Acid core solder?!?!?

[Fuddy1952]

Who uses acid core solder, and how?
I know it's supposed to be for plumbing, and as a retired electronic technician I soldered all day every day with rosin core for 43 years!
I tried using acid core just now trying every trick...copper tubing shiny as a new penny, flux, various heat...nada.
I used solid core+paste flux...no problem. I've used rosin core for plumbing work and never a leak. Dad showed me how to solder when I was a kid in the 50s!
I've never been able to use acid.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Solder has changed. The new lead free stuff is garbage if you ask me.

I was on a job once working on a nurse call system. I needed to solder something and they only had acid core on site, so thinking, this is just simple low voltage stuff, not really electronic.

Man, did that come back to bite me. That gooey flux is conductive!

 

[k0ua]

Never EVER use acid core for anything electronic. Acid core is for soldering steel gutters together.

Yes lead free solder of electronics is not worth picking up for free in the street. It is near useless. It won't "wet out". Pure garbage. AND on top of that it grows "tin whiskers" after a few years and will destroy electronics. It is a part of planned obsolescence of electronic devices. If someone offers to give you a roll of lead free solder, run. By the way I have a full pound roll I will be happy to give to anyone that I actually hate.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I pick up any rolls of old solder, resin or acid if I come across it.

 

[Fuddy1952]

So right about acid core and electronics. Never ever use it... I just can't see how to use acid core for gutters or anything!

 

[Industrial Toys]

Well certainly for copper pipe? What else would you use?

 

[jaxs]

What else can you expect when big brother tell's what's best for us and see's that that's all we can find?:smiley_aafz:

 

[k0ua]

Well certainly for copper pipe? What else would you use?

You don't use acid core for copper pipe either. You use solid 95/5 for anything that comes in contact with potable water and you apply a flux specified for copper pipe. You use acid core for galvanized steel gutter.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Oh, I certainly do. I never understood the hysteria. Not much of the lead or paste ever touches the inner surface. In fact, I would have no issue using acid on heavy copper conductors. It cleans the copper and makes the solder flow nicer.

I'm also making the assumption that the acid in acid core solder is the same stuff in the solder paste. But I think that stuff has changed too. The old stuff made your open sores sting worse, so I know it has to be better!

 

[tjkubota93]

Supposedly acid core will eat the pipe away after many years.

I use oatey #95 tinning solder and their lead free solid core for plumbing. It works well. Any other flux I have used, that solder didn't work.

This is the last thing I used it on. Also rebuilt the service coming into the house.