![]() In my case I was building a homemade pot still and needed to bond the Stainless Steel tri clamp ferrules to a 2″ copper column. I hope we start seeing more effective lead-free solders that use this element, and I hope the relevant public finds there isn't as much reason to be afraid of it.If you’re building a project that requires you to join a copper and stainless steel part this article will teach you how to do it. I know this question is old, but I felt there are still misconceptions about antimony. There seems to be an increase in research related to antimony and its manufacturing and use in solder and electronics, but it has a long way to go to outweigh the older body of research related to other antimony compounds and even more so, the perception of the public. ![]() None of this should matter, antimony itself is less toxic than silver based on the sources I could find that separated antimony as it is found in solder & electronics, (antimony and toxic compounds containing antimony are often lumped together in many reports). The deep mental relation between antimony and lead, and toxic compounds containing antimony make this a difficult perception to overcome. A compound known as antimony trioxide, formerly a commonly used fire retardant that is now outlawed or heavily restricted, and several related compounds used in plastic production add to this confusion. The core answer to your question is that companies were and still are adverse to creating & marketing a product containing an element which is often assumed to be more toxic than it is. Perhaps mandatory labeling is worth considering, but one harmful interaction with one specific soldering fluid does not fully explain the slow uptake. Chlorine and ammonia based cleaners have this same issue, and are definitely used in the same settings. The possibility of antimony + zinc chloride toxicity are relevant, but this alone cannot explain the public perception of antimony toxicity. That said, concerns over antimony toxicity are still very much a problem that prevents higher quality lead-free solder from flourishing. Since the time you asked this question there are now more products containing antimony on the market. Some sources say that AIM has a patent on it, but according to this it only applies in USA and Japan. Less silver oxide (which ruins the solder when heated for too long).Inhibits tin pest and other undesirable compounds.Īnd here are some more advantages that come specifically from replacing some of the silver with antimony:.Increased wetting (probably, although 0.3% is more optimal for this).Here are some advantages I see of the Ag03A alloy vs SAC305 (due to the antimony): It's still not as common as the above mentioned alloys in mass production, and is almost nowhere to be found for hand solder wire. The most common electrical solder alloy with antimony is Ag03A (96.2%Sn, 2.5%Ag, 0.8%Cu, 0.5%Sb). Most of these are mechanical (strength) benefits, similar to the benefits of silver while being cheaper. Small amounts of antimony (Sb) have been shown to improve the properties of tin-based solder. ![]() The most common lead free electrical solder alloys are SAC305 (96.5%Sn, 3.0%Ag, 0.5%Cu) and Sn99 (99.3%Sn, 0.7%Cu), especially for hand soldering wire. ![]()
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