soldering always getting a dull finish, dry ?

[jason]

hi,

i bought a soldering atation and doing a bit of soldering work on a curcuit board,\

however i have noticed the solder once i remove the iron quickly turns a dull grey color?
heard this is called a dry joint?

i have tryed diffrent heat settings as well as making sure the tip is clean,
also tryed tining tip however still get a dull grey finish?

is it because of the solder im useing?

im useing a lead free solder,

someone told me its because i need a rosin cored solder, is this true?


i have practiced on another curcuit baord and noticed one part i heated up it had like a black residue once heated but this would dry shiny.

anyone please comment.

thankyou and happy xmas

jason.

[R_ay]

No doubt it is the lead-free solder which gives it the "dry look". It is the nature of the beast & will never look shiny like the leaded solder.

Of course most every manufacturer has switched to lead-free solder which requires hotter temps & not very easy to work with. Gets even worse when having to work on SMD pcb's.