Model Railway Forum

Probably not a bad idea Barry. I was given a bag of tools which included a reel of solder which would be around 35-40 years old. The outer turns were tarnished and dull which made me wary of using it. However I unwound them and discovered that inside the solder was bright, so I have been using it for several years. It will probably see me out. R-

bulleidboy wrote: ↑Thu Jul 23, 2020 10:56 am Many thanks for all the suggestions. I have found twisting the wires together and then covering with heat-shrink appears to work. Also following the comment about solder "going-off", have decided that mine - now five years old - probably needs to be replaced. Barry

I've got solder that is at least 25 years old and there is nothing wrong with it at all. Works perfectly.

Rog (RJ) wrote: ↑Thu Jul 23, 2020 12:22 pm

bulleidboy wrote: ↑Thu Jul 23, 2020 10:56 am Many thanks for all the suggestions. I have found twisting the wires together and then covering with heat-shrink appears to work. Also following the comment about solder "going-off", have decided that mine - now five years old - probably needs to be replaced. Barry

I've got solder that is at least 25 years old and there is nothing wrong with it at all. Works perfectly.

I've never known solder to go "bad" either

I’m using a roll of solder at least 60 years old, belonged to my dad. How can it go off?

I haven't thrown the old solder away - but read this: Flux cored solder wire has a limited shelf life determined by the alloy used in the wire. For alloys containing more than 70% lead, the shelf life is two years from date of manufacture. Other alloys have a shelf life of three years from date of manufacture.

I've also bought some new tips for the iron - ordered yesterday afternoon - delivered just now as I'm typing this - UPS - good service as it was free postage. Now they have arrived I should find the spare tips that came with the iron!!

Not so much “off” as oxides on the surface perhaps putting rubbish in the joint. R-

I don’t believe there are any problems with old solder. Manufacturers are bound to say it has a best before date because they want you to buy more.

They don't make it like they used to. R-

Obviously not

Being the person who raised the issue of “old solder”, I was not implying that simply being old is the problem, but the older the solder the more oxides can build up especially if stored in poor conditions. Rosin flux as found in multi core solder works by suspending oxides within the liquid stopping them settling on the metal surface. With a limited amount of flux within the solder, stands to reason badly oxidised solder becomes difficult to work with. I have a roll which I had for some time on removing the label I discovered the solder had a nice dull grey oxide looking more like it had spent several years on a roof, I suspect the supplier had stored it in poor conditions since a similar roll I have had probably just as long was still shiny. The dull solder is a real PITA to work with, cleaning it helps or using additional flux helps.

Richard