Soldering paste

Is anyone here using solder paste for smd parts ? If so can you suggest a brand and supplier in the UK.

Hi Bert,

I just got mine from eBay. It's called 'mechanic' solder paste, and appears to work ok.

However I bought mine in a tub, but would strongly suggest you get it in a syringe with a thin end as it's a lot easier to apply that way!

Thanks Gordon and are you using a reflow oven or a hot gun ?

I've been using some washable lead-free solder from eBay (expired, so it's affordable) in my reflow oven. I'm not so happy with the lead-free though, at least not on home-made boards - I don't really like the joints made by lead-free, and the temperature has to be high enough that the boards get a little discolored. It comes out beautifully on real boards, though. On my next reflow run I'm going to try some leaded solder paste from china (via eBay), and see how that works out.

My solder paste is standard leaded stuff (Sn63/Pb37). Only thing I'd say is it'd a million times easier to use in a syringe if everything is warm (25 degrees C or more?). If it's not, the paste is hard to push out, and it often doesn't stick to the board very well.

I use a cheap temperature controlled hot air gun from eBay, set on lowest fan speed at about 230 degrees C. Seems to work pretty well - especially as most stuff I work on (like the Pico boards) has quite a small area.

@DrAzzy @Gordon Once again thanks for the replies.

I had some boards printed from OSHPark, 3 breakouts for a Microchip RN4020, so once my paste arrives I'll get soldering and report back.

I have some from Farnell (1850226). Imagine that is complete overkill, the ebay stuff is probably just as good.