Technical Data Sheet
Properties of Alloys
of Multicore Solder Wires
# August 2007
This data sheet lists the most popular solders supplied as As far as obtaining a low melting point is concerned,
flux-cored wire and can be used in addition to the there is no advantage in using a higher tin content than
separate Technical Data Sheets for Multicore cored 63/37, since the higher tin content alloys have higher
solder wire fluxes. melting points and cost more.
TIN/LEAD ALLOYS MULTICORE SAVBIT ALLOY
From the following diagram, it can be seen that most x SAVES Copper and Iron-plated Soldering
tin/lead solders have a plastic range, i.e. on heating they Iron Bits
are pasty between the solid and liquid states. The solders
x SAVES failure of soldered joints as Savbit
are solid at 183°C (361°F).
prevents erosion of copper wires and copper
plating
According to the alloy composition they have different
x SAVES costs and improves reliability
plastic ranges. 60/40 tin/lead alloy for example becomes
liquid at 188°C (370°F) and therefore has a plastic range
Multicore Savbit Solder is produced especially to
of 5°C (9°F), 40/60 tin/lead has a plastic range of 51°C
overcome the problem of ordinary tin/lead solders
(92°F).
dissolving copper. It is an alloy to which a precise
Percentage of Lead amount of copper has been added so that no further
100 80 70 60 55 50 40 copper absorption should take place during soldering.
°F °C
621 327
The breakage time of 0.067mm copper wire in various
527 275 LIQUID solders as a function of temperature is shown below.
491 255
PASTY °F °C
453 234 Savb
452 232 10,000 it 1
435 224
414 212
370 188 PASTY
361 183
1,000
HM
20/ P
80
100
SOLID
Time
(seconds) 60
/40
10
Sa
vbi
Pu
t1
re
T in
1
0 20 30 40 45 50 60 100
Percentage of Tin
0.1
For applications such as wave soldering of electronic 200 300 400
assemblies, the requirement for a solder with a relatively Temperature (°C)
low melting point in conjunction with a short freezing
range leads to the choice of 63/37 or 60/40 Sn/Pb alloy. Savbit solder has been used by leading electronics
Although 63/37 is the eutectic alloy, 60/40 is often used manufacturers throughout the world for over forty years.
in practice as the slightly higher 5°C freezing range of Savbit was originally used to increase the life of copper
60/40 is of no practical significance and 60/40 is a little soldering iron bits. Soldering speed and efficiency are
cheaper than 63/37. Under conditions of slow cooling, increased by keeping the iron in good condition. Iron-
60/40 may give duller joints than 63/37 but this is a plated bits having a longer life than plain copper tips are
purely cosmetic effect. now commonly used but they also fail eventually
(usually by cracking of the plating) and then erode
Lowering the tin content increases the pasty range and rapidly unless Savbit solder is used.
raises the liquidus temperature whilst of course reducing
the cost of the alloy. Wetting properties tend to fall off It has also been proved that the use of Savbit alloy can
with the reduced tin content. improve the strength and reliability of soldered joints
very considerably. This is because ordinary tin/lead
alloys can erode thin copper wires (as used for leads of
electronic components) and thin copper films (as used on
NOT FOR PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS
THE TECHNICAL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS INTENDED FOR REFERENCE ONLY. PLEASE CONTACT HENKEL
TECHNOLOGIES TECHNICAL SERVICE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON SPECIFICATIONS FOR THIS
PRODUCT.
Properties of Alloys, August 2007
printed circuit boards.) This erosion is between 50 and LEAD FREE ALLOYS
100 times slower at normal soldering temperatures when Lead-free soldering is now EU law. The WEEE and
Savbit alloy is used. RoHS Directives were published by the EC in 2003 for
implementation by July 2006. All EU countries will
HMP SOLDER have, with few exempted electronics applications, to
The presence of 1.5% silver substantially improves comply with the elimination of lead in their production.
strength and wetting power compared to 5/95 Sn/Pb
solder. Multicore 96SC (SAC387) and 97SC (SAC305): Since
Multicore 96SC and 97SC are the universally accepted
Applications lead-free alloys for SMT reflow, it is obvious that
Making nearby soldered joints: A useful application of 96SC/97SC alloys ensure perfect compatibility when re-
a high melting point alloy is the soldering of joints close working SMT assemblies originally soldered with these
to each other in such a way that the first joint is not re- alloys. These alloys perform the closest to traditional
melted while the later joint, or joints, are being made. Sn/Pb alloys.
