Lead-free soldering

[IngoQ]

Too much lead makes you go

Yes, and a classic symptom of lead poisoning is a irational love of old stuff

[sandord]

Too much lead makes you go

Yes, and a classic symptom of lead poisoning is a irational love of old stuff

[exxos]

Yes, and a classic symptom of lead poisoning is a irational love of old stuff

Dang it! So my case must be extreme then.. It shortens your life expectancy so I am told ( when wife finds out)..

[sandord]

I've read in a few places that using leadless solder reduces the tip life by a few times due to the increased working temperature

[exxos]

I've read in a few places that using leadless solder reduces the tip life by a few times due to the increased working temperature

Yeah I read that also..

I think that's one reason I go through a lot of tips, I mostly pushing 400-450c as I am impatient for the solder to melt

[troed]

Yeah that's high. I'm at around 300 for normal work, and only raise the temperature if I'm going to do some stubborn pins connected to big sinks.

[sandord]

Yeah that's high. I'm at around 300 for normal work, and only raise the temperature if I'm going to do some stubborn pins connected to big sinks.

No wonder I completely oxydised by last tip in a few weeks... I've been soldering at 400+ C leadless. At this exact moment I'm trying 330 C and it works just fine. Taking better care of the tip as well, keeping it tinned, cleaning it with copper wool intermittently.

[troed]

No wonder I completely oxydised by last tip in a few weeks... I've been soldering at 400+ C leadless. At this exact moment I'm trying 330 C and it works just fine. Taking better care of the tip as well, keeping it tinned, cleaning it with copper wool intermittently.

Yeah I only use copper wool. No sponge. I have the feeling that rapid cooling cannot be good.

[sandord]

Yeah I only use copper wool. No sponge. I have the feeling that rapid cooling cannot be good.

Rapid temperature changes cause metal fatigue so indeed, it is not good for the tip's lifespan.

[sandord]

I'm still using lead free all the time and I have absolutely no issues with it.

One reason to keep doing so, which I didn't really think of before, is that lead sooner or later ends up in the environment. As most house-hold trash gets burned or dumped, the lead will ultimately melt, dissolve into water and leak into ground water.

I think half of the solder I use, ends up in my trash bin anyway. Think of it, everything that comes out of your solder sucker, copper wool, tip cleaning sponge and simple tapping the iron to shake of excess solder...

The least we could do is collect the lead separately and submit it for chemical processing. But of course, that's too much effort for most people. I know I'd rather use lead free solder instead