Possible to tell the solder used on a PCB is lead free?

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powersys

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I got a eZdsp F2812 (bought in 2007 or 2008):
**broken link removed**

The DSP on the board is suspected to have been died and I wish to replace it with a new DSP chip (with 176 fine pitch pins). I'm looking for a suitable flux (water soluble type) to help soldering the chip. There are two types, flux for conventional soldering and flux for lead-free soldering. I'm not sure what type of solder used on the DSP board. Is there a method to find it out? Or, I can buy either one?

Thanks.
 

Visually lead-free soldered joints can appear duller and more cratered appearance than tin-lead solder joint, but in your case, if you don't have any obligations, I wouldn't worry much and use either ..

IanP
 

IanP said:
Visually lead-free soldered joints can appear duller and more cratered appearance than tin-lead solder joint, but in your case, if you don't have any obligations, I wouldn't worry much and use either ..

IanP
Click to expand...
Thanks. I found out not many (online) stores (e.g. Farnell, RS component, Digikey, etc.) sell "water soluble flux". I wonder why or has it been banned?
 

Water soluble fluxes are more aggressive, so if you don’t clean the flux residues off, it will continue to eat away the base metal, therefore it must be intelligently used and must have a good cleaning process associated with it ..
They are not banned but, I’d say, just require more carefulness ..

IanP
 

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    powersys

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For repair purposes, I would suggest to use "no-clean" flux only. I don't assume, that you are able to wash the board after repair as required otherwise.
 

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    powersys

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Thanks IanP and FvM. By the way, what is so special about **broken link removed** flux?


Since I've very little knowledge on surface-mounted device soldering, I'm looking for a suitable flux to assist the soldering of a 176-pin DSP chip as shown below.

**broken link removed**


I found two products which I can purchase at Rapid Online here:
[1] **broken link removed**
[2] **broken link removed**

More details about both products:
https://www.warton-metals.co.uk/fluxes-thinners.html

Which product do you think is suitable most for novice like me? I'm worried of "bridging" as the pin-pitch is so fine.

By the way, do you guys think flux pen is good enough?

Thanks.
 

Mate, it’s a work for a very experienced person, I wouldn’t undertake such a task by myself ..

IanP
:|
 

IanP said:
Mate, it’s a work for a very experienced person, I wouldn’t undertake such a task by myself ...
Click to expand...
Hi Ianp... you're right as the risk to damage the board is very high for a novice like me. It's a faulty board and I suspect the DSP on the board got some problem. I've removed the DSP chip from the board, and now looking for a suitable flux, which I hope it will make my life a little bit easier when soldering a new DSP.

It's faulty and unwanted board left by my colleague. Since I need a relatively decent DSP motion controller while I'm pretty sad to learn that my boss (who's really stingy or biased) has no plan to buy a new one for me, so I've to try my luck and see if I can repair it or not.
 

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