[Amps] current threads about silver solder and resoldering

[Gene May]

Tnx 4 ur response.  I was/am unaware of this international standard.  And it was a long time ago that I got stung on the solder, so I hope that the problem (or con) won't recur.  I recall that the label said simply "60/40", without matching the composition with these numbers in the larger print.
 
I'm of Scottish extraction, and at least as tight as the jokes say, so I prowl hamfests, etc., and other bargain opportunities as often as I can.  I'm also somewhat cynical and skeptical, maybe overly so.  One of the things I have noticed over the last 10 - 15 years or so is that the amount of items and materials at such events that is pretty obviously counterfeit (or simply fake) seems to have increased significantly and steadily.  This has happened with a large variety of devices, items, and materials.  The printing, spelling, word usage, rhetoric and grammar on the boxes often seem to indicate that the products come from overseas, not from a native English speaker or someone who knows how to get "trade dress" looking right (but not always; some of the fakes are beginning to look pretty good).  Am I paranoid, or have others of you seen this trend?
 
I no longer have the box of the solder I got conned by, having tossed the box long ago, so I don't recall whether the "manufacturer" was faking somebody like Kesler or not.  Fortunately I have another hobby (casting bullets) in which I could use 60Pb/40Sn, where it worked pretty much as expected, in that application.
 
I hope this thread saves at least one reader from getting stuck with 60Pb/40Sn, since it was REALLY a pain to deal with.  A number of hams and homebrewers I have talked with were under the impression that lead melts at a lower temperature than tin, which is incorrect.  Maybe the faker was relying on that to move his product, hoping that that it would seem reasonable or intuitive for the majority of the metal to be lead.
 
OBTW, I am unaware of any movement AT PRESENT to ban all solders with lead in them; it is still OK, even in Europe where they are tighter than the US is AT PRESENT, for individuals to use lead-based solder.  I don't trust this situation to continue, and keep my eyes open for 63Sn/37Pb solder at good prices.  My friends who work with SMD unanimously hate the the non-lead solders.
 
Gene May
WB8WKU 
 

> Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:19:48 +0000
> From: manfred at ludens.cl
> To: amps at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [Amps] current threads about silver solder and resoldering
> 
> Gene,
> 
> > Unfortunately, I have occasionally seen "60/40" solder for
> > sale that, upon reading the SMALLER print, is 60Pb/40Sn. 
> 
> I have never seen that. But of course, it might happen... We should be 
> aware though that anyone selling "60/40" solder that contains 60% lead 
> is a crook, because by long standing international standards the tin 
> content is ALWAYS given first! So a solder with 60% lead and 40% tin 
> MUST be labelled "40/60" and not "60/40".
> 
> That some hams don't know the difference between 40/60 and 60/40 solder 
> is another matter. It happened to me, when I was starting in 
> electronics, at age 12, and bought some 40/60 solder thinking it was the 
> same as 60/40.
> 
> Manfred
> 
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