Kester443-845 24-9574-7618 K100Ld Lead-Free No Clean Wire Solder.031" Diameter-Low Cost Alloy

This stuff is great. It behaves very similar to regular lead solder.I’ve been afraid to try lead free because of people saying that it gives off more flux smoke and is harder to work with than lead solder.Happy to say this alloy is pretty great. I also don’t notice an unusual amount of smoke. I have a diy fume extraction setup though.I also bought a smaller diameter roll of this same stuff for more fine work (surface mount ICs).I wish they sold this stuff in smaller rolls for a lower price. It’s a pretty ridiculous amount of solder for a hobbyist. It apparently has a shelf life, but I suspect that’s really only important for manufacturers producing stuff at scale.

This is the first spool of solder I’ve ever purchased. I was a bit nervous because I’d heard that lead free solder is difficult to work with for beginners but I was pleasantly surprised with this stuff. A little bit of flux, applying about 370C on the pad and pin and this stuff melts beautifully.

Works great! Flows easily without hassle. I’ve tried several different brands of lead-free solder but this is a game-changer. I won’t use any other brand from now on. It’s well worth the cost and saves me time since I don’t need to rework any joints.

I read the MSDS, and yes, there is no lead. It's a tin/copper eutectic, meaning a lower boiling point, but surprisingly better than their tin/silver eutectic my university stocks. My school's silver eutectic would form disturbed joints every time, even when I isolate every vibration, but with this alloy, I didn't form a single disturbed joint. Be sure to get a computer fan and a filter (a sock would work (with a smaller computer fan of course)) because the flux produces a host of low concentration toxins which if blown away will just settle on a surface. Use a sock so that the surface they settle on isn't your lungs.I've used the tin silver eutectic at my school for a while, but got this for my lab in my dorm. This is a tin/copper eutectic, but in about the same proportions.

Best solder. Fluxes up and flows perfectly. Little or no clean up needed. Great product. Kester is the best.

We recently got a pet bird. The bird is occasionally in my office (obviously never when I'm soldering, which isn't often) and likes to peck at things as birds do.I simply could not take the risk of her pecking at little blobs of leaded solder on my work bench (incredibly toxic), so thoroughly cleaned my office and purchased a spool of lead free solder, and paste.Well the spool arrived today and it's leaded. It's also partially unwound and looks partially used to me.Unacceptable.

This lead-free solder (Kester K100LD) gives much better results than common SnAgCu (tin-silver-copper) alloy; it hardens with a shinier surface; and is generally cheaper too (no silver), although it's still expensive. Be sure to add flux when soldering difficult surfaces, and use an iron 50 C higher than the temperature that works best with leaded solder.

So much better than what I was using and am able to solder at a lower temp. I will be buying again when I need more.