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I'm trying to fix a non-working DIY made pedal (not made by me I hasten to add!) and have been advised to "re-flow" the solder joints.
Is this simply a case of applying heat to re-melt the existing solder or does it mean "clean off the old solder and re-do it with new stuff"?
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Before you start Beexter, get yourself a bottle of ISPROPA and an old toothbrush and scrub the PCB to remove any grease and grime.
Let the board get bone dry before you start soldering. Modern lead free solder is excellent stuff and produces superb joints that are mechanically much stronger than the old lead tin 60/40...But!
This only applies IF they have use an excellent Pbfree solder! Sadly in the early days there was a lot of shit solder about.
Yes, leadfree CAN be hard to melt but flood the joint with leaded and eventually they mix and will flow. Be quick but "generous" with the lead solder. Don't worry about blobbing across tracks, get some solder wick to clean up with NOT a sucker's gun IMO.
When you are done, go over the board in a very good light with a glass and look for blobs and bridges. BEFORE applying power!
Dave.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Anyone need any leaded solder PM me, I use blowpipe (approx ¼" dia sticks) in Grade K (60Sn/40Pb) in my day job. Not flux cored obviously.
Produces strong and ductile joints on Copper and Stainless Steel. The resulting joints have high tolerance to vibration and stress, with tensile strengths to 31,000 psi on Stainless. Audio industry standard for vehicle and home theater speaker installations. Its 7% Silver content requires a higher temperature range, but yields superior strength and vibration resistance
Some lead-free compositions are close to eutectic, too, but not the cheap stuff.
Edit to add:
Back on topic: I've found that adding small amounts of leaded solder to lead free joints can create a brittle joint - you melt the lead free solder, add a dab of leaded and the joint freezes again quickly, even with the iron still applied. Leaving the iron on to increase the temperature until it melts again, then adding more leaded solder creates a stronger joint which solidifies normally on cooling, but risks having a large, untidy blob solder. Better to keep like with like, IMHO - At least test first.
If there's a change coming, I need to panic buy!
Pedal now works
I doubt very much if the likes of RS or CPC are going to drop lead 60/40 anythime soon. However, it will never get cheaper! Get some in now.
Dave.
Has the USA done the same thing tho'? ie banned Pb solder in plumbing/electronics etc?