Lead Based Solder Alternatives

[Rich The Philosophizer]

[...]
In the US, lead-based batteries must be recycled, and there is a fee
charged when you buy a new battery to pay for the recycling costs.

The actual recycling goes on elsewhere. The "boat loads" of dead
batteries are shipped overseas to be recycled.

You mean ' recycled '.

Or dumped in a Chinese / Pakistani back yard as I recently heard.

The lead is worth too much to leave behind. Her's what I understand they
do:

(1)
Knock the caps off the battery and tip it upside down so the acid
drains out and into the soil.

(2)
Make a big pile of the drained batteries and pour gasoline on them. Throw
a match at them and wait while the plastic burns way.

(3)
Scoop up the remains and put them in a big pot.

(4)
Cut down some of the rain forest to build a fire under the big pot to melt
the lead.

Why don't they just put the pot on top of the next pile of
batteries?

(5)
Lead being heavy sinks to the bottom of the pot when it melts. The other
just floats on the surface, so you can get some children to scrap the junk
away from the melt.

(6)
Pour the recycled lead into molds to make it ready for return shipment.

;^j
Rich

 

[Rich The Philosophizer]

Yeah we all know how soluble lead is, we only used it to make water pipes
for hundreds of years.

Yeah, until the whole empire died of dementia.

Hey, I wonder.....

Cheers!
Rich

 

[budgie]

(snip)

There is a technology where a laser makes a velcro like surface on metal.
We could have boards where the parts are just pressed into place.

Now THAT could be the ultimate in recycling. Pull all the active devices off a
defunct board ;-)

 

[Paul Hovnanian P.E.]

[snip]

What about various alloys of gold? Back in my days in the aerospace biz,
one vendor proposed using a gold alloy solder. Although it wasn't our
job to review this part of their design, we did toy with the idea of
asking them to ship us a couple of pounds of the proposed solder, 'for
certification purposes'. ;-)

Do you have any info (element ratios and melting points)?

Unfortunately, no. I was indirectly involved with this project. The
vendor proposed a gold alloy solder for some connections within a 90 kVA
400 Hz generator. I'd guess that the requirements were for a relatively
high temperature environment and to withstand aviation hydraulic fluids.

 

[Pooh Bear]

Yeah we all know how soluble lead is, we only used it to make water pipes
for hundreds of years.

Perfectly safe in hard water areas on account of the fact that the pipe scales
over thus preventing the lead going into solution.

It has been considered a problem in certain UK cities like Glasgow for example
where the water isn't hard and lead has been used in the past extensively. It's
recommended to let the tap run for a while before using the water for drinking.


Graham