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- Solder Paste - 50g (Lead Free)
This is 50g of high quality, Lead-Free Solder Paste, the perfect amount to keep around for prototyping and hobby projects that require a bit of SMD soldering. Solder Paste Stenciling is the easiest and quickest way to solder some of the trickier SMD components. Here at SparkFun, we use solder paste stenciling on pretty much all of our boards. It saves us a lot of time. But stenciling takes more than just a stencil and a dream... you're going to need some paste.
The composition of this paste is Sn: 96.5%, Ag: 3%, Cu: .5%
Note: Although this Solder Paste comes in 100g containers, it contains 50g of paste. The container is not intended to be full.
- Datasheet
- [MSDS](https://cdn.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Tools/Part 9763 10439 - SDS - Chip Quik.pdf)
- Solder Paste Senciling
- Product Video
Solder Paste - 50g (Lead Free) Product Help and Resources
Core Skill: Soldering
This skill defines how difficult the soldering is on a particular product. It might be a couple simple solder joints, or require special reflow tools.
Skill Level: Competent - You will encounter surface mount components and basic SMD soldering techniques are required.
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Customer Reviews
4.8 out of 5
Based on 10 ratings:
9 of 9 found this helpful:
Solution to all the problems I didn't know I had.
I've been prototyping my own PCBs for nearly a decade now. Lately I've been getting all bent out of shape as components get smaller and smaller, but I can't figure out how to use them because the packages hide the pins (QFN, BGA, MLP, MicroFET..).
I'd spent a lot of time making footprints larger than the packages so that I could solder one pin, and then wick the rest. But this was a mess, and often didn't work on the first try (which means it only gets worse from there).
And then I got a stencil and tried this stuff. It's just completely magical. You smear it all over the design the table top and maybe some on the dog, but when you apply heat the surface tension just draws it back onto the pads (as long as you don't have too much it works fantastic).
I watched the video, and bought a little $15 hot plate. That works great but I'm not sure I needed it. I've also tried the hot-air-gun approach and I actually like it better because it offers a bit more control. The hot plate has a lot of thermal capacitance that gets carried away, and makes things a little more complicated to control. The paste is tacky enough that parts don't just blow all over the place if you're conservative with the airflow. Also the hot air gun seems to make more sense for 2 sided designs (which is sort of a necessity with two layer boards)
50g seems like it should last a lifetime, but we'll see how long it keeps in the fridge.
Anyhow, Good job sparkfun: you rock. Making my life easier, keep it up. I like that.
PS The dog was meant to be hyperbole. Don't do that.
2 of 2 found this helpful:
awsome product
this works VERY well with my brand new Spark Fun, hot air rework station. now I can get to the work I have been saving. Thank you
2 of 2 found this helpful:
Excellent for rework applications
Finding the right solder paste for small SMD rework applications was tricky, until I found this product. It's easy to work with, and goes a long way.
1 of 1 found this helpful:
Works great
As advertized and much easier to use on SMDs.
1 of 1 found this helpful:
Very good
Good quality, soldering smd is very easy with this paste.
1 of 1 found this helpful:
Just as expected.
This is my first paste for SMD. I am using a stencil with this product and it works great. Easily clean your tools with a paper towel and a bit of isopropyl alcohol if you need. Keep cool after opening.
1 of 1 found this helpful:
Perfect for Soldering SMD
Used it to solder all my SMD with hot air. This quantity is enough to do thousands of clean solder. use it and never revert back to awkward "classic" soldering
2 of 2 found this helpful:
First time with SMD
As this was the first time I had done hot air SMD soldering I can't rate this against anything else but I have done conventional soldering for 60 years and this is so easy I was amazed.
Stays put and melts when you need it
My first SMD PCB project benefited from the paste. I used a stencil from my PCB provider and just a little bit of paste. The paste was easy to spread and had a consistent density. While I took my time to lay out my parts, none of the paste moved. I soldered all of my components with a hand-held iron at 700 degrees.
This is graded T3 and while relatively cheap it wont work if there is a stencil with holes smaller than 0.5mm. I recommend having T5 solder paste in stock which is a little more expensive but can handle stencils with holes 0.2mm-0.3mm. Also, manufacture date is very important as these things tend to expire after 4-6 months (regardless if you open them, refrigerate them or pray to them).
Could I use this paste to solder .008" brass wire to etched brass parts with a regular soldering iron? I think it would provide better control than solder because I can't have blobs of any kind - this is a 1:160 scale handrail for a model locomotive.
how many days it can stay without refrigeration ?
Production date? Production date is very important as components inside the paste wear-off after 6 months of PRODUCTION date (yes, not case opening date).
I'm not sure this is something we can easily post and keep accurate. We are being intentional about how much we keep in stock so it doesn't sit too long. If you are looking to buy and need the exact date email techsupport@sparkfun.com and they should be able to check for you.
Also, are these kept refrigerated in your warehouse? and at what temperature? you can extend the shelf life of this stuff for up to a year if refrigerated, but you have to be careful not to freeze it. That separates some of the components and usually ruins it. (ever had yogurt after it's been frozen and thawed? No amount of stirring can get it to mix and "taste right" again)
Checking with our recent stock (it's December currently), the manufacture date indicates that this shipment was manufactured sometime last month. The solder paste is currently stored at room temperature (so around 68-73 °F) with the rest of the stock at SparkFun.
Someone asked this in the YouTube comments, but I'd like to ask it here as well. How much time do you have between applying the solder paste and placing components? Could I apply paste to say 100 boards, and then populate them all, or would the paste dry out before I got to board number 10?
This is only anecdotal evidence, but I have left paste for a few hours before reflow. I remember a production shop mentioning they give their paste an 8 hour shelf life on the board. YMMV
ChipQuik also makes a low-melt temp version of this, right? Any plans to carry that in this size? Or are there downsides to the low temp version? (Trying to reduce my chances of melting the board and components on my hot plate.)
I should mention keeping it in a cool place in an insulated bag does okay as well. I do that since I don't want to power another refrigerator. The peltier small coolers don't work very well for cooling a plastic container.
Probably not a good idea to keep it in the same refrigerator as your food.
As long as it is in a sealed container so it is isolated from foodstuff, it should be fine. Most of the dangerous byproducts of solder paste are released into the air during reflow.
Thanks, I have been considering that. But is there issues with flux evaporating? Even sealed containers can allow gases to seep through.
I feel a little better since its lead free. Nice to see SFE finally has lead free stuff. Now I can get smaller quantities.
No refrigeration required?
In the new product post, Rob said to keep it refrigerated when you aren't using it.