I have used lead free solder with success on the ceramic strips. The solder used was Kester 24-7068-1402 Sn96.5 Ag3.0 Cu0.5. My current understanding is the issue is not the lead it is the LACK of silver cant say for sure so I don¡¯t have a large enough sample size but I have repaired a number of ceramic strip units with no trouble. 3% silver was the highest silver content I could find with out going highly exotic with highly exotic pricing. In terms of temp I used a really high powered iron Hakko FM203 with a thermal mass tip. I found the melting point of the solder to be less of an issue given how much heat the ceramic soaked out of the iron. I don¡¯t mind working hot with an iron but I am also used to working fast.
Zen
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-----Original Message-----
From:
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[email protected]> On Behalf Of Richard Kelly via groups.io
Sent: Friday, December 27, 2024 2:48 AM
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[email protected]Subject: [TekScopes] Solder - Tin/Silver or Tin/Lead/Silver?
Apologies if this has been answered but I couldn't find in a search:
I'm about to restore my first piece of Tek kit. understand the potential issue with the silver deposit ceramic strips and have electronic solder to hand that is 95% Tin, 3.8% Silver and 0.7% Copper.
This appears to exceed comfortably the desired silver content, but it will be higher melting point (227 degC) than lead-containing variants.
My question is "do I need to buy yet another reel of solder such as Sn62/Pb36/Ag2 which will be 179 degC melting point but lower silver or can I use what I already have?".
Another way of asking: provided solder is silver-containing how much does temperature vs. silver content matter?
Thnak you.
