[Carla Fong[_2_]]

I'm late getting on the lead-free solder bus (I have a new product
coming out that needs to jump through all the environmental hoops as a
PR strategy) and now have a question.

While building the prototypes with lead-free solder (it's some sort of
'no-clean tin - silver mix') it seems that after making the connection
the solder goes through a 'fast freeze' and ends up looking like what
used to be called a 'cold joint'.

I've tried varying the soldering iron temperature, the duration of the
heating and other things and the end result is still 'cold' looking joints.

Am I doing something wrong or is this what lead-free solder joints look
like?

Thanks in advance,

Carla

"Normality is a paved road: Its comfortable to walk, but no flowers
grow on it." ~Vincent van Gogh

[Scott Dorsey]

Carla Fong wrote:
While building the prototypes with lead-free solder (it's some sort of
'no-clean tin - silver mix') it seems that after making the connection
the solder goes through a 'fast freeze' and ends up looking like what
used to be called a 'cold joint'.

Yes. This is what they look like. It is not possible without X-ray inspection
to tell if the joint is any good or not. You will also find that because the
joint is so brittle that additional relief is needed around throughs and vias,
and a lot of things you used to be able to get away with cause premature
failure.

I've tried varying the soldering iron temperature, the duration of the
heating and other things and the end result is still 'cold' looking joints.

They all look that way whether they are good or bad. You won't actually
know if they are bad until they start coming back, unless you are willing
to invest big money in inspection systems.

Am I doing something wrong or is this what lead-free solder joints look
like?

Lead-free solder is the absolute worst thing to happen to the electronics
industry in my lifetime. It is resulting in far higher failure rates,
and therefore _more_ waste in landfills rather than less. I strongly
recommend that if you cannot get an exemption, and if you're doing
professional audio gear you can probably get an exemption, that you
contract manufacture out to a place that does lead-free stuffing
exclusively. Don't trust any Chinese factory that does both, there are
always cross-contamination issues.

It is absolutely nothing short of pure evil.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Trevor]

On 3/06/2015 12:16 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Lead-free solder is ......absolutely nothing short of pure evil.

Agreed. And causes more environmental concerns than it solves.
And strangely we now have millions of CFL's containing mercury going
into land fills each year without a murmur. :-(

Trevor.

[JackA]

On Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 3:56:19 AM UTC-4, Trevor wrote:
On 3/06/2015 12:16 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Lead-free solder is ......absolutely nothing short of pure evil.

Agreed. And causes more environmental concerns than it solves.
And strangely we now have millions of CFL's containing mercury going
into land fills each year without a murmur. :-(

Well, thank Ford for that!!! :-)
Dad used to bring me mercury (used in limit switches) in a pill bottle and I'd play with it as a kid. Discovered others also played with mercury. We didn't turn abnormal, I think!! :-)


Jack


Trevor.

[Roy W. Rising[_2_]]

JackA wrote:
On Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 3:56:19 AM UTC-4, Trevor wrote:
On 3/06/2015 12:16 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Lead-free solder is ......absolutely nothing short of pure evil.

Agreed. And causes more environmental concerns than it solves.
And strangely we now have millions of CFL's containing mercury going
into land fills each year without a murmur. :-(

Well, thank Ford for that!!! :-)
Dad used to bring me mercury (used in limit switches) in a pill bottle
and I'd play with it as a kid. Discovered others also played with
mercury. We didn't turn abnormal, I think!! :-)

Jack


Trevor.

I still have several ounces of mercury that my Dad acquired somewhere at
Lockheed Aircraft during WWII. I used to rub it onto copper pennies to
make them look like the '43 zinc-coated steel ones. I guess the process
introduced enough of it through my pores to make me the useless idiot I am
today. ;-)

--
~ Roy
"If you notice the sound, it's wrong!"

[JackA]

On Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 11:41:20 AM UTC-4, Roy W. Rising wrote:
JackA wrote:
On Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 3:56:19 AM UTC-4, Trevor wrote:
On 3/06/2015 12:16 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Lead-free solder is ......absolutely nothing short of pure evil.

