Kester EP256 Solder Paste, No-Clean 63/37, Syringe Dispenser

LIkes: It works! One application generally gets all the excess solder out of through-holes. I like the way the heat resistant tip wraps around the soldering iron tip. Triggering it is easy, and doesn't move the tip like releasing a bulb-type solder remover does. Dislike: The plunger can be set with a single hand, but not with a single finger. That's okay, I've got the workbench to push the plunger against.

works well. having never used this stuff and never having done a surface mount solder job, I was able to do it successfully first time and many times after.

other tahn it would be nice if it was a little thinner, works fine.

Great product! First time I have ever done surface mount repair using a hot air rework tool. I used this product in addition to an X-Tronic 4040 hot air rework station to remove and install a severely damaged 50 pin CF memory socket from a Braille reader for a blind friend. Several lands on the PC board were damaged and required patching with hair thin wire to repair. This product and the ChipQuick Flux made this repair a breeze.

This solder was 1 week from expiration, based on a 6 month shelf life, which I read somewhere. It would not stick to the circuit boards, and was very hard to push. It took excessive amounts of heat to process, and was overall terrible. I would like to try a fresh tube of this, but I will not buy it again to try it. I am sending this one back, as it is completely unusuable.

The good: This is an excellent performing solder paste. The bad: Kester EP256 has a 6 month shelf life according to the datasheet. CML is purchasing it in bulk, packaging it into smaller quantities, and reselling it. All of this takes time. The package I received did not have a Date of Manufacture printed or written anywhere, so it's too risky to use. I returned it for this reason.

Easy to spread and bonds very strong. This stuff makes resoldering electronics to circuit boards easy and is a great combination with a heat gun. It also lets you do things that standard solder can't like rebuilding computer heatsinks. I have ordered 2 syringes and neither were dried out like some people have had issues with.

DOM (date of manufacture) 9/8/14, date received 11/7/14. I've been soldering SMD components to my friend's circuit board for four hours using this solder paste and a fine tip soldering iron to just heat it. A hot air method would certainly work too. This IS Kester solder portioned into a syringe and sold as depicted. A little tough to push the plunger, but I've been able to control to the finest pitch devices and smallest SMD chips with great control. I will be buying this again. Great stuff solders very clean, almost no residue.