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Try to get some solder from some local hardware store. The reel of solder has label that has an expiry date.Just wonder why solder has expiry date ?
Alan
Edits: 03/19/15Follow Ups:
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Regards,
Mike.
Yes, I did post below that my old solder works fine, but I have to admit it has lost some of it's flavor.
Local shop had some old (OLD) solter they were offering for cheap.
It looked quite dull (oxidized) so I cut off a small sample, took it home, and tried to solder with it.
No go, and it was not a flux issue either.
When I buy a fresh 1 lb roll I end up giving a bunch to anyone that asked for some, that way I am assured of always having fresh solder for my own use.
Notice some very old solder has the constituent metals starting to migrate i.e. lead separating from tin
This was a silver solder that was badly, badly tarnished.
I assume you stripped all the tarnish away and rendered it shiny, like new before soldering?
Why do I ask?
Because Ric Schultz sold me a roll of some custom-made 4% silver solder about 15, maybe 20 years ago. It worked fine once I stripped away all the tarnish. Same for some old, original Wonder Solder (heavily leaded) that I got from Percy at around the same time, which I still employ occasionally for high voltage AC applications. Same deal, it was very oxidized, so I stripped the outer tarnish and it worked fine. I admit, though, I did not try to use it tarnished.
Thanks!
It was over 40 years old, and cleaning it up was out of the question.
I use a solder pot periodically and have been throwing older and dirtier bits of solder into the pot. Temperature is hot enough to flow solder pretty much on everything. That being said , from your comments and a bit of hindsight, I do notice quite a lot of dross (molten impurities) that I need to skim off the surface with older solder in order to make a good connection.
The pot is small only an inch in diameter, but enough for my purposes. Sometimes the entire surface is covered.
I hadn't thought about a solder pot.
I guess I should have bought it, it was only $40 for a 5 lb spool.
I was trying to figure out how much the tin (about $4 a lb) and silver (can't remember) was worth.
Sounds like a real 'resurrection' process. Not surprised at the result, given that info. Thanks for the response. :-)
Well, I can only hope as a cancer survivor who gets checked every six months, (but now every three months, due to a new 'anomaly' just found) that I will be around to see my old Wonder Solder get as tarnished as that.
That would be very nice, indeed. (You know, just so I can keep hanging around the "Tweaks" Asylum and irritating and baiting the nay-sayers!)
Thanks again.
Cheers,
WS
I'm still using the second of two rolls of Kester 2% silver that I've had since 1998.
No problem with flow or whatever...
Dman
Analog Junkie
I have been using the same Cardas solder for at least 10 years myself, still seems the same.
Typically expiry dates are based around performance warrants - with solder between the 'flux' and the raw metal surface - which can oxidize - there are two critical components that could deteriorate and reduce the performance of the solder.
Happy Listening
I'm not 100% sure, but I believe it is because the rosin core dries up or otherwise breaks down, which means the solder will not flow well. I think you can still use "expired" solder if you add some fresh rosin to the connection point.
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