In a message dated 2/15/2001 8:46:23 PM Central Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: << Solder paste reuse: does anybody has this practice? Obviously, my solder paste supplier does not recommend it. Nicolas Ortiz Process Engineering Group Leader Conexant Systems >> Hi Nicolas, Your supplier is not recommending it to in order to sell you more paste, it is a valid recommendation. I'm not quite sure about what you mean by "reuse", but if you mean taking paste off a stencil, putting it back in a jar after a run, and then keep using it, that's a bad idea. The paste will absorb moisture, the volatiles in the paste will evaporate, basically changing everything about the formulation of the paste = not performing like it's been advertised to do...I don't know of any manufacturer of solder pastes that would recommend to reuse solder paste after it's been dispensed on a stencil... I do however, understand your concern about the expense when throwing away solder paste...it's not cheap, anywhere from $50.00-75.00 for a 700-gram jar. But you can recover some of the costs through recycling...Alpha/Fry Metals will recycle solder paste and give you back the money that the tin/lead market prices are at the time you turn it in... Bottom-line, don't "reuse" your solder paste...it'll bite you... -Steve Gregory- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send the following message: SET Technet NOMAIL Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------