3 ms·

Don't really care. Leaded solder is much easier to work with.

dade_ 7y ago
Wash your hands and lead is fine for hobbyists and far more people enjoyable to work with. The problem that ROHS solves is landfills full of manufactured goods not full of lead.
- postalrat 7y ago
  That's what I always figured. I do so little soldering that I doubt it wouldn't make any difference for my health. And lead based solder saves a lot of time and frustration.
atoav 7y ago
Depends on the iron. If you have a powerful one with temperature sensing in the tip (instead of the heating element), the lead free is not worse, just different. If you have a beaten down cheap soldering iron, leaded is still much easier to work with.
- serf 7y ago
  >Depends on the iron. tin-lead eutetic is light years ahead of any ROHS stuff i've used with regards to flow performance, regardless of my iron -- a cheap 12v automotive unit or my hundreds of dollars hakko. I've always used ROHS stuff no problem for bigger less sensitive things. Whenever anything gets near SMD level the hakko and the tin-lead eutetic kester solder come out. It makes the work so much easier for me; not because of the tips on the hakko either, but because eutetic tin-lead flows where you want and locks when you want. I've yet to find a good ROHS solder that works with me for smd stuff without a LOT of brute force and pcb over-heating. 8 times out of 10 if I don't have lead-tin solder when attempting SMD work, i'll just say 'screw it' and use solder paste and a reflow gun or oven. ROHS solder paste acts fine, but reflow soldering sucks when you can normally just zip components on easily with an iron.
  - atoav 7y ago
    I am quite happy with Felder Iso-Core "Clear" for SMD work, but admittedly I also had a lot of bad lead free solder. I think the differences in lead-free solders are bigger than in leaded stuff. Trying to stay open and experimenting with new things once in a while makes sense there. Also: lead free in my experience needs a little more heat and is more sensitive to temperature dips from the tip when soldering. So if you have a cheap and weak iron or a good one with the temperature sensing in the heating element (and not in the tip), your lead-free experience might be worse than it should have to be. Lead-free also needs better cleaning – but that is something one should usually do painstakingly anyways.
deleted 7y ago
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Wash your hands and lead is fine for hobbyists and far more people enjoyable to work with. The problem that ROHS solves is landfills full of manufactured goods not full of lead.

postalrat 7y ago
That's what I always figured. I do so little soldering that I doubt it wouldn't make any difference for my health. And lead based solder saves a lot of time and frustration.

atoav 7y ago

Depends on the iron. If you have a powerful one with temperature sensing in the tip (instead of the heating element), the lead free is not worse, just different. If you have a beaten down cheap soldering iron, leaded is still much easier to work with.

serf 7y ago
>Depends on the iron. tin-lead eutetic is light years ahead of any ROHS stuff i've used with regards to flow performance, regardless of my iron -- a cheap 12v automotive unit or my hundreds of dollars hakko. I've always used ROHS stuff no problem for bigger less sensitive things. Whenever anything gets near SMD level the hakko and the tin-lead eutetic kester solder come out. It makes the work so much easier for me; not because of the tips on the hakko either, but because eutetic tin-lead flows where you want and locks when you want. I've yet to find a good ROHS solder that works with me for smd stuff without a LOT of brute force and pcb over-heating. 8 times out of 10 if I don't have lead-tin solder when attempting SMD work, i'll just say 'screw it' and use solder paste and a reflow gun or oven. ROHS solder paste acts fine, but reflow soldering sucks when you can normally just zip components on easily with an iron.
- atoav 7y ago
  I am quite happy with Felder Iso-Core "Clear" for SMD work, but admittedly I also had a lot of bad lead free solder. I think the differences in lead-free solders are bigger than in leaded stuff. Trying to stay open and experimenting with new things once in a while makes sense there. Also: lead free in my experience needs a little more heat and is more sensitive to temperature dips from the tip when soldering. So if you have a cheap and weak iron or a good one with the temperature sensing in the heating element (and not in the tip), your lead-free experience might be worse than it should have to be. Lead-free also needs better cleaning – but that is something one should usually do painstakingly anyways.

deleted 7y ago

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