The novak stuff is the absolute worst out there. it takes forever to heat up and then it wont hold. you can pull the wires off after it has cooled
I assumed the Novak solder would be good so I bought some....once. Try building 6 cells with it sometime....you will never get the neg. side of cell to flow without mass flux....garbage IMO.
__________________ --->PPDBillet.com Kevin Patterson-- PPDBillet---TC5R---Schumacher Cat SX---Xray 008
4 Seasons Raceway --Fantasy World Raceway --TRCR
__________________
eXpress Motorsports/Jackson RC . . .Is it SUNDAY yet??? BACK IN THE BOX!!!
If you miss the line by 8 feet you are going to hit something . . .
We offer only lead free solder. In order to comply and make all of our mfg electronic products RoHS compliant:
Quote:
A "Green Product" is a RoHS compliant product that does not contain lead, mercury, or cadmium. Novak products are in compliance with Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of January 2003 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronics equipment.
Novak Electronics, Inc. develops ESCs, motors, and other products using components and materials that are environmentally friendly; these materials are deemed be Halogen and lead free.
This solder requires a much hotter iron than the old leaded solders. It is offered for soldering on our electronic and motors, which feature all lead-free components and PCBs.
I assumed the Novak solder would be good so I bought some....once. Try building 6 cells with it sometime....you will never get the neg. side of cell to flow without mass flux....garbage IMO.
I don't remember Novak ever suggesting using LF solder on battery packs. It is offered for soldering or resoldering completely LF components. Using leaded solder on LF PCBs and components is not recommended. In order to ship products into EU markets, manufacturers must use only LF parts.
I my industry (computer and arcade game technician) I have noticed alot of power sources and CPU boards being ROHS compliant, it is almost impossible to repair these items without getting the circuit board to hot, due to the temps required to remove components due to the lead free solder. I am also seeing a higher failure rate in these components, don't know if it is due to the solder or just manufacturing.
Me personally will only use 60/40 or 70/30 thin solder for motors and batteries, I use silver on circuit boards now with a lot of liquid flux.
I don't remember Novak ever suggesting using LF solder on battery packs. It is offered for soldering or resoldering completely LF components. Using leaded solder on LF PCBs and components is not recommended. In order to ship products into EU markets, manufacturers must use only LF parts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NovakTwo
...This solder requires a much hotter iron than the old leaded solders. It is offered for soldering on our electronic and motors, which feature all lead-free components and PCBs.
Nor did they suggest not to or state that it clearly was inferior for that application. When sold in the hobby shop environment and not an electronic specialties shop one might assume it has multi purpose capabilities. How many people out there really want to carry multiple different solders for different tasks?
Tower ususlly has pretty good discriptions on their products and says it actually has a low melting point, pretty much opposite of your description.
From Tower Hobbies
This is the 15g roll of Novak Lead Free Silver Rosin Core Solder.
FEATURES: Specially formulated for hand soldering
Contains 3% silver for high-conductivity, low-resistance and strong
solder joints at a relatively low melting point
Meets RoHS compliance standards
INCLUDES: 15g roll of Novak Lead Free Silver Rosin Core Solder
Im decent with a soldering iron, and I tell ya.... soldering with lead-free solder is 10X harder than using a good 60/40 rosin core solder that you can get at some place like radio shack.
__________________
Of course I could be wrong, but I've only been wrong once and that's when I thought I was wrong but wasn't.
It does say "relatively" low melting point. Since it's LF, the relativity is to other LF solders meeting the RoHS standards. We no longer offer any leaded solder----way too much liability.
As I explained, it is important to use the LF solder, and an iron designed for LF, when soldering (on or to) to new LF PCBs and components we use. We have no way of knowing if other mfgs (including battery companies) are in compliance and offering only LF components.
There are probably areas of the country that do not have laws against the use of leaded products. There are still many RC companies selling products including lead. As I posted above, it would not be possible for us to have that proprietary info. If you want the old leaded solder, you can probably source it on line.
The lead free solders require a higher tip temperature to melt period (check out the differences below). I found out pretty quickly I needed a higher quality 50W unit that was able to maintain 650 °F to 750 °F tip temperature.
Irons found at autozone or zellers will either burn your hand or self-combust on your dinning table. Once this happens you will understand it's a good idea to purchase a hako or weller unit.
Purchasing a small bottle of flux helps immensely to help the solder flow and avoid the dreaded cold solder joint.
Tin/Lead solders:
60/40 Sn/Pb melts at 370 °F or 188 °C
Lead Free Solder
SnAgCu, tin with 3% silver and 0.5% copper melts at 448 °F or 220 °C
If you have the right tools and technique the novak silver solder is an excellent product. If you are using an autozone or wallmart iron save yourself a trip to the hospital and use the radio shack 60/40.
Last edited by Capt'N_Slow; 07-03-2009 at 02:50 PM.
---
Similar Threads