3 ms·

I have some Radio Shack solder that I bought in the mid 1970s. It smells /wonderful/ and takes me back to building kits when I was a teen.

• teddyh 3y ago
  It it’s that old, it probably has lots of lead in it, and you probably shouldn’t use it.
  • velosol 3y ago
    Eh, leaded solder is just fine with some basic precautions (and still indicated for military and space ratings) but the smell is probably a highly reactive core flux (rosin) that will eat away at anything it's used on and needs to be vigorously cleaned off after soldering. It may also be a sensitizing allergen so maybe kabdib shouldn't use it, at least not without an extractor. If you're doing more than the once a year small project you should have fume extraction, occupational (or hobby-based) asthma sucks. As does metal flu (zinc for welding and tin for soldering although I expect that's rarer).