You can still buy lead solder!?

[eveares]

The other day, I asked my mum to grab me some solder from tool station as she was near it.


To my surprise, the solder is 60% tin and 40% lead! I though you can no longer get solder what contains lead, or have I dreamt that?

 

[Nozzle]

That is for electronics - all components and solder is now supposed to be pb free to make the entire worldwide industry consume less/no lead. A good idea!

Nozzle

 

[mfarrow]

I was told by Rapid Electronics' customer services in 2005 that once the RoHS regulations came into effect they would sell leaded solder only until they're stocks ran out. As of today they are still selling it. So no wonder you're confused!

You're not allowed to commercially produce electronic boards containing lead under RoHS regulations. That doesn't stop you using it as a DIYer and you can use it in spare parts for said equipment which pre-dated the rule change.

In plumbing you can use it for non-potable water pipework, plus gas/oil/etc.

If you got the solder from toolstation it's likely for plumbing and will be a very thick gauge.

 

[mattylad]

ISTR that there are certain uses that are excluded such as military, aerospace etc.

While it may have been a good idea to go lead free it spelt the downfall of our electronics reliability.

And it only applies to things you sell, not DIY produced PCB's etc.
Hobbyists are still entitled to use it.

There is also repairs - you are entitled to use it to repair an item that was manufactured before the ROSH rubbish came in.

 

[ericmark]

Some equipment still uses leaded as non leaded is un-reliable. There are exemptions like organ building where non leaded solder changes the tone of the pipes.

For commercial work non leaded is OK but for DIY it's not safe and it is much healthier to use leaded solder. The problem with non leaded is the flux that must be used. It requires very good fume extraction.

Read the COSHH regulations on the flux required for non leaded and you will never use it again.

 

[bernardgreen]

Lead is a delayed action toxin that affects the nervous system and affects the way the brain works. Reducing the amount of lead is sensible. But as eric has said there are some uses where lead is ideal if not essential.

Lead free solder is brittle and lead free joints that are subject to rapid temperature temperatures or other mechanical stress are more likely to fail than if leaded solder was used.

It is ironic that lead is banned yet use of toxic mercury is now not only permitted but actually "enforced" by the requirements to use "energy efficient lamps". The lead is trapped in the joints while the mercury is released when the lamp shatters.

 

[ericmark]

Back in the 80's I visited Mascara in Algeria so one of the guys with me bought some genuine Mascara but lucky he got it analysed before giving it to his wife. It was around 90% lead.

Does this explain why we consider women to be dotty as with the Hatter and mercury were the women of yesteryear affected by the lead.

I think lead in the atmosphere was really a problem and banning leaded petrol was a good move but with solder on balance comparing the problems of using non leaded flux to using leaded solder most risk assessments would come down on using leaded solder is safer for DIY.

When exposed daily to lead it's a problem but the time we are exposed with DIY the flux is a far greater problem.

 

[bernardgreen]

I have a couple of friends who grew up in a house where all the pipe work was lead. They are both very intelligent but a bit odd in terms of behaviour and definitely weird in outlook. Medical opinion is that lead ingested in childhood is affecting them 40 years later.

The other concern is the use of beryllium in electronic equipment such as high power LED lamps as a heat conductive electrical insulator.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg311.pdf

 

[JohnW2]

I have a couple of friends who grew up in a house where all the pipe work was lead.

So did I, from the ages of 5-17; I can't say what the pipework there was in the houses I lived in prior to age 5.

They are both very intelligent but a bit odd in terms of behaviour and definitely weird in outlook. Medical opinion is that lead ingested in childhood is affecting them 40 years later.

People other than myself will have to judge whether any of that applies to me (in my case 50-60 years later)

Kind Regards, John

 

[Monkeh]

Of course you can still buy lead solder.

You just can't sell a product made with it.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

People other than myself will have to judge whether any of that applies to me (in my case 50-60 years later)

Water hardness is an intrinsically related factor. Hard water = scale in the pipes = less lead in the water.

Soft water = no scale + lower pH = more lead in the water.

 

[EFLImpudence]

If you got the solder from toolstation it's likely for plumbing and will be a very thick gauge.

No, the thick plumbing solder is lead-free - for potable supplies.

The electrical is 60/40.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

For commercial work non leaded is OK but for DIY it's not safe and it is much healthier to use leaded solder. The problem with non leaded is the flux that must be used. It requires very good fume extraction.

Read the COSHH regulations on the flux required for non leaded and you will never use it again.

Ooo-err - I had no idea.



It's been a while since I've done any soldering, so I've not been exposed and anyway I'm well stocked with good old 60/40. But it does make me wonder if cored lead-free for electronics should be so easily available to DIYers.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

No, the thick plumbing solder is lead-free - for potable supplies.

Do they not sell leaded for use on CH & HW pipes?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It is ironic that lead is banned yet use of toxic mercury is now not only permitted but actually "enforced" by the requirements to use "energy efficient lamps". The lead is trapped in the joints while the mercury is released when the lamp shatters.

Remember the urban myth that circulated amongst the credulous some years ago about how in the USA if you broke a CFL you had to call the EPA and report a toxic spill? Or you could score 48 points in Scrabble.