I'm looking for an acid based solder paste for electrical soldering. I haven't purchased the stuff for years. Things have changed quite a bit. We used to refer to it as an RMA type. There seem to be so many kinds now,; no lead, no clean. It needs to reduce aggressively.
For electrical soldering you went Rosin Core solder. Acid flux is NOT for electrical use. Just buy the solder with the rosin core. I dont think rosin is sold separately.
Acid paste and acid core solder is for soldering plumbing, gutters, sheet metal, etc. (It should be cleaned off after the soldering is finished too, and you can not clean it off too well on electrical components. It will corrode the components and copper wire.
I don't know what you mean by "electrical soldering", but regardless, DO NOT use acid core solder for electrical/electroinics soldering. Use rosin core solder. You can still buy rolls of good 'ol 60/40 (tin/lead) rosin core, the most common still-contains-lead type of electrical solder, at any Radio Shack. If you need a more specialized solder for special applications, yer gonna hafta do some homework.
If you are thinking to soldering large gauge (16g or larger) wires to something like automotive connectors, you may want to reconsider. Might be OK to merely "tin" stranded wire, but most modern connectors are designed to worked better w/o soldering.
nb
MOST tinners fluid is hydrochloric acid with as much zinc in it as it will disolve. Ends up being Zinc Chloride. To make it you use dilute hydrochloric axid and add zinc untill it stops producing hydrogen bubbles. It is a much better flux than acid alone - but is NOT suitable for electrical work as adequate cleanup is difficult if not impossible.
Sal Ammoniac (Aluminum Chloride) is also used as a tinning flux. It is mildly acidic and is a component of many soldering paste fluxes and acid core solders. Also not recommended for electrical soldering, but it is really handy for cleaning soldering tips (in block form)
Don't know why you feel you need acid based flux. If you look at the product data sheet for standard Nokorode regular paste flux, it show it to be "acid and lead free" but usable for almost all soldering situations. I still have a 2 oz tin of the stuff I purchased about 50 years ago and it works beautifully for electrical soldering applications. (Never tried it for plumbing). See:
No, you're not. You might think you are... but what you really want is rosin-based.
Apparently long enough to have forgotten what to use.
Not that much. Electrical soldering requires rosin, and *not* acid.
Just get yourself a roll of rosin-core solder. Radio Shack sells it, and you should be able to find it at ACE Hardware or Tru-Value.
Ammonium Chloride, actually.
The flux in flux core solder isnt enough. Get a tub of it. I do a lot of electronic soldering and mix rosin paste flux with alcohol and put it in a pump bottle like my wife uses for nail polish remover. I paint it on to the joint before soldering.
Jimmie
You are right - I mis-typed.
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