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From: William Sommerwerck on 4 Jul 2010 05:27
I've never heard of rosin-core solder drying out. It would probably take a
lot longer than just a few years to deteriorate to the point where the flux
no longer "fluxed". Perfumes that still smelled have been found in pyramids.


From: Michael A. Terrell on 4 Jul 2010 06:36

Joe wrote:
>
> In article <lppv261quq572fj413r2uaupde4a5pvtua(a)4ax.com>, John Fields
> <jfields(a)austininstruments.com> wrote:
>
> > On Sat, 03 Jul 2010 18:19:10 -0700, none(a)given.now (Joe) wrote:
> >
> > >A couple of days ago I did a small repair to an electronic timer. It just
> > >need a bit of solder to reconnect a wire.
> > >
> > >I had a devil of a time with that small repair, the solder just didn't
> > >want to flow over the wire and onto the pad on the PCB.
> > >
> > >A little while later, it occurred to me that maybe the problem was that I
> > >had used some old solder - about a foot or so are remaining on probably a
> > >5 or 10 foot spool.
> > >
> > >The big Aha! came when I realized that all during that soldering attempt,
> > >there was absolutely no odor of rosin flux.
> > >
> > >Questions:
> > >
> > >Are there any obvious ways to tell if old solder has lost its flux, other
> > >than trying it out on say, soldering some scrap wire?
> > >
> > >What happened to the rosin core of that solder? It doesn't look like the
> > >end was left open.
> > >
> > >Is there a definite life for unused solder?
> >
> > ---
> > Dunno.
> >
> > I've got rolls of Kester and Ersin that I bought years and years ago
> > where I can still smell the fresh Frankincense and Myrrh and are hard
> > to make a cold joint with, and I've got some Alpha and some other
> > brand that I wouldn't use on plumbing without external flux.
> >
> > Do you know whose solder you're using?
>
> John,
>
> I have two spools of Radio Shack 63/37 rosin-core solder. One of the
> spools is almost empty (the one that I had the problem trying to solder
> with), the other looks at least half full.
>
> Both spools have the Radio Shack stock number 64-015, but they have
> different artwork on their labels, and the old plastic spool is black, the
> newer plastic spool is white.
>
> The older spool quite possibly dates back to around 1980.


Radio Shack solder was low quailty, years ago. I won't buy it. It
used a low grade flux, and the core was inconsistant. if you didn't see
smoke when you touched it to the work, then it had no flux. The rosin
is dry, anyway. It was the old acid core solder that was liquid.

Do yourself a HUGE favor and buy some Ersin/Multicore solder, and
some Kester RMA liquid flux. Between the two, there is little you can't
solder properly.


--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.
From: Baron on 4 Jul 2010 06:41
Joe Inscribed thus:

> A couple of days ago I did a small repair to an electronic timer. It
> just need a bit of solder to reconnect a wire.
>
> I had a devil of a time with that small repair, the solder just didn't
> want to flow over the wire and onto the pad on the PCB.
>
> A little while later, it occurred to me that maybe the problem was
> that I had used some old solder - about a foot or so are remaining on
> probably a 5 or 10 foot spool.
>
> The big Aha! came when I realized that all during that soldering
> attempt, there was absolutely no odor of rosin flux.
>
> Questions:
>
> Are there any obvious ways to tell if old solder has lost its flux,
> other than trying it out on say, soldering some scrap wire?
>
> What happened to the rosin core of that solder? It doesn't look like
> the end was left open.
>
> Is there a definite life for unused solder?
>
> --- Joe

Not all solder wire has flux built in !
Also you might find that "Lead Free" solder is much harder to melt,
requiring a higher soldering iron temperature.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.
From: Geoffrey S. Mendelson on 4 Jul 2010 08:04
William Sommerwerck wrote:
> I've never heard of rosin-core solder drying out. It would probably take a
> lot longer than just a few years to deteriorate to the point where the flux
> no longer "fluxed". Perfumes that still smelled have been found in pyramids.

It's probably plumbing or stained glass window solder which did not have
flux in it. Remember "Old solders never die".

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm(a)mendelson.com N3OWJ/4X1GM
I do multitasking. If that bothers you, file a complaint and I will start
ignoring it immediately.
From: Meat Plow on 4 Jul 2010 08:36
On Sat, 03 Jul 2010 18:19:10 -0700, Joe ǝʇoɹʍ:

> A couple of days ago I did a small repair to an electronic timer. It
> just need a bit of solder to reconnect a wire.
>
> I had a devil of a time with that small repair, the solder just didn't
> want to flow over the wire and onto the pad on the PCB.
>
> A little while later, it occurred to me that maybe the problem was that
> I had used some old solder - about a foot or so are remaining on
> probably a 5 or 10 foot spool.
>
> The big Aha! came when I realized that all during that soldering
> attempt, there was absolutely no odor of rosin flux.
>
> Questions:
>
> Are there any obvious ways to tell if old solder has lost its flux,
> other than trying it out on say, soldering some scrap wire?
>
> What happened to the rosin core of that solder? It doesn't look like
> the end was left open.
>
> Is there a definite life for unused solder?

I have a roll of solder that's maybe 25 years old. The rosin doesn't
evaporate.
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