wire type solder value

[cajts]

I have 60 plus lbs. of wire type solder and wondering what it is worth. I don't need that much and would like to sell or trade for some lead. Thanks

[Beagle333]

Do you know how much tin is in it? (is it lead-free?)

[jmort]

If it is acid core, it will be a much harder sell. Figure retail is around $20.00 per pound and most here would pay around $10.00 a pound. If you have 100% tin then you are looking at around $600.00 in trade/value. If it is 60% then you have around 36 pounds of tin and about $360.00 in value.

[cajts]

I guess I need to smelt it and see if scrap yard will scan it for me to see exactly what % it is. I really need more lead and would like to trade it for lead as funds are low. Thanks

[badbob454]

on the end of the spool it should say ,, 60-40 or something like that...60 tin 40 lead or may say lead free , silver solder , any thing?

[cajts]

this was all in a big wadded up ball with 2 small spools of 95% tin that I took out to use for soldering myself on circuit boards. So I do not know what% the 60# is. All I know is it is very very soft and melts at really low temp.

[Whiterabbit]

What it is WORTH, I have no idea. But I have a bunch of it too. When I want to sell a little of it, I price it based on current FS section prices for straight tin, then price accordingly based on the tin percentage of my solder (63% since mine is eutectic). The lead or other stuff I figure is a freebie. Or I round up to the nearest dollar rather than down.

I have never had trouble selling tin solder this way. It always felt like a fair price.

[AllanD]

A good clue as to what is is would be to tell us what size the wire solder is..

0.020" or 0.030" is almost certainly 60Sn or 63Sn electrical solder

If it is 0.120" diameter it is most likely plumbing solder of some kind...
Most likely 50Sn.

AD

[bangerjim]

Only 60#???????? [smilie=s: I have 450# of SN!

Unless your are strapped for cash, keep it. It will only increase in price.

banger

[cajts]

It is more like the .120 size. I wish I could keep it but I am low on cash and lead. I only have about 250lb lead left and 2 buckets of monotype. I figure I can get the tin I need from the mono when I smelt a batch into ingots. Between my 3 boys and me that wont last long so I would like to trade solder for lead. Thanks for the help from everyone.

[bangerjim]

If you ever plan on selling the mono......DO NOT re-melt it into ingots!!!!! People will believe lino/foundry/mono in it's native form, but ANYTHING could be in ingots!!!!!!

If ONLY for your own use, melt away.

banger

[RogerDat]

I don't trade/sell it but a good form for scrap solder is small disks from muffin or mini muffin tin as mold. Only filled about a 3/8 inch or so deep. Makes "coins" of a few ounces each. 5 pounds will fit in a zip lock baggie. I just take 2 or 3 in as representative and have them gunned at the scrap yard. Label them all based on the reading from that sample.

Bunch of zip lock bags will fit into a coffee can (or SFRB) or loose if you have enough that are all the same. Mine have varied from 40% to 63% tin depending on what scrap wire went into the pot. I essentially have a change jar :-)

Oh and +1 on leave printers lead in raw form. The form is a publically recognized "assay" of the alloy content when selling. Like a silver dollar is a "know" amount of silver.

[cajts]

I plan to keep the mono. I use it to harden soft lead. Soft lead is readily available here but hard stuff not so much.