Phil, In my experience it is not the quality of the metal that makes the difference but the quality of the flux and other agents. Obviously multiple suppliers (3) would be good to evaluate and should provide better results than multiple darts. Joel -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Phil Nutting Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 6:05 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] choosing solder vendor Assuming all vendors make SAC 305 solder alloy, how am I supposed to determine which one is the one I should buy? Each one says theirs is the purest, has the lowest dross, etc. I'm ready to throw a dart at a name list. Haven't had any bribes (lunch, trips, expensive sports cars) yet. signed, Confused & Overwhelmed --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e 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 or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e 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 or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------