KreoPensas
Active member
I kept buying Kester 44 because that's what was given to me and I wanted the same stuff. I scrub the work with isopropyl and a denture brush. Anything done on a perfboard or vero gets MG Conformal Coating.
Do you prefer lead or lead-free solder?
- Thread starter jdduffield
- Start date
jdduffield
Active member
For the PCB boards, I used to buy the little tubes of solder at Home Depot but decided to save money and switch to this stuff from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075WTX9W...Identifier=buyagain&psc=1&heartDisabled=false
$11 got me one tube at Home Depot whereas this is $9 for a pack of 6. To my surprise, I really like this solder. It melts very easily because of its size (0.6mm). It is possible that I just don’t know what I’m missing with the Kester as I’m new to pedal building and I’ve never tried it. I will say the 0.6mm means I have to feed more of it into whatever I’m working on, and I find I’m constantly breaking into a new tube. I also noticed that it isn’t great for wiring hardware. So, for example, I use different, thicker solder and a separate iron altogether for wiring the mono jacks. I use the lead free stuff from Home Depot for that. I may broaden my horizons and try some of this other stuff though.
$11 got me one tube at Home Depot whereas this is $9 for a pack of 6. To my surprise, I really like this solder. It melts very easily because of its size (0.6mm). It is possible that I just don’t know what I’m missing with the Kester as I’m new to pedal building and I’ve never tried it. I will say the 0.6mm means I have to feed more of it into whatever I’m working on, and I find I’m constantly breaking into a new tube. I also noticed that it isn’t great for wiring hardware. So, for example, I use different, thicker solder and a separate iron altogether for wiring the mono jacks. I use the lead free stuff from Home Depot for that. I may broaden my horizons and try some of this other stuff though.
Last edited:
Erik S
Well-known member
Not sure whether this is helpful since it’s not Kester, but I just started my third roll of this stuff and I’ve been impressed by it.
No clean, 60-40, 2.2%
I get the tiny diameter stuff (.3mm) which is much more expensive, but it’s what I’m used to. Snakes through the forest of component leads real nice and is perfect for smd.
No clean, 60-40, 2.2%
I get the tiny diameter stuff (.3mm) which is much more expensive, but it’s what I’m used to. Snakes through the forest of component leads real nice and is perfect for smd.
KreoPensas
Active member
owlexifry
Well-known member
fuck.
i can't argue with this. #331 for board & #245 for the rest sounds like the perfect solution.
however, struggling to talk myself into dropping aud$200 on a couple rolls of solder.
how bad is the residue with #44?
keep hearing about how much of nuisance it is.
but then your cleaning method is pretty much exactly what I already do with the cheap stuff i have now (aud$38/200gm)...
kinda just want something that's better than what i'm using now... i'm not a massive volume / pro builder so i really dont need anything particularly awesome.
currently looking at @Nostradoomus 's chipquik suggestion (cos it's available on mouser):
omg.
this looks like the product for me. and it's only aud$66 (vs. ($100 for kester).
how's the whiff of this stuff @Nostradoomus ? any weird smells?
KreoPensas
Active member
I have no reference to say how bad it is, but it comes off easy. Denture brushes are softer than toothbrushes and have the "chisel" tip.
Nostradoomus
Well-known member
well I currently have a detached shop with the door open most of the time, my sense of smell is pretty bad and I smoke while I solder so I don't know lol
