HAZY CARDAS SOLDER

[4krow]

Ok, I'm taking the easy road here. I did try twice to search for soldering tips troubles. Anyway, right to the issue, I bought two different solders. One is WONDER solder, and the other is CARDAS solder. The WONDER is superb, as always. Flows easily, and cools bright. Now the CARDAS shows a melting point of 388F, but I have to turn up my soldering station quite high to melt it, and then when it cools, it is hazy. hmmmm

[galyons]

Have you tried the Cardas solder before?  I am just curious. I have long used Wonder solder, but got caught short and got some Cardas locally.  It didn't flow well. The joints never looked right.  I, too, tried to go a higher temp, but that was little help.  Wound up taking the Cardas back to the local dealer.  Loved his comment regarding the Cardas, "Experienced people won't use anything else!"  Once I got more WS from Michael Percey, I sucked the Cardas out and reflowed with WS. 

This was a while back.  I think that both formulations have changed, but the WS I get today still flows like a champ and the joints shine like jewels!!

Cheers,
Geary

[Grainger49]

I use Cardas Quad Eutectic (spellcheck says I got that wrong).  It melts quickly but I don't think it dries shiny.

Mine is on a full Cardas roll so I know it is Cardas.  Did you get yours on a roll or from a reseller, ebay?

[Noskipallwd]

I use the Cardas quad as well, never had any problems, melts quickly and flows well. My joints are not mirror shiny but they are not hazy either. I buy rolls as well.

Cheers,
Shawn

[Doc B.]

Yeah, it's E-U-T-E-C-T-I-C

[grufti]

The solder article on wikipedia is pretty good.

[4krow]

Well this Cardas solder came from Percy, but I am not sure exactly which Cardas solder it is. Almost reminds me of a bad batch the way it will cooperate just a little and then no. It does seem to work better on larger solder joints as far as flow, but still dries to a haze.

[4krow]

Ok, just checked the product, and it IS 'quad eutectic'   I will try it in a few other applications, as I have purchased 1/2 pound of the stuff. Otherwise, I have no trouble using WS.

[Jim R.]

Greg,

I use both quad eutectic and Wonder and they both work well (though I prefer the wonder for PC board use).  Maybe it is because I'm using a resistance soldering station mostly, which is like a little arc welder if not used properly, but it can get very hot, very fast.

Just off chance, is there any gold on the things you are soldering?

-- Jim

[4krow]

No gold, do you want to buy another vowel?   but I agree, the 'wonder years' solder is best on circuit boards, and the Cardas seems to be working well on bigger joints.

[johnsonad]

I'm using Multicore 63/37 with great results. Cardas works well but is expensive and I'm not enough of an audiophile to hear the difference between them

[HF9]

I'm on my third pound of Cardas solder, love the stuff. I agree with SL-15, you should be getting nice shiny joints at all temperatures UNLESS you got the lead-free Cardas solder, which requires much more effort to make a nice joint. Also, if you're retouching a lead-free joint (anything ROHS-compliant), you need to use a solder sucker to remove the lead-free solder and replace it as it will haze up a joint.

"Haze up a joint"... sounds like a shirt waiting to happen

[Grainger49]

A quick throwdown of information.  I Googled Eutectic and Wikipedia says that it melts at one temperature.  That keeps the solder from being a paste of liquid and solids, solids that are waiting to melt. 

Although Wikipedia doesn't mention this, it also means all the metal in the joint "freezes" or solidifies at one temperature (not a range of temperatures).  So once any of it is solid, all of it is solid.

For us this means once it is solid, let it go and move on.  Even blowing on it doesn't harm it as everything there will solidify at the same temperature. 

This temperature for Tri-Eutectic is 217C and for Quad-Eutectic is not listed on the Wikipedia page.

[markc2]

I used the leaded Cardas on my very first project and it was beautifully shiny, and it made me very confident of my solder joints. In fact it came out perfect the first time.

Mark