Homebrew PCBs

Where do you get tiny amounts of solder paste? What is the shelf life?

Also, does anyone know where to get small amounts of 10-mil diameter
solder wire? Like, less than a $100 roll of the stuff, which would
last me longer than my expected lifetime?

I got 1/2 pound of 15 mil solder from Mouser, I think, but I prefer
thinner stuff.

You'd have to define tiny. A small 15cc 5 gram Syringe is available from Digikey. It has a shelf life of 6 months. Longer of kept in the fridge. (probably longer anyway).

Sage

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Jan Kok <jan.kok.5y@...> wrote:

>
> Where do you get tiny amounts of solder paste? What is the shelf life?
> 
> Also, does anyone know where to get small amounts of 10-mil diameter
> solder wire? Like, less than a $100 roll of the stuff, which would
> last me longer than my expected lifetime?
> 
> I got 1/2 pound of 15 mil solder from Mouser, I think, but I prefer
> thinner stuff.
>

I have bought it from http://kd5ssj.com/solderpaste. My experience has 
been that it keeps for at least a year, I store in in the refrigerator. 
Let it warm to room temperature before use. Get the larger needle while 
you're at it, you'll be glad you did.

Steve K8JQ

On 12/24/2010 8:33 PM, Jan Kok wrote:
> Where do you get tiny amounts of solder paste? What is the shelf life?
>
> Also, does anyone know where to get small amounts of 10-mil diameter
> solder wire? Like, less than a $100 roll of the stuff, which would
> last me longer than my expected lifetime?
>
> I got 1/2 pound of 15 mil solder from Mouser, I think, but I prefer
> thinner stuff.
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
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>
>
>
>

-- 
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I've had good luck in the things I get from DealExtreme. They're in Hong 
Kong, sell Chinese products, and ship out of China. The Lodestar solder 
paste I've tried is:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4711
and a bit of searching returns
http://www.elodestar.com/showproduct_en.aspx?id=241
has some specifications. Lodestar does recommend cold storage, but I 
don't and haven't seen problems that I recognize. The vial is sealed 
with aluminum foil, and once you open, the solvent starts to evaporate. 
So you need additional flux eventually if you don't use it up 
immediately. I solvate it with Butyl Celllusolve, but I suspect clean 
kerosene would also work well. In comparison with some cheap syringes I 
got at Fry's (an electronics store still selling parts in California) 
that I paid twice as much for a quarter as much and really didn't flux 
properly. The quality of the DealExtreme paste is much better as the 
balls are finer and more consistent. Wetting is good. I've looked at 
some professional Kester product (used on an SMT line) that is a finer 
grit, so the Lodestar is a bit coarser but not unreasonable.

Currently it's US$3.37 for 50 gm and shipping is free, so the biggest 
drawback is that orders take perhaps a week to 10days to arrive. I used 
it with a solder mask from
http://smtstencil.co.uk/
They had a good price and it worked fine.
My 2 cents,
Regards,
Charles Patton



drsage2007 wrote:

>
> You'd have to define tiny. A small 15cc 5 gram Syringe is available 
> from Digikey. It has a shelf life of 6 months. Longer of kept in the 
> fridge. (probably longer anyway).
>
> Sage
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com 
> <mailto:Homebrew_PCBs%40yahoogroups.com>, Jan Kok <jan.kok.5y@...> wrote:
> >
> > Where do you get tiny amounts of solder paste? What is the shelf life?
> >
> > Also, does anyone know where to get small amounts of 10-mil diameter
> > solder wire? Like, less than a $100 roll of the stuff, which would
> > last me longer than my expected lifetime?
> >
> > I got 1/2 pound of 15 mil solder from Mouser, I think, but I prefer
> > thinner stuff.
> >
>
>

Hi Jan,

I don't have any recommendations for purchasing solder paste, but have some experience with so-called expired paste.

I have 2 600g tubes of Kester solder paste that expired about 2 years ago and I'm still using it.  I had been told by someone that it could be rehydrated with IPA, but my paste hasn't dried out enough that I've needed to hydrate it and the flux is still doing it's job.  I store mine in an unheated basement.

Flux has a shelf life, but I have a roll of solder from the 70's and the flux core is still working.

Don't know of any inexpensive sources for 10 mil solder wire.  I rarely use anything smaller than 32 mil.

Regards,
Dennis

I second that about long solder paste life for hand soldering.  For the SMT
pick and place machine with very small parts we are very careful about the
shelf life.  But for hand soldering I have a tube that has been kept in the
fridge and it is over 10 years old and it still works fine.
Bertho
=================================
From    dl5012    Sent: Friday, December 31, 2010 12:50
 
Hi Jan,
I don't have any recommendations for purchasing solder paste, but have some
experience with so-called expired paste.
I have 2 600g tubes of Kester solder paste that expired about 2 years ago
and I'm still using it. I had been told by someone that it could be
rehydrated with IPA, but my paste hasn't dried out enough that I've needed
to hydrate it and the flux is still doing it's job. I store mine in an
unheated basement.

Flux has a shelf life, but I have a roll of solder from the 70's and the
flux core is still working.
Don't know of any inexpensive sources for 10 mil solder wire. I rarely use
anything smaller than 32 mil.
Regards,
Dennis