Hows everyone adapting to lead free solder?

I just don't like it You have to get it so hot for it to stick and it flows really badly,when soldering transistors onto PCB I set my soldering iron on low and use a heatsink and th transistor still gets to hot for comfort,by the time this stuff has melted the whole PCB is glowing.

I can't buy any good old lead/tin solder in the large stores near me now it all silver/tin since the EU banned lead solder in all new appliances,so what if lead makes you go nuts and grow a second head I could use the company.

Rant over,I guess...

EDIT It was 'restricted' by the EU in 2006 but it seems,well to me anyway its only now three years later that all the stocks of leaded solder have run out.

 

Wow, silver? Quite a difference in cost to start with and ya, I can imagine one destroying transistors from excessive heat. I can see it being good for the environment for commercial users but hobbyists are a very miniscule part of the equation. Quite draconian IMO.

 

That's it unless your a robotic arm soldering them in a split second silver solder is makes everything much harder and the amount of lead solder used by hobbyists will have a tiny immeasurable impact on the environment.

I'm sure if I look around some place will still sell it but my point is a I shouldn't have to.

EDIT most are only 2% silver or so which reminds me most solders were only 0.1% lead 99.9% tin so were talking about a tiny amount of lead.

 

Thankfully I bought a 2 large rolls of standard rosin core lead solder. I don't like the lead free solder at all. Especilly when working with curcuit boards and small connections.

 

I don't care for lead-free solder for the reason Rikky states . . . you have to get it much hotter for it to set properly. Usually a clip-on heat-sink is enough to draw the heat away from the component, but they are not always easy or even possible to use.

Lead free is harder to work with, no doubt about it.

 

Found some in a little DIY store,bought 5 tubes of it all they had in stock:-D

BTW the mixture I stated before was wrong,regular solder is 60/40 tin/lead which is the stuff I've bought,rosin core not acid core.