I'm sure you can successfully use no-lead solder but why would you want to as a hobbyist? The melting point of NL is 220C while leaded solder is 190C. Thats a huge difference and for someone who doesn't have the experience your chance of lifting a pad is greatly increases especially if that pad has been previously soldered. For manufacturing of electronic components I fully support the use of NL solder but for the hobbyist your chances of developing a successful soldering technique is greatly increased with leaded solder. Is leaded solder against the law or just not sold? I did read that in the EU manufacturing of electronics mandates NL solder but I didn't see anything restricting hobbyists to NL solder.derkom wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 2:59 pm FWIW, I've done plenty of work on these old machines with no-lead solder (we also cannot get leaded solder around here) and the only solder-related problems I've had have been due to my incompetence, not due to the solder composition. Leaded may be preferable to some people, but it's by no means a requirement. I would be surprised if your solder composition is the cause of your problems.
As a side observation on the first H5 boards one of the fixes required the the removal of a surface mount ic. It was a b1tch removing the chip. With the gold plated traces and NL solder the amount of heat required was way beyond what I normally use. You really worry about the pads and traces when so much heat is required. Anyway this old codger uses lead and always will. Have a supply that will outlast me.