![]() ![]() Yet (again) batteries account for 80% of the lead used and almost all of it ends up in landfills. 5% of the lead used and only a fraction of that ends up in Landfills. Hundreds of thousands of manufacturing processes have had to be changed (cost?) and numerous products can NO LONGER be manufactured.Īll of this because LEAD in electronics products accounts for. Numerous companies have gone out of business because they can't afford to go Pb free. ![]() It has created insane environmental laws, inspection agencies and beurocracies. This has cost BILLIONS of dollars and has driven the cost of electronics components and products up. ![]() On the other hand the entire electronics industry has been forced to go to Pb free at all levels. Batteries are still 100% legal and there are no restrictions on their lead content. We create policy and laws without considering context, perspective or consequence. I'm not sure aobut solder leaching these products into the ground, but the tertiary production methods certainly have residual Pb that finds it's way into our soil, streams and sometimes food. I track soil leachates in landfills and brownfields sites and Pb is always an expensive problem with environmental ramifications. The point here is that the proper tools and products make the job easier and the end product more reliable. You can use a sledgehammer to drive pieces of coat hanger into your trim molding and get the job done too. Sure you can likely figure out how to solder your LEDs with a Sears solder gun and plumbers solder. Radio Shack solder is sourced from the cheapest import supplier that they can find and is often times complete garbage that is not only hard to solder with, but in some cases can't be used to solder due to bad flux or contaminats. The problem with eh LEAD FREE product is its ease of use (as mentioned above). The LEAD FREE variant is 3 ounce for $8.59 or $2.86 per ounce. So as I said, Silver bearing solder is MUCH more expensive for no added benefit to our projects or ease of use. That is 118% (2.18 TIMES more expensive). So $5.69 per ounce for Silver Bearing vs $2.60 per ounce for standard SnPb. We're talking $6 for one and $8 for the other. the stuff I picked up wasn't that much more expensive than the non silver. There are no appriciable lead fumes released when soldering, though there are other nasties in the fumes so you shouldn't be huffing them on purpose anyway. I will leave it to you to figure out what product puts more lead into landfills (which by the way don't leach lead into the ground or water anyway). 80% of the lead consumed ends up in batteries. In the US (more electronics than anywhere on the planet) only 0.5% of the lead consumed is contained in solder joints. There has been an entire industry built around "lead free" that makes little sense. Lead is not abosorbed through the skin and solder does not break down and leach lead into the air, water or 5th dimension. It is much harder to work with and is no more "green" than anything else. Audiophiles say it has better properties for high end audio gear, if you subscribe to kooky the golden ear theories.Īgain, stay away from lead free solder. "Silver Solder" is usually Tin/Lead/Silver with a ratio of 62/36/2 and is about the same as 63/37 but at a MUCH higher cost that does nothing for workability or the end product. there is actually a lot to get right to create good solder joints So a lengthy (not nearly long enough) answer to a simple question. Overheated pads like to lift or peel off of boards and overheated leads kill parts. Much higher and without practice, you will overheat both the pads and the leads. When hand soldering, setting the iron to between 600 O and 650 O F is a good starting point. If you value your time and sanity, stay away from lead free solder until you have mastered the art. Stay away from fancy "no clean", "water cleanup" and other products. Use a quality solder (Kester '44') with an RMA core (mildly activated rosin core). 60/40 is also fine but has a slightly higher melting point and does not have the special properties that the 63/37 has. The melting temperature of solder depends on the alloy, but falls in the in the 375 O-465 O F area for the alloys we commonly use in hand soldering electronics and specifically around 365 O for solder comprised of 63% tin (Sn) and 37% lead (Pb) commonly refered to as Sn63Pb37 Solder or 63/37 solder (what you should be using as it is very easy to work with due to its special properties as a eutectic alloy.). The tip should also be large enough to efficiently transfer the heat. Flux is important for both ensuring a clean connection but also for helping to transfer the heat. Lower temps mean longer contact and more time for heat to travel up the lead and damage the part. In general (and within reason), a hotter iron allows you to heat the land (pad) and the lead faster. ![]()
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