Swapped my hot shoe soldering method after 3 dead flashes

For years I used the thin 60/40 solder on flash hot shoes because that's what I learned. Last month I tried the thick 63/37 with flux core on a Nikon SB-800 and the joints held way better under stress. The thin stuff was cracking from the constant plugging and unplugging, I had to rework 3 units in 2 weeks. Has anyone else switched their solder type and seen a big drop in callbacks?

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wesleypatel21d ago

The thin stuff was cracking" got me. That's wild. I figured all solder was basically the same once it melted, you know? I've been messing with these cheap flashes for years and never thought about the metal blend causing the joints to break like that. Three dead units in two weeks though, that would've made me throw a soldering iron through a wall. The 63/37 having less of that soft garbage in it makes sense now that you say it, I just never looked at it that way. I'm seriously going to check my last few repairs tonight because I bet I've got the same cracks starting.