11
Spent 3 years building amps with lead-free solder before a guy at a local shop set me straight
I was all smug about using lead-free solder thinking I was being eco-friendly, but my joints kept cracking after 6 months of use. Took my latest build into AmpLab in Nashville and the owner laughed, said lead-free is fine for plumbing but not for tubes vibrating at high temp. Switched to Kester 63/37 and my last 3 builds have been rock solid. Anyone else get burned by this?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
margaretf407d ago
Wait did you use the same iron temp for both? I fell for that trap too lol. Used my regular Kester 63/37 settings around 700F with lead-free and it just beaded up like crazy. Had to crank it to 800F to get it to flow but then I cooked some pads. What temp were you running the lead-free at?
8
stone.evan5d ago
Margaret F that was definitely part of the problem. I was using my regular 700F iron with lead-free and wondering why it looked like cold solder joints. Cranked it to 800F like you said and yeah, lifted a few pads on a vintage board. Learned the hard way that lead-free needs way more heat but also way more care. Now I keep a separate iron just for lead-free jobs at 750F with a bigger tip. The cracking issue was the real eye opener though for me.
5