I finally learned why my solder joints kept cracking on vintage amps

I was working on a 1974 Fender Twin Reverb last month and every joint I put down looked cold after a day. A guy at the local electronics shop told me I was using lead-free solder on old terminal strips, and that the thermal expansion rates don't match. Has anyone else run into this issue when mixing modern solder with old gear?

3 comments

3 Comments

fiona98527d ago

Huh, overthinking it much? Old solder works fine.

the_spencer28d ago

Huh, did you check if that old solder was causing contamination in the joints themselves?

ellis.susan28d ago

Oh come on, that seems like a stretch. Old solder is old solder, it's not like it's gonna poison the whole joint. I've seen people use 50 year old solder and it still works fine. Unless you're talking about lead based stuff, which is a whole different animal. Most of the time the contamination is just from bad technique or dirty surfaces, not the solder itself. I doubt it's that deep unless you're dealing with some really cheap mystery metal.