September 17, 201015 yr I just bought a 1lb reel of Kester 245 solder online and the date of manufacture is 11/30/04. The website says that their leaded solder 'goes off' after 3 years. Given this is almost 6 years old, should I return it or not worry about it and just use it? Slightly reluctant to return it as Kester is not so easy to get locally here in the UK and I wanted to buy a decent/premium product for my first forays into serious (non-disastrous) soldering.
September 17, 201015 yr I'm using a roll of Kester 44 that I got from work over 20 years ago. Works fine. I know Kester has an expiration date, but I wouldn't worry about it. One more way of selling more solder IMO.
September 17, 201015 yr the only thing I've noticed with solder is it can get very dirty. I'm not sure if this is dirt, or some chemical reaction or what. This presents problems when soldering as the flux tries to eat this away and the joints end up rather crusty. You'll notice this when it happens though.
September 18, 201015 yr I've picked up solder older than I am at the W6TRW meet. Never had any trouble with it.
September 18, 201015 yr Author Thank you very much for the replies and endorsements! Guess I'll just use it and not worry about it )
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