Should I discard my leaded resin core solder

[Wade Lippman]

Just don't use it on any water line repairs.

Just curious... My house is 11 years old with copper pipes. What would have been used to solder them?

is there a code requirement on this?

[Lee Schierer]

Probably a non-lead solder. If you don't have acidic water it probably isn't a problem if they used a lead based solder.

If you are really concerned, have your water tested.

[Wade Lippman]

Not concerned; just curious.

[Stan Calow]

Wade, lead solder for drinking water pipes was banned after 1986 and state and local plumbing codes were updated. However, people likely continued to use it for repairs etc., especially homeowners who did their own work. A plumber could lose their license if they used it now.
Way back then just for fun, I soldered some copper pipe joints, and then cut them open in cross-section. Every one of them had big globs of solder on the inside of the joint, which would have been exposed to water. Its the water that sits in the pipe for a long time that picks up lead from the solder, even if not acidic.

[Bill Jobe]

I think toothpaste used to come in a lead tube, didn't it?

[Rich Riddle]

Keep it or give it to someone else who's comfortable utilizing it. My goodness you wouldn't want to put lead into the ground in a landfill. Oh wait, doesn't lead originally come out of the ground?

[Jason Roehl]

Wade, lead solder for drinking water pipes was banned after 1986 and state and local plumbing codes were updated. However, people likely continued to use it for repairs etc., especially homeowners who did their own work. A plumber could lose their license if they used it now.
Way back then just for fun, I soldered some copper pipe joints, and then cut them open in cross-section. Every one of them had big globs of solder on the inside of the joint, which would have been exposed to water. Its the water that sits in the pipe for a long time that picks up lead from the solder, even if not acidic.

This.

If you're concerned about your pipes being soldered with lead, just run the water for a few minutes before you drink it, especially first thing in the morning.

[Dave Stuve]

I do electronics as a hobby, and still use lead solder. I find it more forgiving than the silver/lead free solder. As long as you don't create any dust, the fumes from soldering are easy to deal with. I've got a solder fume absorbing fan, which works great:

xytronic.jpg

This the exact model I have made by Xytronic (there are plenty of others), and it's essentially a metal case with a big personal computer fan which sucks air across your work, through an activated charcoal filter, and blows the cleaned air upwards. The charcoal filters are cheap and don't need to be replaced too often (I take mine out and put it in a Ziplock when not in use.) I put mine on a box to elevate it if I'm soldering something tall.

Amazon sells them for about $45 - just do a search for smoke absorber or fume extractor.

[Tom Stenzel]

I think the key part of the question was:

"I don't do much soldering"

What you might do to protect yourself from lead fumes depends on how much exposure you have. If you solder two wires every other three years a decent amount of ventilation should be enough.

If you're really worried about it I'd tell you to send it to me but I have a pound of it too. It's enough to outlast me.

-Tom

[Dan Friedrichs]

Keep it or give it to someone else who's comfortable utilizing it. My goodness you wouldn't want to put lead into the ground in a landfill. Oh wait, doesn't lead originally come out of the ground?

So does uranium and arsenic.

[Pat Barry]

There is no better solder for electronics than 63/37 tin lead solder - the kind commonly found in spools with a resin flux core. Do not use it for plumbing though, strictly electronics.

[Wade Lippman]

There is no better solder for electronics than 63/37 tin lead solder - the kind commonly found in spools with a resin flux core. Do not use it for plumbing though, strictly electronics.

I won't, but why not?
How about the opposite; using 50/50 tin lead with plumbing flux on electrical wires?

[Tom Stenzel]

I won't, but why not?

Because of the lead getting inside the pipe and leaching into the water.

When I replaced the galvanized lines in my Detroit house I used lead-free solder but there was one copper line from the '60's that had been installed with lead. It ran to the basement toilet. I thought that if someone was drinking water out of it lead was the least of their problems...

How about the opposite; using 50/50 tin lead with plumbing flux on electrical wires?

The flux is corrosive and the 50/50 solder has a higher melting point. When working on circuit boards the higher melting point makes it difficult (I find it about impossible) to avoid damage to the traces. Putting together two 14 gauge wires and the like is doable with 50/50. Make sure you scrub all traces of the flux off when you're done.

A friend of mine worked for Tektronix a few decades ago, he spotted some damage to a 'scope board that looked like it came from acid flux. Sure enough a few weeks later a bulletin came from Beaverton that acid flux had made it's way to an assembly line with a procedure to mitigate the damage. Cleaning up acid flux isn't nearly as easy as just using non-corrosive flux in the first place.

I just looked, my spool of .028" rosin core I bought sometime in the '80s is 62/36/2. The 2% silver makes it flow better. There's probably more than 14 oz. left.

-Tom

[Jim Andrew]

I built my house in 81, so it has lead solder in the pipe joints. Also have a reverse osmosis filter setup for drinking water.

[Roger Feeley]

This is becoming a really interesting discussion. When I was a kid, my parents told me to let the water run for a minute or so before getting water to consume. They said pretty much what you said. That the water that sits in the pipes has time to absorb the lead. Running for a bit flushes that stuff out of there. I have a new house with PEX pipes and I still let the water run. I don't know what's in that plastic but know there's something. The water that's been sitting has a taste.