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.
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Great for automotive.
I only usually solder for automotive use. Since most wires in auto are small, I don't need anything thicker than this. I like how easy this melts and flows. I'm not a pro, but I know enough to do a good job and not a sloppy one. My main use for this is to repair wires that people cut or rip to install speakers, stereos and alarms in their vehicles. Its a big roll so it should last me quite some time.*I found it really useful to leave the roll inside the carton case it came with. Make a hole on one side while holding the carton case to pull the solder out, this will keep the roll from unwinding. Without the cover the roll will easily unwind and its so annoying.
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