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Waiting for my solder fumes to clear... literally

I was reading up on building my first fuzz pedal last night and found out that lead-free solder actually needs like 30-40 degrees higher heat to flow properly. My cheap iron only goes to 700F so I've probably been borderline melting joints for two years. Has anyone else run into trouble switching between solder types mid-build?
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2 Comments
the_shane
the_shane13m ago
My buddy Mike tried switching to lead-free halfway through a Big Muff clone build and ended up with joints that looked like cottage cheese. He had his Hakko set to 650F like always but the lead-free just sat there beading up. Ended up having to crank it to 720F and reflow every single joint while cussing the whole time. The pedal worked but he said it looked like a crime scene under the board.
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simon_coleman
Ngl I've used leaded solder on 500F with no issues for years and it's fine.
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