Agreed. And causes more environmental concerns than it solves.
And strangely we now have millions of CFL's containing mercury going
into land fills each year without a murmur. :-(

Well, thank Ford for that!!! :-)
Dad used to bring me mercury (used in limit switches) in a pill bottle
and I'd play with it as a kid. Discovered others also played with
mercury. We didn't turn abnormal, I think!! :-)

Jack


Trevor.

I still have several ounces of mercury that my Dad acquired somewhere at
Lockheed Aircraft during WWII. I used to rub it onto copper pennies to
make them look like the '43 zinc-coated steel ones. I guess the process
introduced enough of it through my pores to make me the useless idiot I am
today. ;-)

Darn, I don't think I ever tried the penny trick!! Neat!
I just liked dropping it on tiled floor and watched how to universe was created, you know, the Big Bang, tiny planets were created, even one named Mercury!!

They claim it's bad for your health, so they did the next best thing and used it in dental fillings!!

Jack
p.s. Thanks for "Lockheed" name, trying to remember it the other day!



--
~ Roy
"If you notice the sound, it's wrong!"

[mcp6453[_2_]]

On 6/3/2015 11:41 AM, Roy W. Rising wrote:
JackA wrote:
On Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 3:56:19 AM UTC-4, Trevor wrote:
On 3/06/2015 12:16 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Lead-free solder is ......absolutely nothing short of pure evil.

Agreed. And causes more environmental concerns than it solves.
And strangely we now have millions of CFL's containing mercury going
into land fills each year without a murmur. :-(

Well, thank Ford for that!!! :-)
Dad used to bring me mercury (used in limit switches) in a pill bottle
and I'd play with it as a kid. Discovered others also played with
mercury. We didn't turn abnormal, I think!! :-)

Jack


Trevor.

I still have several ounces of mercury that my Dad acquired somewhere at
Lockheed Aircraft during WWII. I used to rub it onto copper pennies to
make them look like the '43 zinc-coated steel ones. I guess the process
introduced enough of it through my pores to make me the useless idiot I am
today. ;-)


If your brain is an example of what mercury can do to one, I need to get some mercury.

[Gray_Wolf[_2_]]

On 03 Jun 2015 15:41:18 GMT, Roy W. Rising
wrote:


I still have several ounces of mercury that my Dad acquired somewhere at
Lockheed Aircraft during WWII. I used to rub it onto copper pennies to
make them look like the '43 zinc-coated steel ones. I guess the process
introduced enough of it through my pores to make me the useless idiot I am
today. ;-)

My dad had a pint jar that was half full of mercury. I played with it,
'silvered' quarters with it and shared it with a couple of friends.
Boy was I surprised when I spilled some on the dining room hard wood
floor. I think I managed to get most of it up. I was probably about 9
years old. On a couple of occasions I got the dentist to give me the
left over silver amalgam from filling my teeth. I wonder if any of us
old electronic techs have suffered any confirmed effects of lead
poisoning?

[Neil[_9_]]

On 6/3/2015 3:56 AM, Trevor wrote:
On 3/06/2015 12:16 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Lead-free solder is ......absolutely nothing short of pure evil.

Agreed. And causes more environmental concerns than it solves.
And strangely we now have millions of CFL's containing mercury going
into land fills each year without a murmur. :-(

That we have land fills is an issue in itself that gets no air-time.
Then, there are those islands of trash in the oceans that were large
enough that the U.N. gave them country status...

I think humans are the most bizarre species on this planet.
--
best regards,

Neil

[Scott Dorsey]

Neil wrote:

I think humans are the most bizarre species on this planet.

What first clued you in to this? Was it the dub reggae, or Liberace?
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Les Cargill[_4_]]

Neil wrote:
On 6/3/2015 3:56 AM, Trevor wrote:
On 3/06/2015 12:16 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Lead-free solder is ......absolutely nothing short of pure evil.

Agreed. And causes more environmental concerns than it solves.
And strangely we now have millions of CFL's containing mercury going
into land fills each year without a murmur. :-(

That we have land fills is an issue in itself that gets no air-time.
Then, there are those islands of trash in the oceans that were large
enough that the U.N. gave them country status...