The first joint is made with HMP alloy (296-301°C) and
the further joints are made with successively lower Multicore 99C: This is the standard lead-free alloy for
melting point alloys, for example - 60/40 tin/lead alloy hand soldering and rework: Due to the fact that
(183-188°C) and good control of soldering temperatures. temperature dynamics of rework can be less controlled
than reflow processes, it is safe to use 99C alloy for all
Service at high temperatures: The maximum safe lead-free hand soldering and rework applications. There
service temperature for any solder alloy subjected to is a considerable cost advantage also. 99C has superior
stress is about 40°C below the solidus melting wetting and capillary filling characteristics and is also
temperature, HMP alloy can therefore be relied upon in used for plumbing applications.
service up to about 255°C compared with about 145°C
for the common tin/lead alloys. HMP alloy is Multicore 96S: This alloy is the pure tin/silver eutectic
consequently particularly suitable for soldering electric alloy; like pure tin, it is bright, hardly tarnishes, is lead-
motors, car radiators, high temperature lamps and other free and non-toxic, but unlike pure tin it is relatively
products which are likely to meet relatively high strong.
temperatures during their working life.
It has higher electrical conductivity than other soft
If HMP is used to solder tin/lead coated components, the solders and a melting point approximately 40°C higher
resulting soldered joint will be a new alloy with a lower than either 60/40, 63/37 or LMP alloys. For one or more
melting point than HMP alloy. This will depend on the of these reasons it finds uses, despite its higher cost, in
thickness and composition of the coating. The coating the form of Multicore Solder Wire usually in Electronics
itself could therefore be HMP alloy if necessary. applications. The alloy itself is however used more
extensively for non-electrical applications in the form of
Service at very low temperatures: Tin/Lead alloys Multicore ARAX Acid-cored Solder, particularly for
containing more than 20% of tin become brittle at soldering stainless steel.
temperatures below about -70°C. The HMP alloy
containing 5% of tin remains ductile (non-brittle) down 96S has better wetting power on stainless steel than other
to below -200°C. Multicore HMP alloy is also solders. Note the silver in 96S does not suppress
recommended therefore for service in extremely cold absorption of silver from silver plated surfaces or
conditions. metallisations into the solder, so 96S is not suitable for
soldering to such surfaces.
Creep strength of HMP alloy: From information
supplied, it is clear that an outstanding feature is its very 95A - Lead-free high temperature solder: 95A is a
great improvement in resistance to creep by comparison high melting point solder suitable for general purpose
with the tin/lead solders, both at normal and at elevated soldering where a lead-free alloy is require
temperatures. At 150°C for example, a 50/50 tin/lead
solder will fail under a load of 0.7 N mm-2 in Sn62 SOLDERS
approximately 10 hours. The following results were Applications
obtained with HMP alloy at the same temperature. Soldering silver-plated surfaces: The presence of the
2% silver in Sn62 alloys suppresses absorption of silver
Load (N mm-2) Time to failure from silver-plated surfaces into the solder. A good joint
3.4 150 hours is thus obtained. If an ordinary tin/lead alloy is used on
1.7 about 1 year
0.7 no creep
silver-plated surfaces, the silver can be lifted from the
surface and dissolved into the solder so that a good joint
is unlikely. The attachment of terminations in the
manufacture of silver ceramic capacitors is a typical
application.
NOT FOR PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS
THE TECHNICAL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS INTENDED FOR REFERENCE ONLY. PLEASE CONTACT HENKEL
TECHNOLOGIES TECHNICAL SERVICE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON SPECIFICATIONS FOR THIS
PRODUCT.
