Kester 24-6337-0027 Solder Roll, Core Size 66, 63/37 Alloy, 0.031" Diameter

Great product for RC modelers and electronics hobbyists. This is a good value in a big, economy-sized spool which should last me a year or two. A dispenser is a good idea; this roll is much heavier than a standard hardware store pack and can be hard to manage. Mine likes to jump off of my table and go for a joy ride at the most inconvenient times, rolling across the room trailing wire. I guess another option would be to transfer some to a smaller spool as you use it.This .031" diameter is a pretty good compromise size for cables ranging from 28 to 12 AWG. It will even work on fairly roomy circuit board pads; however, I generally keep a small supply of thinner-diameter solder on hand for that kind of work.When I started out soldering cable harnesses, connectors etc. for my models, I found it pretty frustrating. As we know, the goal is to get the solder nicely liquefied so it will flow freely through the work, then keep things very still while it cools and solidifies. I found that, as I heated the cable and applied solder, it tended to soften, but getting it to melt completely enough to flow into the twisted wires - especially on bigger cables - wasn't easy. Instead I'd get a mushy glob that would sit on the surface without making good penetration. Then, when I was ready to let it cool, it seemed to take forever to solidify, making it hard to keep everything steady.As tempting as it may be, in such cases, to just stick the ends of the wires into a nice big glob of half-melted solder, let that cool and hide the pathetic result under a wad of electrical tape, the end product will NOT be a strong, reliable connection, able to withstand the necessary current without heating up, and may fail completely. Ask me how I know!Well, it turns out that the answer is in the choice of solder. For some reason, none of the instructional materials I studied early on even mentioned one of the keys to happy, safe soldering work. It lies in the concept of a "eutectic" mixture or alloy. For any combination of two or more metals, there is a certain ratio between the amounts of each which, when combined, yields an alloy with the lowest melting point possible. In the case of lead and tin, an alloy commonly used for electrical soldering, that ratio is 63 lead and 37 tin. That's the ratio used in this solder.The practical result, and the reason why a eutectic solder mix works so well, is that when it melts, it goes directly from the solid to the liquid state or "phase". When it cools and solidifies, it does the opposite. The intermediate state, known in technical terms as a "glob", is completely skipped! When it gets hot enough, whoosh! It instantly liquifies, and flows beautifully into the cable ends and/or onto the connectors. (Remember to always heat the cable or connector first, and let it heat the solder!). Remove the heat, maybe blow on it gently for a second, and whoosh! It's back to a nice, shiny (which is what you want) solid. A strong, reliable electrical connection is born.Just try it, you'll like it. Unfortunately, if you look at the labels of the majority of solders sold in hardware stores, you'll find that the lead/tin ratios are 60-40, not the "magic" 63-37. I have no idea why the 60-40 is even made, though if I had to guess, it may be because the "glob" state is desirable for certain types of users - plumbers, for example, or lazy electricians who prefer the "stick wires ends in glob" method described above. Just don't be that guy/gal, unless your fire insurance is paid up, and you're ok with watching smoke pour out of your electric model aircraft in the seconds before impact.

While using this I noticed how easily it liquifies and flows to the joints. Very clean and professional look. Best solder you can get for the price while having very high performance at the same time.

So, I had been building electronics, fixing guitars, doing synth work for two decades before I switched to this stuff from various generic other solders (whatever the store had on hand). All I can say is that I would have saved myself some time and work if I had used this and a temp regulated iron from the beginning. It's night and day, life changing, hours saving, and more satisfying in the end (turns out my soldering tech isn't as bad as I had always thought it was. Switch to good tools and I get a solid, good-looking joint every time). I have also tested this with a good quality (goot) non-temp-regulated iron and it's still very good.Just, learn from someone else and buy great tools from the outset or don't solder. Soldering is a way more fun and easy experience with the right tools. This solder is one of those right tools. I don't really see how you could do much better than Kester 44 if you're buying electrical solder in this spec. So, I'm giving it five stars all around.

I had previously used mainly relatively cheap solders but decided it would be worth it to invest in a better product. This solder flows really well and I had no issues at all soldering anything from through-hole to SSOP10.The roll is huge and even with a decent bit of soldering, it looks like it will last a long time. There is a bit of a sweet smell from the flux (I assume), but I don't find it to be distracting or off-putting, actually, I prefer it to some of the other smells of different solders.

I've been soldering off and on since I was 8 years old, and son to an electrical engineer, and now I'm one myself. So I feel qualified to review solder. Firstly, when looking to purchase solder for your electronic projects you want to make sure your solder meets the following criteria:- If using lead based you want either 63/37 or 60/40 for a nice even melt- A flux core or multiple flux cores- A quality brand (Kester, Multicore, etc)You want to avoid the "Won-Hung-Lo" discount brands and bite the bullet and invest into a quality solder product. Your solder joints should be shiny and silver in color. If your solder joints are dull and grey or off silver or pitted.. You are using the wrong solder. I recommend Kester or Multicore solder as they are both consistent performers and both are quality products. I also highly recommend a good temperature controlled soldering iron. It doesn't matter if it's analog or digital but don't skimp on your iron either (Hakko or Weller, and not the type you plug directly into the wall).This particular thickness of solder is suitable to thru-hole and large component soldering. However if you intend to solder surface mount you will want a smaller thickness of solder anything .020 or less is more suited to SMD (or solder paste and a heat gun). You won't be disappointed with the quality of the Kester solder products.

Good brand name known product that performs as expected