Hi Brad,
Ok, so I guessed right.
That same stuff has been used over the last 100 years
for the exact same purpose.
What does yours say on the jar/can?
There are a couple of varieties, depending on what the
specific purpose was. The stuff I use is labeled:
Top of Can:
Caution Eye Irritation, Harmful if Swallowed
Seek Medical Attention
BURNLEY SOLDERING PASTE
NON-CORROSIVE
CLEANS AS IT FLUXES
NET WEIGHT
2 OZS 57 G
MADE IN U.S.A.
Bottom of Can:
BURNLEY SOLDERING PASTE
CLEAN PARTS TO BE SOLDERED
APPLY FLUX SPARINGLY, THEN SOLDER.
MFG BY:
BURNLEY BATTERY & MANUFACTURING CORP.
NORTH EAST PA, 16428
The sides talk of how the product had
been in continuous production for over
80 years... I have had it for more than
30.
Note the mix of grams and ounces, and the
zip code. This indicates that it was made
after the US started "metrification".
It was bought from US DOD surplus and came
from materials that were released to scrap
by NSA's spook training school, judging by
the paperwork that came with the scrap lot.
When the joint gets soldered, the tin/lead
is absorbed into the surface of the copper,
and the flux floats to the surface, riding
on the petroleum jelly/wax component.
As I said earlier, the inside of the can is
still shiny tin plate.
Will something bad happen down the line?
I don't know, In the more than 50 years I have
been using similar stuff it hasn't, and I do
know that similar stuff was used by manufacturers
that made TV sets and radios.
Back in the day, component manufacturers didn't
always have climate controlled warehouses, and
leads weren't always shiny and pristine even
when new. A tiny bit of a slightly aggressive
flux made the soldering go much better.
-Chuck Harris
On Sat, 19 Oct 2024 21:00:35 +1100 "Brad Latta"
<bradley.latta@...> wrote:
Hi Chuck,
It is a paste containing 27% Zinc Chloride, I hope
when heated with soldering iron on a point to point circuit
connection the remnants would not be corrosive, mostly I use it to
be able to wet ( with solder) crusty tube point to point wiring for
equipment that has been exposed to high humidity in storage, Brad
