60/40 vs. 63/37 Solder
in [Basics]
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From: Smitty Two on 18 Jul 2010 03:29 In article <i1td8b$gv3$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, "William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer(a)comcast.net> wrote: > I wasn't mislead. Given the differenc in price, it was obvious it wasn't > Kester. But it was, grasshopper. You paid too much, because you bought it from a hobby supplier.
From: William Sommerwerck on 18 Jul 2010 07:48 > AH-SO! At last we're communicating. Yep, usenet is tough that way > sometimes. Here's the missing piece: The solder I buy IS KESTER. The > EXACT same stuff that you buy. Only two differences: The disparity in > formulations is less, and the price is roughly half. Fascinating. Perhaps someone, somewhere will have an explanation.
From: William Sommerwerck on 18 Jul 2010 07:50 >> I wasn't mislead. Given the differenc in price, it was obvious >> it wasn't Kester. > But it was, grasshopper. You paid too much, because you > bought it from a hobby supplier. Actually, I bought the solder at least 20 years ago, and I believe it came from an electronics-supply store, not a "hobby supplier". I also paid less than $10.
From: Phil Hobbs on 18 Jul 2010 14:17 William Sommerwerck wrote: >>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder> >>> This got my attention: >>> Some alloys, namely of lead and to some degree tin, contain small >>> but significant amounts of radioisotope impurities. The >>> radioisotopes undergoing alpha decay are a concern due to their >>> tendency to cause soft errors. Polonium-210 is especially >>> problematic; lead-210 beta decays to bismuth-210 which then beta >>> decays to polonium-210, an intense emitter of alpha particles. >>> Uranium-238 and thorium-232 are other significant contaminants of >>> lead containing alloys. >>> Oh swell.... something else to worry about. > >> sounds like bullshit, alpha particles aren't energetic enough to get >> even 1/10 of the way through the encapsulation on a RAM chip. > > Correct. The original writer was probably confused by the fact that the > materials ceramic ICs are made of can contain radioactive materials that can > cause errors. > > No, the alphas from lead are a real problem. Ten years ago, there were folks going round to churches with lead roofs, offering them a new lead roof in exchange for their old--and now low-alpha--lead ones. Same with steel from old battleships. Cheers Phil Hobbs -- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal ElectroOptical Innovations 55 Orchard Rd Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 845-480-2058 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net
From: William Sommerwerck on 18 Jul 2010 14:44
>> Correct. The original writer was probably confused by the >> fact that the materials ceramic ICs are made of can contain >> radioactive materials that can cause errors. > No, the alphas from lead are a real problem. Ten years ago, there were > folks going round to churches with lead roofs, offering them a new lead > roof in exchange for their old--and now low-alpha--lead ones. But where is the lead /within/ ICs? (The wires are bonded, not soldered.) Alpha particles have poor penetrating power. |