walrus Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) I've decided to try my hand at making an etched nickel silver kit. I've done plenty of electrical / electronic soldering using multicore solder but from memory all the articles I've seen about etched kits seem to use separate flux. There seem to be a variety of fluxes available so which one is best for this purpose or will multicore be OK? Edited July 18, 2020 by walrus correct typo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) My experience is that pretty much any flux will work. I've tried various types and the results all seem to be the same, as far as I can tell. My recommendation would be a non acid flux such as is available from Gaugemaster. I used to use Carrs Green acid flux but the fumes are irritating. I use uncored 60/40 solder which is equivalent to 188C. Cored solder is not suitable for building etched kits. John Edited July 18, 2020 by brossard 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 I use Powerflo (thinned with water as Derek Mundy suggests and applied with a piece of wire or cocktail stick) and 145 solder with my temperature controlled iron set quite high. Cleanliness of the surfaces to be soldered is a major factor in achieving good results. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 15 hours ago, brossard said: My experience is that pretty much any flux will work. I've tried various types and the results all seem to be the same, as far as I can tell. My recommendation would be a non acid flux such as is available from Gaugemaster. I used to use Carrs Green acid flux but the fumes are irritating. I use uncored 60/40 solder which is equivalent to 188C. Cored solder is not suitable for building etched kits. John I use the Carrs red flux for non ferrous metals (green I use for steel as its much more aggressive) but as said most liquid fluxes are fine. I have some from London Road Models 12% which is excellent 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PenrithBeacon Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 I use rosin cored solder for most non-ferrous metals excepting white metal. I do use acidic fluxes on areas that are difficult to clean because the acid, when heated, cleans the surface. So, for the structural parts of a chassis, rosin, and the details like brakes etc acid. In the latter the flux is applied by a cocktail stick. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 Forgot to add Carrs red flux is organic !! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpgibbons Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 (edited) I'm told that Carrs Red and Green fluxes are both phosphoric acid solutions, and differ only in degree of dilution. Edited July 19, 2020 by dpgibbons Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 Just now, dpgibbons said: My understanding is that Carrs Red and Green fluxes are both phosphoric acid solutions and differ only in degree of dilution. Not according to the Carrs data sheet I have, it clearly states organic as does the latest info on Precision's website https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/carrs/soldering/flux/c1020 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpgibbons Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 Phosphoric acid is commonly used in organic fluxes, but perhaps Carr's are using an organic acid (eg citric acid) instead as the activator. However I suspect the Red is just a diluted version of the Green, to be used when a less aggressive flux is required, eg for whitemetal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted July 19, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 19, 2020 I hase used rosin cored normal tin lead solder. Also used plumbing flux. Not recommended but worked. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Torper Posted July 19, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 19, 2020 (edited) I use Carr's Green labLe. It is an "active" flux and the residue may be corrosive and should be cleaned, but that's not difficult and is more than made up for by the fact that it is an extremely reliable flux that works well. I haven't been troubled by any fumes it produces. As it says on the Phoenix website: "Our biggest seller and for most modellers the flux they instinctively turn to. It is suitable for use with steel, but not stainless steel, Copper, Brass, nickel silver and similar alloys". Every bit as important as the flux, of course, is the solder - don't get lead free! DT Edited July 19, 2020 by Torper 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Bucoops Posted July 19, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 19, 2020 Nickel silver solders REALLY easily - I'd' be happy to pay a little extra for more kits to be made from it. I use this stuff at present - http://www.7mmlocomotives.co.uk//index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=1&category_id=1&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=52&vmcchk=1&Itemid=52 Before that I used DCC Concepts Sapphire but that needs a bit more effort with cleaning afterwards (it says no clean but that's a lie ;)). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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