Properties of Alloys, August 2007
NOMINAL COMPOSITIONS AND SPECIFICATIONS OF STANDARD MULTICORE ALLOYS
Alloy Tin Lead Antimony Copper Silver Melting
Point/Range
Sn63, 63/37 & 63EN 63 37 - - - 183 standard electronics rework
Sn60, 60/40 & 60EN 60 40 - - - 183-188 standard electronics rework
50/50 & 50EN 50 50 - - - 183-212 electrical/industrial soldering
45/55 & 45EN 45 55 - - - 183-224 electrical/industrial soldering
40/60 & 40EN 40 60 - - - 183-234 electrical/industrial soldering
30/70 & 30EN 30 70 - - - 183-255 electrical/industrial soldering
20/80 & 31D 20 80 - - - 183-275 electrical/industrial soldering
15/85 & 4D 15 85 - - - 227-288 electrical/industrial soldering
45D 18 80 - - 2 178-270 Aluminium soldering
95A 95 - 5 - - 236-243 high temp. lead free alloy
96S & Sn96 96.3 - - - 3.7 221 possible lead free option
96SC (SAC387) 95.5 - - 0.7 3.8 217 common lead free alloy
97SC (SAC305) 96.5 - - 0.5 3 217 common lead free alloy
97Cu3 97 - - 3 - 230-250 high temp. lead free alloy
99C 99.3 - - 0.7 - 227 common lead free alloy
HMP 5 93.5 - - 1.5 296-301 high temp. standard alloy
Savbit1 50 48.5 - 1.5 - 183-215 thin copper wire soldering
Savbit6 60 38 - 2 - 183-190 thin copper wire soldering
Sn62 or LMP 62 36 - - 2 179 low melting point alloy
Note: All alloys comply with EN 29453 and J-STD-006 or BS219 as appropriate
Other alloys can be made available subject to demand
TENSILE STRENGTHS, DENSITY AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY
Density Electrical conductivity
Ultimate Tensile Strength
Alloy (% IACS)
(N mm-2) (tons in-2) (g cc-1)
Sn63 67 4.3 8.4 11.9
Sn60, 60/40, 60EN 48 3.1 8.5 11.5
50EN 47 3.1 8.9 10.9
45EN 47 3.1 9.1 10.5
40EN 47 3.1 9.3 10.1
30EN 49 3.2 9.7 9.3
20/80 51 3.3 10.0 8.7
15/85 49 3.2 10.2 8.5
95A 31 2.0 7.2 10.8
96SC/97SC 48 3.1 7.5 13
96S 54 3.5 7.5 13.9
HMP 36 2.3 11.1 8.0
Sav1 55 3.5 8.9 10.9
Sn50 45 2.9 8.9 10.9
Sn62 90 5.9 8.5 11.5
The UTS listed above refers to the bulk solder. The values give a guide to the relative strengths at room temperature of identical joints
made with different solder alloys, but should not be used to calculate absolute joint strengths, which depend primarily on the conditions
of test; thanks are due to the International Tin Research Institute for their co-operation in arriving at values all determined under the
same conditions, viz specimens freshly cast at 50°C above liquidus, unmachined, tested at 20°C at 1/16in. per minute strain rate. 1N
mm-2 = 145 psi = 0.102 kg mm-2 = 0.065 tons in-2.
GENERAL INFORMATION
For safe handling information of this product, consult the Material Safety Data Sheet, (MSDS).
Note:
The data contained herein are furnished for information only and are believed to be reliable. We cannot assume responsibility for the
results obtained by others over whose methods we have no control. It is the user’s responsibility to determine suitability for the user’s
purpose of any production methods mentioned herein and to adopt such precautions as may be advisable for the protection of property
and of persons against any hazards that may be involved in the handling and use thereof. In light of the foregoing, Henkel Corporation
specifically disclaims all warranties expressed or implied, including warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular
purpose, arising from sale or use of Henkel Corporation’s products. Henkel Corporation specifically disclaims any liability for
consequential or incidental damages of any kind, including lost profits. The discussion herein of various processes or compositions
is not to be interpreted as representation that they are free from domination of patents owned by others or as a license under any Henkel
Corporation patents that may cover such processes or compositions. We recommend that each prospective user test his proposed
application before repetitive use, using this data as a guide. This product may be covered by one or more United States or foreign
patents or patent applications.
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