shiny solder

Thread Starter

Mullins

Joined Dec 31, 2021
168
Hi, I'm here to ask advice about some special solder alloy. I saw on some Airbag ECU that the the solder alloy remain so shiny for more than 13year. When I say "shiny" I mean shiny like the ball of bearing ball, like a mirror completely smooth and shiny surface. And in this case the pcb was not covered with PCB Lacquer .
So. did you ever find something like this?

Can you tell me if you have some shiny weld in the past and with which product?
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
Tin/Lead solder can remain shiny if there is a layer of flux on the surface. It doesn’t have to be thick, just enough to keep out the air. Lead-free solder starts out dull, but lead-based solder when properly used has a very shiny appearance.
 

Thread Starter

Mullins

Joined Dec 31, 2021
168
Thank you so much Ya'akov. I already know what you say but this one was very very shiny. It was on a large capacitor (like AA battery) and I removed it then soldered again without adding tin alloy. He remained shiny and didn't become opaque. That is why I think there's a special tin alloy.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
Thank you so much Ya'akov. I already know what you say but this one was very very shiny. It was on a large capacitor (like AA battery) and I removed it then soldered again without adding tin alloy. He remained shiny and didn't become opaque. That is why I think there's a special tin alloy.
Sn/Pb solder will stay shiny for some time even without protection.
 
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