I just opened my last jar of everyday no-clean flux paste and it's not available anywhere anymore. I have to use another brand to restock. I like to keep a few options on hand for the different soldering tasks. So, what flux do you use? Why?
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2025 solder flux, what's new?
- Thread starter Cable Guy
- Start date
I use MG8341. Its cheap and it works good. At work, they use chipquik (ill have to get the number). I like that stuff too as its not as thick as mine and works better from a syringe, but it does make a stickier mess for the same performance.
Lots of products out there, but I'm happy enough with MG8341 to not try others.
There are some side-by-side comparisons on youtube, like this one
Lots of products out there, but I'm happy enough with MG8341 to not try others.
There are some side-by-side comparisons on youtube, like this one
I have this can from Ruby chemical stuff. no reason.
this can has been around my bench for years, and years.
it is thick and sticky, it works. clean with rubbing alcohol,
or Windex.
but what about the solder? use 60/40 or 63/37 tin/lead
it melts at a lower temperature, and flows better, than that
lead-free stuff that has been pushed on us to save the world.
(Like EV's, "exploding vehicles" - using them big "dirty" diesel trucks
to mine all that lithium)
Lead is an element. it is all over in the ground. just don't eat
too much of it.
There is some lead in your vegetables that you grow in your garden.
when working on some factory made electronics using that
lead-free solder, you can melt it, and mix in some of your
60/40 solder at the component, and change it to a lower
temperature mix. easier to work with.
I got a funny story - - how I know this.
while working at an Aerospace company 30 years ago,
on a capacitor product that was being made for
a high temperature environment, a lead-free high temp
solder mixture had to be used. But the customer was
complaining that our product was melting open and
coming apart. So we sent our solder used on this
product to an outside lab. It was OK, it melted at
the rated higher temperature that was expected.
We scratched out heads. WTF?
So I was instructed to go on a quiet "spy mission" to watch the
workers in process of putting this component product together.
at the solder station, I found that they had two spools of solder,
and twisted together like twisted wire, pulled out to do the soldering
operation. They had 63/37 solder twisted with the high temp solder.
I asked why they did this, and they said it melts quicker and it flows easier
on the metal case they had to solder together.
So I just moved along, not saying anything more, and discretely
told the project manager. Let them deal with it. case closed.
this can has been around my bench for years, and years.
it is thick and sticky, it works. clean with rubbing alcohol,
or Windex.
but what about the solder? use 60/40 or 63/37 tin/lead
it melts at a lower temperature, and flows better, than that
lead-free stuff that has been pushed on us to save the world.
(Like EV's, "exploding vehicles" - using them big "dirty" diesel trucks
to mine all that lithium)
Lead is an element. it is all over in the ground. just don't eat
too much of it.
There is some lead in your vegetables that you grow in your garden.
when working on some factory made electronics using that
lead-free solder, you can melt it, and mix in some of your
60/40 solder at the component, and change it to a lower
temperature mix. easier to work with.
I got a funny story - - how I know this.
while working at an Aerospace company 30 years ago,
on a capacitor product that was being made for
a high temperature environment, a lead-free high temp
solder mixture had to be used. But the customer was
complaining that our product was melting open and
coming apart. So we sent our solder used on this
product to an outside lab. It was OK, it melted at
the rated higher temperature that was expected.
We scratched out heads. WTF?
So I was instructed to go on a quiet "spy mission" to watch the
workers in process of putting this component product together.
at the solder station, I found that they had two spools of solder,
and twisted together like twisted wire, pulled out to do the soldering
operation. They had 63/37 solder twisted with the high temp solder.
I asked why they did this, and they said it melts quicker and it flows easier
on the metal case they had to solder together.
So I just moved along, not saying anything more, and discretely
told the project manager. Let them deal with it. case closed.
Amtech USA, not China fake. Because it is the best!
