Solder isn't meant to be a bonding agent so loop the wire through the tab's hole when possible to relieve stress off of the joint. Make sure the metal is clean and don't move the wire until the solder has cooled.

This is great info. Thanks!

Hey Andrew, thanks for the suggestions. Which one is the "better" one? That's the one I'll get.

I use the stuff they sell at the shack, it does contain lead and I really prefer the lead solder. If you are worried about lead poisoning, wear PPE.

My father in law is a ham radio guy. He picked me up a 20 year old spool of 1 pound kester 63/37 for 10 bucks at a radio parts swap meet. Deals can still be had

The PBL solder is the infamous Kester No-Clean. It's great , the best IMHO, and they stopped manufacturing it, thus their price. It's the only solder I'll use.

With that said, I do have a very limited amount available from my site...

www.LockWhenLit.com/Products.htm

--
Rob Anthony
Pinball Classics
http://LockWhenLit.com
Quality Board Work - In Home Service
borygard at gmail dot com

Most people prefer the 63/37 but 60/40 is a bit cheaper. I am on the fence. They are both very similar and work well for about any pinball application. The .31" diameter is pretty universal workable. Well fitted for .100" spaced stuff normally found on pinball boards as well as thick enough to do under PF work.

I would have gotten the name brand kester. The thing about getting good kester brand solder, is that you know the flux is going to be high quality. It is all about the flux. Chinese or off brand solder you are gambling if the flux is worth a damn.

Andrew

The flux in kester stuff isnt going to hurt anything if you leave it. It just looks sloppy if you don't clean it up. Never used no this clean flux, but i have to assume any flux is going to leave a residue, whether or not you clean it is cosmetic.

I smell a new show starting on Discovery this summer "Solder Wars"

I use no clean 90% of the time at work and it still leaves a residue. Some of our engineers complain that you still have to clean it on the very high frequency gear, and that it can be conductive after aging. R&D has not been able to provide conclusive proof, but we clean for inspection and cosmetic reasons anyway.

Radio Shack Rosin 60/40 leaded works for me!

This what I do when I want to get the "Led" out..........

Ken

led-zeppelin-i--1181.jpg

What he said.

I'm Mil certified, solder at work not quite daily, but enough to be very proficient.

We only use silver where required. You have to be really good to use it well. Needs more heat.

You can ruin electronics easily by overheating.

Kester is great stuff. 0.31 is easy to use and the amazon price is good for a pound.

Very few folks need more than a pound at a time.

My opinion is to use the lowest wattage/heat you can for your tasks. Nothing is worse than overheating.

Not cleaning after any board work, for me, is not an option, rosin core, no-clean, whatever. The work isn't finished until the area worked on is properly cleaned IMHO. The no-clean Kester is just *much* easier to clean up than the rosin core, and it melts much better for my use.

--
Rob Anthony
Pinball Classics
http://LockWhenLit.com
Quality Board Work - In Home Service
borygard at gmail dot com

Found a roll on ebay for $30 delivered last month.

So true! clean your flux. Naptha works great at easily melting off flux. When i do a fully rebuild with all new IC sockets and header pins, i practically bathe board in naptha. Works great.

Great info.

I didn't start this thread, but I gleaned a lot of info from it and I thank everyone for their input. Most everything here mirrors what others have told me as well. I appreciate everyone's help.

Thanks.

OK Guys -- this is a no-brainer.

First - for maintaining this old stuff, you want tin/lead...no lead free solder.
Best mix to get = 63/37. Most of you will only buy solder once - don't cheap out, save a few pennies and go with 60/40 or some other cheaper mix. With 63/37 you stand a lesser chance of getting cold solder joints.

Best brand = Kester. Again, don't cheap out - go with the good stuff.
Don't do what I did - one time I bought AIM solder (mexican made) and saved a few pennies -- stinkiest crap I ever used! (The smoke from soldering is burning flux -- it does not contain lead... but still do not breath it)

Three main flux types from Kester that concern us:
331 -- water clean. I use this all the time for new boards. This is absolutely NOT for rework as it MUST be washed off or it will eventually etch away at the copper on your board.
44 -- standard flux. When in doubt, use this. Only issue is it leaves a mess behind and should be cleaned with alcohol or flux remover.
245 -- no clean. This is what I use when reworking boards. Leaves very little residue behind and does not need to be cleaned. This is the solder I would recommend to 99% of users posting on this forum.

Size:
0.015 for surface mount. Just like hair and not good for us with 50+ eyesight.
0.031 for most everything we do in repair of thru-hole components.
0.062 for big stuff such as bridge rectifiers.
If buying just one solder - most of us can get by with the 0.031"

Now price --
Solder fluctuates wildly from day to day. Mouser gave up and just keeps the solder priced high so that they're covered regardless as to whether costs are low or high. A bit of searching can turn up big savings.
Don't go with anything over $30 for a pound of solder. If that high - go elsewhere.
For example -- Kester 24-6337-5400 solder as high as $60...or even $90. The only reason it cannot be found anymore is the part number has changed. New part number is 24-6337-8800.
I just purchased several pounds of solder this week. I bought #331 core but paid less than $20 per roll for 0.031 and 0.062 solder.
To get #245 no clean - you want part number 24-6337-8800. $17.40 per pound current price. This is the good stuff

To get #44 standard rosin flux - you want part number 24-6337-0027. $17.50 per pound current price.

Where to get this week -- www.gokimco.com
Prices fluctuate a lot but it always seems that somebody has the stuff on sale.

Ed

Ed = You Da -Man !!!

Actually, any reasonably decent (fairly) inexpensive rosin core solder will work an an EM pinball machine.

Great post GPE. Thanks.

Thanks Ed, I will use your advice when the pound of Kessler I bought 10 years ago is gone.

I've used up a 1/4 pound since getting into pinball 6 months ago with all the header and socket replacements on the system 6 machines. I had .031 by chance and it is working perfectly for me, even on bigger soldering jobs (solenoid lugs, .156 header pins, etc). I never liked the lack of control larger gauge solder provided. Too hard to get the right amount on .100" pads.

Wanted to post an update...

I bought a couple rolls of the 24-6337-8800 per Ed's suggestion.

I had been using Kester 285 for years, and Flux removal has been to a point the bane of my existence. Really, it pisses me off. You can get it clean, but it's a battle, with flux remover, or cleaning an entire board, if possible, once assembled. WPC era stuff has never been much of a problem, as I'm 99% sure everything on WPC era boards are sealed - but when you're working on a sys 7 driver board, for example, the relay isn't sealed, so you can't clean these boards with the relay installed. So, I desolder the relay to get the board good and clean, and then when you solder it back in, there's a sh*tload of flux left behind, which is painful to remove.

Use flux remover, scrub, dry the board, it still leaves a little flux behind. And that flux runs. So, you clean it again, and the next thing you know, you've used half a can of flux remover getting the board perfectly clean.. and that stuff isn't cheap.

But, this stuff Ed recommends, the 24-6337-8800, leaves very minimal residue behind. Seriously, it's like night and day.

And it's not expensive. Why pay $90, when paying $18 will do it? Kimco was a great supplier.

Nice - Ed, thank you! I now have enough solder in my stockpile to cover the needs of my grandchildren & their future offspring..... You know they will outlaw the good stuff soon enough.

I might be nuts, but I'm pretty sure I picked up my "good stuff" at a pinball expo a few years ago for $5 for a 1lb roll.
I bought 2 and I'm just reaching the end of the first one after 5 or so years....

What a font of info on solder! Added to favorites!

(FYI, those wacky Brits pronounce it "soll-der." Weird!)