Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

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Removing lead based solder from copper?

2006

Dear Sir,
I'm writing to ask you how to remove lead based solder from a copper vessel
and replacing it with lead free solder. is there a solvent or acid that can do this without harming copper, brass, or tin in any way?. if not perhaps you can suggest a way that it can be done, and with what tools specifically will I need to carry out the work?
Jonathan Andrew Abraham
hobbyist - Northampton in England

I'd probably start by thoroughly desoldering with a solder sucker and solder wick. Depending on the construction method, this may disassemble the vessel so the remnants can be sanded away.
Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2006

2006

You can remove it with very fine sandpaper or with scalpel. It can be removed with acid solution too:
330 gm acetic acid ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links]
50 gm hydrogen peroxide(30%)
1 lit distilled water
Goran Budija
- Cerovski vrh Croatia

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