Which solder/flux combination do you use for etched kit construction?

mickoo

Western Thunderer
Pearsons glass flux, ordered yesterday, arrived today, used this evening, ticks all the boxes.

Much less spatter than B.O.G, solder seems to flow better, certainly on nickel silver, less residue and cleans up easily.

Ordered a litre, should keep me going for a little while, not sure if it has a shelf life, may order another as a back up as well as the two spare bottles of B.O.G I have.
 

Kev T

Western Thunderer
I'm just about out of flux so need to order. Is this Pearsons glass flux still recommended?

Kev
 

adrian

Flying Squad
I'm just about out of flux so need to order. Is this Pearsons glass flux still recommended?
I'm happy with the results - seems the closest I found to the Building O Gauge flux. As always with any flux a quick wash after any session pays dividends.

My only small niggle is that the surface tension on the flux seems a little higher than the BOG flux so sometimes it seems to bead off the joint a bit like rain on a freshly polished car. I decant the flux into a little pippette bottle so I'm going to try adding a drop of liquid soap next time.
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
I'm just about out of flux so need to order. Is this Pearsons glass flux still recommended?

Kev
It's all I use and works fine for me and I use it a lot.

I've not noticed it beading up, but then I have a bad habit of literally flooding the joint before soldering, I might try some soap too to see if it helps at all.
 

Chas Levin

Western Thunderer
A vote here for Gaugemasters Brass and White Metal phosphoric acid fluxes, different strengths being the only difference as far as I can tell - both always work very well for me.
 

Kev T

Western Thunderer
I've been using the Pearsons flux for a few weeks now and find it works well. I used Bakers No3 in the past and the new flux is far less noxious, doesn't splatter as much and works just as well. I ended up buying hte litre bottle so will have enough for years. Time will tell if the solder bits last longer and if nearby ferrous tools rust as they do with the Bakers flux.

Kev
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
I've been using the Pearsons flux for a few weeks now and find it works well. I used Bakers No3 in the past and the new flux is far less noxious, doesn't splatter as much and works just as well. I ended up buying hte litre bottle so will have enough for years. Time will tell if the solder bits last longer and if nearby ferrous tools rust as they do with the Bakers flux.

Kev
I've never replaced a bit yet with Pearsons flux or the previous BOG safety flux, three years (two with BOG, one with Pearsons) on the previous iron (element went) and a year (Pearsons) on the current one.

On a bad day it'll be on for 2-3 hrs, on a good day it'll be 10 or even 14 hrs in a big session (longest was an over nighter at 27 hrs) and that's pretty much six or seven days a week.

Where Pearsons really works is nickel silver etches, just a dream to work with, on brass you need to make sure it's clean to run well, I usually give the joint faces a quick waft with a fiber brush or sanding stick just before soldering.

If you get it too hot it will brown up and go sticky, so go careful with the micro torches, if it does brown up, just wash with a bigger brush and more flux to dilute the sticky toffee mess, then wipe off with a damp cloth or tissue and start again.
 

Mike Garwood

Western Thunderer
Another vote for BOG and their 145 solder. When I refill my working bottle, I shall need another larger bottle. Is this stuff still available? I believe the owner has had some health issues?

Mike
 

johnpolscoe

New Member
What's the Pearson's like for fumes? Since I last did much soldering my emphysema has got a good deal worse, so I have to be careful what I breathe. (I can't breathe through a mask either).
 

Mick LNER

Western Thunderer
What's the Pearson's like for fumes? Since I last did much soldering my emphysema has got a good deal worse, so I have to be careful what I breathe. (I can't breathe through a mask either).
Never noticed any fumes ,whatsoever.
 
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Longbow

Western Thunderer
I can't find a safety sheet for Pearsons Flux, but given the glass connection I would guess that it is zinc chloride-based. That would put it at the aggressive end of the acid flux spectrum. If so, that would suggest using it sparingly, cleaning up after carefully and never ever using it around electronics.
 

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
I am building my seventh etched brass kit and so far I have been using 9% phosphoric acid flux - so far so good. This has run out, and the brown bottle I thought was my spare bottle of flux has turned out to be a spare bottle of butanol :rolleyes:

I have found an unused bottle of Carr's Red flux. This seems to work with brass and nickel silver; I don't know its composition but it seems a little less effective than the phosphoric acid; I need to use more to persuade the solder to flow.

Please, why would we choose to use Carr's Red flux over other fluxes?

Sorry if this flux is already addessed here but "red" is too short for the search facility.

(I am not stuck for flux, I bought a bottle of 9% phosphoric acid yesterday).
 

Eastsidepilot

Western Thunderer
Carr's Red flux was/is sold as suitable for white metal soldering and is what I tend to use it for, if using Carr's for etched brass I've used both yellow and green.

Col.
 
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