Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.153.29] on Thursday, October 16, 2014 at 12:47:57 :
In Reply to: Lead free solder sticker shock OUCH! posted by John in Utah [166.70.201.2] on Thursday, October 16, 2014 at 11:16:38 :
Yep, the lead-free stuff is almost pure tin, which is expensive. It's also prone to cracking. For a good repair, you really want 50/50 solder, which is what the radiator shops still use. I sold most of my 1-lb rolls of 50/50 solder a couple years ago, but I still have a bunch of little 1.5 oz coils, which should be enough to solder up your various hose bibb, radiators, etc for a few years. If you can cover the postage, say $2, I'll gladly send you one.
Lead-free solder is a big problem in electronics as well. In that application, the tin grows "whiskers" (fine crystals) that sometimes reach across and short the fine-pitch traces together on the circuit boards. Lead-free is fine for copper water pipes because the way the fittings slide into each other, the solder doesn't have to be flexible, but for repairing cracks in things, there is always going to be some movement and you need the flexibility of leaded solder.
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