I got what I call "tin (plumber) solder" which seems harder\stiffer\more solid than any type of "lead solder" electronic\multicore I've seen or used.
Have done some brake\clutch cables, only trusted\used tin\plumber, and would never use electronic solder.
Am using electronics solder for electronics, and tin 'plumber' or silver\bronze (as appropriate) for anything needing any kind of strength.
Just my impression \ opinion \ choice, for all that I know, electronic stuff may be as good as the tin in practical use, but I don't need to \ want to test if it's the case :O)
Naming solders is a problem now days as different smelters use the same name for different alloys.
At one time they were graded A through K and each letter had a specific composition and most importantly impurity content as the bulk of solder is made tertiary ( from scrap )
below is a good explination of solders and as you see they come in a lot of grades.
Tin is harder than lead but melts at a lower temperature and is a lot more brittle.
All of them end up with some of the eutectic composition and Lead / tin eutectic is one that is bigger in the solid phase than the liquid so make really tight joints.
Now this is for binary Pb-Sn solder.
Very small amounts of Cu, Fe & Ag are deliberately added to various grades to enhance the working of the solder.
For those of you not familiar with phase diagrams, all the V shape above the top line is liquid.
Below this line, every thing is "mushy" ie part liquid & part solid.
Below the second line everything is solid.
For soldering electronic stuff you want the solder to go solid very quickly so the parts do not move during soldering.
For lead wiping you want the solder to be molten for a long time so you can work it into joints, same for leadlight work.
www.farnell.com/datasheets/315929.pdfIf the solder is going to be held molten in an iron pot as is common in the cable industry then it has 0,5 % to 1% of Fe added, this being the solubality of Fe in that particular grade of solder.
The reason for this is to prevent the solder disolving the pot it is being melted in.
Radiator solder has some Cu added for the same reason and that also makes it harden faster so the parts do not come apart while soldering.
If you do some research you will find nearly every grade of solder can be bought as a stick, or wire and the wire can be plain or rosin cored and in some cases multi rosin cored with different rosins that either do different things or react with each other when melted.
Now that the pencil dic* ( to quote Bill Murry in Ghost Busters ) who failed science in 4th grade have taken over we now have around 2000 alternative solders which do not do as good a job as the Pb-Sn solders and a lot of these are far more enviromentally dangerous than the old totally safe Pb-Sn solders.
