Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

66%
+2 −0
Q&A Is there a particular type of lead-free solder that does not degrade soldering tips?

I have had my soldering iron tips degrading at ridiculous rates. Granted, they are not very expensive, but sometimes it takes less than 8 hours of soldering for them to degrade to the point where t...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Kranulis‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Pete W‭

Question soldering
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Kranulis‭ · 2021-03-16T21:39:33Z (almost 4 years ago)
Is there a particular type of lead-free solder that does not degrade soldering tips?
I have had my soldering iron tips degrading at ridiculous rates. Granted, they are not very expensive, but sometimes it takes less than 8 hours of soldering for them to degrade to the point where they are no longer usable. I use a soft sponge for cleaning, don't leave the iron on for prolonged times and coat it with tin when not using it. 

I see that the market is moving to lead-free solder (which is what I am using) and it is getting more difficult to acquire leaded solder. Yes, I have read that there are no real advantages of lead-free solder over leaded solder, except for reducing the waste that goes into the landmass.

However, assuming there are children and pets in the house, it would make sense to not have a spool of lead laying around. Naturally, it should be put away, but nobody is perfect, and you may forget etc.

Hence the question: Are there certain types of lead-free solder to look for, that are easy on the soldering iron tips? If so, are there particular chemical compounds that allow this?