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From: William Sommerwerck on 4 Jul 2010 09:19
> I have a roll of solder that's maybe 25 years old.
> The rosin doesn't evaporate.

I bought a big roll of Ersin 63/37 solder circa 1980, and it's still fine. I
assume the flux /will/ eventually "go bad", but that's likely to be long
after I'm dead.

PS: The spell checkers wants to change "Ersin" to "Resin". Fascinating.


From: Smitty Two on 4 Jul 2010 10:28
In article
<none-0307101819110001(a)dialup-4.231.175.251.dial1.losangeles1.level3.net
>,
none(a)given.now (Joe) wrote:

> A couple of days ago I did a small repair to an electronic timer. It just
> need a bit of solder to reconnect a wire.
>
> I had a devil of a time with that small repair, the solder just didn't
> want to flow over the wire and onto the pad on the PCB.
>
> A little while later, it occurred to me that maybe the problem was that I
> had used some old solder - about a foot or so are remaining on probably a
> 5 or 10 foot spool.
>
> The big Aha! came when I realized that all during that soldering attempt,
> there was absolutely no odor of rosin flux.
>
> Questions:
>
> Are there any obvious ways to tell if old solder has lost its flux, other
> than trying it out on say, soldering some scrap wire?
>
> What happened to the rosin core of that solder? It doesn't look like the
> end was left open.
>
> Is there a definite life for unused solder?
>
> --- Joe

I'm the militant s.e.r. liquid flux advocate. If you're going to solder
at all, especially to make repairs, you *need* liquid flux, period. One
of these days I'll make a video for youtube demonstrating how flux
facilitates soldering. I don't care if you think you've been soldering
fine without it for 50 years, if you don't use it, you have no idea what
you're missing.
From: Tom Biasi on 4 Jul 2010 11:44

"Smitty Two" <prestwhich(a)earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:prestwhich-137180.07284004072010(a)mx01.eternal-september.org...
> In article
> <none-0307101819110001(a)dialup-4.231.175.251.dial1.losangeles1.level3.net
>>,
> none(a)given.now (Joe) wrote:
>
>> A couple of days ago I did a small repair to an electronic timer. It
>> just
>> need a bit of solder to reconnect a wire.
>>
>> I had a devil of a time with that small repair, the solder just didn't
>> want to flow over the wire and onto the pad on the PCB.
>>
>> A little while later, it occurred to me that maybe the problem was that I
>> had used some old solder - about a foot or so are remaining on probably a
>> 5 or 10 foot spool.
>>
>> The big Aha! came when I realized that all during that soldering attempt,
>> there was absolutely no odor of rosin flux.
>>
>> Questions:
>>
>> Are there any obvious ways to tell if old solder has lost its flux, other
>> than trying it out on say, soldering some scrap wire?
>>
>> What happened to the rosin core of that solder? It doesn't look like the
>> end was left open.
>>
>> Is there a definite life for unused solder?
>>
>> --- Joe
>
> I'm the militant s.e.r. liquid flux advocate. If you're going to solder
> at all, especially to make repairs, you *need* liquid flux, period. One
> of these days I'll make a video for youtube demonstrating how flux
> facilitates soldering. I don't care if you think you've been soldering
> fine without it for 50 years, if you don't use it, you have no idea what
> you're missing.
I don't agree. The flux contained in the solder is adequate for fairly clean
joints. If the joints are not clean and a little brush cleaning is not
possible then the liquid will be a help.
I use the liquid on old radio (1920- ) equipment because the copper is
usually in bad shape. On most modern jobs it will not be necessary to use
liquid in hand soldering.

Tom


From: IanM on 4 Jul 2010 12:26
Tom Biasi wrote:
> "Smitty Two" <prestwhich(a)earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:prestwhich-137180.07284004072010(a)mx01.eternal-september.org...
>> In article
>> <none-0307101819110001(a)dialup-4.231.175.251.dial1.losangeles1.level3.net
>>> ,
>> none(a)given.now (Joe) wrote:
>>
>>> A couple of days ago I did a small repair to an electronic timer. It
>>> just
>>> need a bit of solder to reconnect a wire.
>>>
>>> I had a devil of a time with that small repair, the solder just didn't
>>> want to flow over the wire and onto the pad on the PCB.
>>>
>>> A little while later, it occurred to me that maybe the problem was that I
>>> had used some old solder - about a foot or so are remaining on probably a
>>> 5 or 10 foot spool.
>>>
>>> The big Aha! came when I realized that all during that soldering attempt,
>>> there was absolutely no odor of rosin flux.
>>>
>>> Questions:
>>>
>>> Are there any obvious ways to tell if old solder has lost its flux, other
>>> than trying it out on say, soldering some scrap wire?
>>>
>>> What happened to the rosin core of that solder? It doesn't look like the
>>> end was left open.
>>>
>>> Is there a definite life for unused solder?
>>>
>>> --- Joe
>> I'm the militant s.e.r. liquid flux advocate. If you're going to solder
>> at all, especially to make repairs, you *need* liquid flux, period. One
>> of these days I'll make a video for youtube demonstrating how flux
>> facilitates soldering. I don't care if you think you've been soldering
>> fine without it for 50 years, if you don't use it, you have no idea what
>> you're missing.
> I don't agree. The flux contained in the solder is adequate for fairly clean
> joints. If the joints are not clean and a little brush cleaning is not
> possible then the liquid will be a help.
> I use the liquid on old radio (1920- ) equipment because the copper is
> usually in bad shape. On most modern jobs it will not be necessary to use
> liquid in hand soldering.
>
> Tom
>
>
Agreed. If the copper (or plating) is in bad shape, you need extra
flux, otherwise it's just extra mess. I use powdered rosin dissolved in
methylated spirits (or 95% alcahol or isopropanol) to make a
saturated solution and a toothpick or small brush to apply it. Although
there is no extra 'active' chemicals in it, just rosin does a good job
on joints that aren't badly contaminated.

It also is good for 'holding' a freshly cleaned copper board for a few
weeks while you are soldering up a project. If used sparingly on
individual joints then cleanup is little worse than with fluxcore
solder, though if you paint it on liberally, you will need to wash the
board THOROUGHLY, ideally IPA then hot water then mist with IPA, drain
and dry thoroughly.

I suspect the flux ran out while the solder was being extruded as Mr
M.Terrell pointed out up thread.

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & >32K emails --> NUL:
From: whit3rd on 4 Jul 2010 14:09
On Jul 4, 7:28 am, Smitty Two <prestwh...(a)earthlink.net> wrote:
> In article
> <none-0307101819110...(a)dialup-4.231.175.251.dial1.losangeles1.level3.net
>
>
>
> >,
>  n...(a)given.now (Joe) wrote:

> > The big Aha! came when I realized that all during that soldering attempt,
> > there was absolutely no odor of rosin flux.

> > Is there a definite life for unused solder?

No, but there IS faulty and inconsistent solder product in
the market... major brands (Kester, Multicore) are fine.

> I'm the militant s.e.r. liquid flux advocate. If you're going to solder
> at all, especially to make repairs, you *need* liquid flux, period.

I'll second that. A 2 oz. bottle of liquid flux, with an artist's
small
brush, always sits between my soldering iron and the magnifier
(so I can see bad joints, hit 'em with the flux, and reheat).

Rosin flux does develop clumps (probably just the alcohol
evaporating); the water-soluble type is just as good in its
own way (but you HAVE to rinse clean afterward).
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