whats the best solder to use

[mattstolte]

Looking to buy some New solder for my tv repair I bought some and the size was too thin. What is a good brand and size or kind

[Andrew F. Ali]

Re: whats the best solder to use

I have tw0 (2) rolls. 1/16" for fine work and 1/8" for normal work and tinning wires. I use 60/40 Sn/Pb (Tin/Lead). Hope this helps.

[stj]

Re: whats the best solder to use

what did you actually buy??

i use .7mm for general use.

[mariushm]

Re: whats the best solder to use

I use 63/37 no-clean, Multicore brand solder, the diameter is 0.56mm (0.022").

Quality solder with good amount of flux is key. Also a separate flux pen or a small bottle of flux helps a lot.

It's best to have one roll with thin diameter for tiny through hole or surface mount soldering (under 0.5mm / 0.022) and one with a larger diameter for bigger soldering jobs (0.7mm / ~0.03" or larger)

63/37 is one of the best leaded solders because it's euctetic, meaning as soon as the temperature goes below an exact level ( 183C +/- a couple of degrees), the solder solidifies instantly.
Regular 60/40 leaded solder is quite popular, well known but stays semi-liquid between a range of temperatures (I think about 10 degrees around 180C) so if your hand is shaky or there's lots of pins to solder you have to be more careful. That semi-liquid state makes it easier to use for beginners but if you did a bunch of soldering you'd do fine with 63/37.

If you want, you can also go with solders that use a tiny bit of silver (Ag) in them, like 62/36/2 which means there's 2% silver. In theory, the silver helps solder bind better with surface mounted components that have silver in their terminations (there used to be a lot of surface mount parts with silver on them, now I think there's fewer)

A good store to buy from is :

* Digikey: http://www.digikey.com/product-searc...solder/1310838

* Newark : http://www.newark.com/solder-wire

* Mouser: http://www2.mouser.com/Tools-Supplie...der/_/N-b11qq/

Buy no-clean or rosin activated solder, stay away from water soluble because it's harder to clean boards from the water soluble flux remains (which can continue to do their job unless they're cleaned properly).

Rosin activated flux can often be left on the boards without issues, or simply cleaned with a bit of isopropyl alcohol. Same for no-clean solder.

Good brands : Multicore, MG Chemicals , Kester , Edsyn, Stannol

[stj]

Re: whats the best solder to use

or you could keep it legal and ditch the lead - just saying.