Lead Soldering Problem

Hi Sue,

I am working on a leaded piece and for some reason, out of the blue, my solder will not stick to the lead.

I threw out the flux I was using, cleaned the container, and poured some new flux. (Canfield brand) I STILL can't get the solder to stick. Any ideas??

This has me totally confused.

Thanks for your help!
Trish Christiansen

Answer

Hi Trish,

Four things come to mind...

1. Are you using lead that you've had around for a while? If so, it could be oxidized enough to make soldering very difficult. Get a wire brush and scrub all of the joints before you start to solder.

2. Your solder could be oxidized. Run some fine steel wool down the length of solder before you use it. Wipe it off after you steel wool it to be sure you get rid of the steel wool residue.

3. Your flux could be old. I couldn't be sure if you bought new flux or just threw out what was in the container and refilled it. Also, flux can get contaminated by repleatedly dipping your flux brush into it. You should always pour out just enough (into a separate container) to use for one session, then dispose of what's left.

4. Your soldering iron could be too cool. If you use a temp controller, turn it up to a higher temperature.

Hopefully, one of the above will solve your problem. Let us know how it goes. You can tell us about it by clicking on the comments section at the bottom of this page, and adding a comment.