Clough42 Electronic Lead Screw

[ttabbal]

I used red translucent packing tape!



I suspect the solder is lead free. It needs heat. I found adding a little bit of lead solder helped desoldering quite a bit as well.

 

[RJSakowski]

lead free solders are more difficult to use than the old 63/37 electronic solder but it is still manageable. In more than fifty years of electronic soldering, IMO the biggest factor is getting a quality solder to begin with. Solders sold in hardware stores and the like are often poor quality, made from reclaimed metals and tend to oxidize quickly, making for poor quality joints. I still use the older solder because of the lower melting point and I am not bound by RoHS rules. A second factor is having the right flux. Even in name brand solders, the flux varies quite a bit in activity. I am not sure what you have available in Oz but here I use either Ersin or Kester solder. I currently use Kester 44 Rosin Core. I used to use Ersin Multicore or Savbit solder.
Third, use the right temperature and enough iron to do the job. I usually work with a 50 watt iron at 300ºC. The iron should have a tip appropriate to the task at hand. Finally, use the right diameter of solder for the job. For fin work, sub mm. For heavier work, 2 -3 mm.

 

[RJSakowski]

deleted, double post

 

[Boswell]

I use RED polycarbonate or Plexi that I get as drops from a local Plastic supplier. It generally works GREAT as a lense for RED 7-Seg LEDs.