What solder do you use?

[eternalpurple]

Just wondering what kind of solder is favored by the people that do a lot of it. Is one brand better than another and what percentage of tin to lead?  I'm talking about tube amp work primarily. Any answers would be appreciated. By the way I am still working on the re-vibe unit I just got side tracked with some old Heath kit VTVM and signal generators which I am using as a learning tool.  Thanks....

[jjasilli]

Radio Shack 60/40 solder.


Have fun with the vintage test equipment.  Definitely download or buy the manuals if you don't already have them -- it's a wealth of info. I use 4 Heathkit IM-18 VTVM's & Mercury vacuum tube audio generator. 

[sluckey]

I prefer Kester 63/37 but will also use Kester 60/40. Both are rosin core and widely available.

[shooter]

+1
the 63/37 costs more, but well worth the flow.  Diameter can be a big deal also, not by mine, it falls close to the same dia. as 24-26GA wire

[eternalpurple]

Thank all of you for your reply's  I shall take each under consideration. I don't know what it is about this old Heath test equipment but I'm hook. Really anything with tubes it seems. One of the first things I found out about the old heath stuff is  12uf 450VDC and 20uf 350VDC capacitors are not cheap. Also fifty year old wax and paper caps are not vintage............... they're junk   I know most of you have been at this a long time and I can't tell you what the learning curve is like when you start this at 62 years old thinking that electricity flows + to - and that ground is where electrons go to die. But I am working it, reading a lot and making slow but steady progress. Next time I check in I'll tell you all about how an idiot drops a thousand dollars at a Sandia auction and ends up with such necessity's as five Variacs sitting in his garage.   

[John]

12uf 450VDC and 20uf 350VDC capacitors are not cheap.

Just remember, you can use 22uf/450 subbed in for both of those. At the time Heathkits were made, caps cost lots of money per farad, so they were never buying anything more than absolutely needed.


I've rebuilt a couple of those VTVMs. Once you get the hang of chasing down the gremlins in them, tube amps are simple. ;)

[jjasilli]

FWIW, you can replace the typical C battery in the VTVM with a regulated 1.5VDC supply tapped-off the heater supply.  (Actually, per the Manual, the device expects to see a new 1.5V battery which is actually about 1.62V, in order to max-out the needle for calibration.) Info is on the web.

[John]

FWIW, you can replace the typical C battery in the VTVM with a regulated 1.5VDC supply tapped-off the heater supply.  (Actually, per the Manual, the device expects to see a new 1.5V battery which is actually about 1.62V, in order to max-out the needle for calibration.) Info is on the web.

I've done that to all mine. Just gotta remember the batteries on my Tripletts.

[92Volts]

I've been learning more about RF stuff, but I worked on a signal generator and radio when I was way over my head. Turns out, if you replace pretty much every component, it'll work, even if you aren't sure which one fixed it 

In a 60s radio I found a bunch of caps that looked like this: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/N8MAAOSw~rpZUQ5W/s-l1600.jpg

I had a hell of a time finding info on them. Apparently they're Polystyrene, and "shouldn't" have a limited lifespan like electrolytics. But they're sensitive to heat and physical damage, and several were open or shorted in my case. So if you see those, replace them... supposedly they have a temperature coefficient that's good for RF stability, but the "wrong" cap is better than a dead one.

The attached picture is a comparison of the original paper-in-oil cap and a modern film cap. Things have shrunk in the past couple decades!

[EL34]

I use the solder listed on this page
https://hoffmanamps.com/MyStore/catalog/ToolsMobile.htm

[jojokeo]

I use the solder listed on this page
https://hoffmanamps.com/MyStore/catalog/ToolsMobile.htm

Translation needed please?

I like and use 60/40. Have had no issues with cold solder joints since changing to it and it seems to withstand the many many cycles of expansion & contraction leading to bad solder joints very well also.

[EL34]

Translation needed please?

I don't know Chinese :)
No translation available


All I know is this solder works just like the .032 60/40 rosin core lead solder stuff I bought at Radio shack for many years
I liked it so much, I decided to stock it and sell it

Lead solder straight from China
None of that fake solder crap for me 

[PRR]

Translation needed please?

"Get in the sea!"

"Jump in with both feet"?

 xiàhǎi :
- to go into prostitution   
- to go to sea
- to leave secure job (iron rice-bowl 鐵飯碗) for something better but more risky
- to go into business

"....renew their commitment to the prosperity juggernaut by xiahai—going overboard for profit, ‘jumping into the sea of commerce’, or ‘going entrepreneurial’.  ....‘a fall in the pit is a leap in your wit’."
"....From 1992 forward, .., xiahai assumed linguistic prominence as the colloquial reference for individual pursuit of profit of the getihu (private household), as many Chinese left the security of state-owned enterprise work to set up private business. Xiahai quickly became, and has endured as, China’s cultural icon of excess unconstrained by law,..." link

Some Chinamen took a chance on the solder business and used contemporary Chinese slang as their trade-name. While we may not know the words, it has Hoffman's implied approval so it is good.

[EL34]

It is good on toast also 

[davidwpack]

It makes terrible buss wire. I accidentally mixed up my buss wire spool with my solder spool. I was very confused when I tried to solder it down with the buss wire. What I thought was the buss wire melted and I spent a few minutes trying to figure out why my soldering iron was so hot. I don't sleep enough.

[sluckey]

It makes terrible buss wire. I accidentally mixed up my buss wire spool with my solder spool.

Haha! I've done that, but the opposite mix-up. I grabbed a spool of buss wire (looks just like my spool of solder) and began trying to make a solder joint. Fingers get hot PDQ!  Don't take long to realize something ain't right!   

[shooter]

Fingers get hot PDQ!

Yup, been there 
I have been cleaning the soldering tip on my pants forever, however, in the Navy the dress uniform pants were polyester     Now-a-days kids razor cut pants all the time, back then the inspectors weren't to keen on that look

[alerich]

Kester "44" 60/40 .050 diameter rosin core. When that runs out I have two 1 pound rolls and one 5 pound roll of 62/38 .070 rosin core which will keep me in solder for the rest of my natural life and well into the afterlife. I prefer the .050 diameter.

[p2pAmps]

Kester 24-6040-0039 is my personal choice, so far so good for me

https://www.amazon.com/Kester-24-6040-0039-Solder-Activated-Diameter/dp/B0032US6QK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530877541&sr=8-1&keywords=Kester+24-6040-0039&dpID=51gGvZTy9CL&preST=_SX342_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

[uki]

This is what I got, does the job !!

http://loja.multcomercial.com.br/estanho-para-solda-189msx10-60x40-diametro-de-1-00mm-best-carretel-azul-de-1-2-kg.html

link fixed

[Sonny ReVerb]

I use Ersin Multicore. I bought several rolls (lifetime supply?) from a surplus place when "lead free" was becoming popular.

It's SN63/PB37 0.032" with the 370 flux (MM00981).

Evidently Multicore was acquired by the Henkel Group and is rebranding the Multicore name with Loctite.

[mschock]

I like MG Chem. 025  63/37 which is very close to the eutectic point of sn/pb alloy.