Increase in the price of Lead in 2021

[Platy767]

I got a shock today when buying some solder and flux.

I bought some Carrs 145 solder that cost A$26 and I thought "Hmmm, that seems expensive for a little coil of solder",
(but it is from a bricks and mortar hobby shop - and they do stock other fluxes and solders from the Carrs range, so I was happy to get it.), but I went to Jaycar (one of Australia's hobbyist electronics chain) to get some bits for another DC controller build and saw that 200g of 1mm 60/40 cored solder was A$23. This is up quite a bit from the last time I looked (earlier in the year, $17 IIRC).
Once I was back at home and on the PC I had a look at the lead price over the last 12months and it is up over 20%, so I thought the price increase made some sense and I should stop ranting. So I will.
Mark

[Bealman]

Something I've never really thought about, or paid attention to, but I'm sure you're right!

I know the three Christmas Santa Claus displays I'm currently building (also from Jaycar) are going through my solder!

[chrism]

Tin's gone up a fair bit in the last year too.

[exmouthcraig]

Working with lead everyday of my working life the price increases come exceptionally quick down the line.

With new lead prices currently around the £2.10 - £2.30 per kilo.

Scrap prices are always hovering around the £1.10 -£1.15 per kilo.

Not scientific or evidential BUT back in the days of 2010/11/12 scrap values rocketed to within £0.20p of the new prices, lead theft was astronomical, as such I  consequently replaced many a school or church roof stolen by these 

Ever since scrap prices have struggled to rise above
£1.20 as the higher that goes the more thefts take place.

It is my belief the scrap value is kept artificially low in an attempt to quell this behaviour.

[Platy767]

Tin's gone up a fair bit in the last year too.

@chrism (That's an understatement!!)

Me thinks "I'll have a quick look at the tin price"

My goodness! Forget the lead at 20%, tin has gone up 109% last 12 months.

There are probably some currency variations with the $A, but wow, that's a lot.
Incidentally the lead free solders at Jaycar have increased in price more than leaded. More tin in them. Good thing I think they are rubbish and don't use them.

Mark

[trkilliman]

What isn't going up in price, all we can do is solder on.

[chrism]

Tin's gone up a fair bit in the last year too.

@chrism (That's an understatement!!)

Me thinks "I'll have a quick look at the tin price"

My goodness! Forget the lead at 20%, tin has gone up 109% last 12 months.

Although that needs to be taken in context - around a year ago was the lowest point for quite some time, so it could just be the price recovering.

[Newportnobby]

Once I was back at home and on the PC I had a look at the lead price over the last 12months and it is up over 20%

Damn. That's going to make the lead swimming flippers I'm making for my favourite nephew more expensive than first thought. Sill, the end justifies the means

[chrism]

Once I was back at home and on the PC I had a look at the lead price over the last 12months and it is up over 20%

Damn. That's going to make the lead swimming flippers I'm making for my favourite nephew more expensive than first thought. Sill, the end justifies the means

Use uranium instead - you won't need so much and it'll keep his feet warm 

[joe cassidy]

I'm glad I didn't throw out my old fishing weights 

[jpendle]

So apart from the luddites on here who insist on leaded solder 

Which industry uses lead these days? It's gone in electronics, and paint, and petrol.

Asking out of genuine interest.

John P

[TrevL]

So apart from the luddites on here who insist on leaded solder 

Which industry uses lead these days? It's gone in electronics, and paint, and petrol.

Asking out of genuine interest.

John P

This company only five miles from here seem to make a living from lead products, for a range of industries including healthcare, building, defense and nuclear.
https://www.calderlead.co.uk/

Somebody has got to keep the NRA stocked up

[exmouthcraig]

Probably one of the original industries to use it  and still us traditional Roofing contractors use it every day.

Plenty of replacements have been marketed over the years and I've done many insurance replacement roofs with 'lead replacement products' but the original and the best

Milled lead roll

Nothing comes close and I still enjoy working with it everyday!

[stevewalker]

So apart from the luddites on here who insist on leaded solder 

Which industry uses lead these days? It's gone in electronics, and paint, and petrol.

Asking out of genuine interest.

John P

It's certainly still used in critical applications (avionics and the like), as unleaded solder is far more likely to suffer from bad/dry joints and they are more difficult to spot.

I wish they'd defined car electronics as critical - it was no fun having my car lose all power on the M60 motorway, in rush hour, with the hard-shoulder closed off for roadworks! It turned out to be a bad joint on a connector pin on the back of the instrument cluster. It seems that for that car, the security chip is on the instrument cluster, so if it loses communication, it cuts all power. I resoldered it with leaded solder and had no more problems.

[Platy767]

So apart from the luddites on here who insist on leaded solder 

I'm not a luddite in the historical sense, nor even a luddite in the derogatory sense, as I will happily accept and use new technologies, ideas, design and methods, but only if these are improvements or necessities over what is current. I prefer leaded solder for my hand soldering, but would (will) use lead free when I have to. 
Mark