What Solder wire do you use?

[T3rry]

Alright so i have been soldering for a couple years now and am improving my skills to the point were I'd say I am pretty damn good, I smush together 2 escs, I solder servo leads on the boards of esc's and BEC's... until now i have just grabbed solder from garage sales or radio shack or crap where i really didn't know what i was buying, as long as it was flux core, i was happy...

i just ran out of solder so i wanted to post up on here to get the opinion of the pros... what's a good, but still affordable solder and where can i buy it? i heard solder with higher silver content is better, higher melting point and all that fun. I have a weller station that maxes out at 850w, i paid somewhere around $150, so it's a decent station.. i don't worry too much about having it not be able to melt stuff, it gets crazy hot very fast.

so anybody have links and/or opinions on this subject?

[AreCee]

Kester solder or Radio Shack 63/37.

The silver stuff will give you headaches and broken joints.

[TEDROCKZ]

Kester "44" or Phillips EEG. Both are 60/40 and .031 diameter.

The rat shack stuff is ok if you can't source the above. The stuff Deans sells works great too.

[Super Fabrication]

rosin core 60/40 from radioshack. The lead in it is very nice for whicking onto wires and boards PLus it melts easy.

[cherokee95]

Kester 63/37. I liked Deans but it's been unavailable forever.

[hoghead5150]

novak solder is pretty good. usually any decent 60/40 solder will work for our needs. it's usually better to get a thin diameter solder than that thick crap tho.

[Manning]

If you can find some 63/37 or "eutectic" get that. It melts about 10 degrees lower, and a little nicer. 60/40 is fine though.

[bob1961]

good ol plain 60/40 rosin core from da shack as thin as you can get it .......bob

....

[indiana mudcat]

Another fan of the small Kester.

[Mirage]

Originally Posted by hoghead5150

novak solder is pretty good. usually any decent 60/40 solder will work for our needs. it's usually better to get a thin diameter solder than that thick crap tho.

Novak is what i use for all of my electronics for R/C, esc/battery connects, motor wires etc. I do use lower grade cheaper radioshack solder though for wiring up LED's etc. but anything that'll be pulling a good current through it I use Novak or Deans solder.

[AreCee]

Originally Posted by Mirage

Novak is what i use for all of my electronics for R/C, esc/battery connects, motor wires etc. I do use lower grade cheaper radioshack solder though for wiring up LED's etc. but anything that'll be pulling a good current through it I use Novak or Deans solder.

I can guarantee you that Novak, Deans and Radio Shack all source out their solder purchase and for all we know it could be the same source and quality.

I do know that Kester is a producer and may even supply the others.

[brandonwalsh420]

kester .031 sn60pb40 #66/44 rosin core... been using it for small pcb work for years now... also works great for thick stuff like battery and motor wires... i used it to make a power supply for my charger (10 gauge wire)... i been working off a spool i bought back in 08 and still have lots to use, i think it was only like 25 bucks at that time...

[EddieO]

I use Radioshack solder, always have....I would imagine I solder more than the average guy.

Later EddieO

[chicklet]

Originally Posted by EddieO

I would imagine I solder more than the average guy.

Later EddieO

Yep...I'm sure you go through ALOT of it!

I have this old 1lb spool of Kester 44, .031, #66/44.

When I say old...

I bet I have the oldest spool of solder, dated 10/31/97

It works just fine.

[indiana mudcat]

Originally Posted by chicklet

Yep...I'm sure you go through ALOT of it!

I have this old 1lb spool of Kester 44, .031, #66/44.

When I say old...

I bet I have the oldest spool of solder, dated 10/31/97

It works just fine.

I was givin two 1lb spools in 95 I'm still using on, I'll have to grab one and see if I can still read the date.

[chicklet]

Originally Posted by indiana mudcat

I was givin two 1lb spools in 95 I'm still using on, I'll have to grab one and see if I can still read the date.

Ha! You got me beat by 2 years! Anyone else using an old spool of solder?

[Manning]

got 2 rolls of Kester "44", one is 15nov93, the other is 13aug97. It was out of date when I got it, ha.

[chicklet]

Wow 1993....thats some old stuff!

[Hittman]

Novak solder works fine for me

[T3rry]

thanks everybody, i guess the stuff i was using was good then, it was kester, not sure the age, but it's freakin old, my parents inherited it with some other tools from my grandpa, i bet it's from the 70's or something hahaha

here's some pics of the spool