What kind of solder (rosin cored, etc. lead-free)? What is flux and when is it necessary?

As a starting place, for most small electronics soldering, 1/32 inch (.03) rosin-cored, 60/40 (tin-lead) or 63/37 solder should work fine. Rosin-cored lead-free is fine, too. Unless you have reason otherwise, don’t use “no-clean” solder–it’s very likely that you don’t need to clean the regular rosin-cored solder. The solder should be thin enough to prevent accidentally applying too much (and causing a solder bridge), but thick enough so that more doesn’t have to be gathered from the coil too often.

Flux core in wire-solder

Besides affecting your feed-rate and convenience, the solder thickness also relates to the amount of flux that is delivered. Flux is basically a weak acid that removes oxides so that solder can adhere to the metal, and is so essential to the soldering process that it’s built into the core of common wire-solder. It also helps the solder spread out (reduces surface tension), transfer heat, and acts as a protective blanket to keep oxygen away from the metal until solder displaces it.

For the most part, manufacturers include a sufficient amount of flux in the wire, but if you use an extremely thin wire there may not be enough to clean the joint OR the iron tip. Consider using a thicker gauge for cleaning the tip periodically if you’re using especially thin solder. Liquid flux is helpful for SMD soldering, too.

When picking a wire-solder, there are 4 features to decide on: flux type and amount (% weight), alloy (tin-lead, lead free, silver bearing, etc.), thickness and total amount (1oz, 1lb?).

  • Flux:Just what is flux, what kinds are there, and when do I need liquid flux?
  • Alloy:60/40, 63/37, tin-lead, lead-free, silver bearing, RoHS, eutectic, oh my…
  • Thickness and Amount:As a general guide, .032″ thick solder (21 gauge) should be suitable for through hole soldering and some surface mount soldering. For finer pitch surface mount devices, use .02″ or .015″, and if you’re soldering a lot of switch terminals, or tinning thick gauge wire you may want .05″. If you use .015″ solder consider having some thicker solder on hand to re-tin your tip, since the amount of flux in .015″ may not be enough to remove tip oxides. The picture below shows how the various thicknesses compare next to the standard .1″ spaced DIP pins.Various solder thicknessesExpand to see how .032″ and .015″ solder compare to a SOIC surface mount chip and fine pitch (.02″) device.




    How much solder do I really need? An ounce? A pound? How long will a pound last?

  • Solder Fumes:What is exactly in solder fumes? Am I safer using lead-free solder?
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