I could not find this video quickly without going through Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/DavidAvocad...2/?pnref=story

No clue how the cost/energy/time equation works out for this. My Korean
friends tell me it's probably running on the equivalent of a
15 amp US service

Chances are excellent it'd cost more to assemble all the trash than to
run the machine. All that metal from scrap iron drives in WWII? Wasn't
exactly a feedstock for new steel - it ended up piled up
some where.

I think humans are the most bizarre species on this planet.

Very little doubt you are wrong. I find that much of the strangeness
we have in common with higher parrots.

--
Les Cargill

[JackA]

On Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 9:10:10 PM UTC-4, Carla Fong wrote:
I'm late getting on the lead-free solder bus (I have a new product
coming out that needs to jump through all the environmental hoops as a
PR strategy) and now have a question.

While building the prototypes with lead-free solder (it's some sort of
'no-clean tin - silver mix') it seems that after making the connection
the solder goes through a 'fast freeze' and ends up looking like what
used to be called a 'cold joint'.

I've tried varying the soldering iron temperature, the duration of the
heating and other things and the end result is still 'cold' looking joints.

Am I doing something wrong or is this what lead-free solder joints look
like?

Thanks in advance,

Carla

"Normality is a paved road: It's comfortable to walk, but no flowers
grow on it." ~Vincent van Gogh

Can't say the limited lead-free joints I made looked "cold", but not quite as bright as with lead. You can still purchase 60-40 soft solder.

Maybe this will help...
http://www.kester.com/kester-content...l_.4.19.06.pdf

Jack

[Carla Fong[_2_]]

On 6/3/2015 5:56 AM, JackA wrote:
On Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 9:10:10 PM UTC-4, Carla Fong wrote:
I'm late getting on the lead-free solder bus (I have a new product
coming out that needs to jump through all the environmental hoops as a
PR strategy) and now have a question.

While building the prototypes with lead-free solder (it's some sort of
'no-clean tin - silver mix') it seems that after making the connection
the solder goes through a 'fast freeze' and ends up looking like what
used to be called a 'cold joint'.

I've tried varying the soldering iron temperature, the duration of the
heating and other things and the end result is still 'cold' looking joints.

Am I doing something wrong or is this what lead-free solder joints look
like?

Thanks in advance,

Carla

"Normality is a paved road: It's comfortable to walk, but no flowers
grow on it." ~Vincent van Gogh

Can't say the limited lead-free joints I made looked "cold", but not quite as bright as with lead. You can still purchase 60-40 soft solder.

Maybe this will help...
http://www.kester.com/kester-content...l_.4.19.06.pdf

Jack

Yes, thanks - that was a very informative article.

Carla

"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better,
do better." Maya Angelou

[JackA]

On Friday, June 5, 2015 at 9:57:49 AM UTC-4, Carla Fong wrote:
On 6/3/2015 5:56 AM, JackA wrote:
On Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 9:10:10 PM UTC-4, Carla Fong wrote:
I'm late getting on the lead-free solder bus (I have a new product
coming out that needs to jump through all the environmental hoops as a
PR strategy) and now have a question.

While building the prototypes with lead-free solder (it's some sort of
'no-clean tin - silver mix') it seems that after making the connection
the solder goes through a 'fast freeze' and ends up looking like what
used to be called a 'cold joint'.

I've tried varying the soldering iron temperature, the duration of the
heating and other things and the end result is still 'cold' looking joints.

Am I doing something wrong or is this what lead-free solder joints look
like?

Thanks in advance,

Carla

"Normality is a paved road: It's comfortable to walk, but no flowers
grow on it." ~Vincent van Gogh

Can't say the limited lead-free joints I made looked "cold", but not quite as bright as with lead. You can still purchase 60-40 soft solder.

Maybe this will help...
http://www.kester.com/kester-content...l_.4.19.06.pdf

Jack

Yes, thanks - that was a very informative article.

Yes, even I learned something from it! :-)

Jack


Carla

"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better,
do better." Maya Angelou

[[email protected]]

I've tried varying the soldering iron temperature, the duration of the
heating and other things and the end result is still 'cold' looking joints.

Am I doing something wrong or is this what lead-free solder joints look
like?


a better place to ask your question is

sci.electronics.design

Mark