Should silver solder be cleaned if it is ''tarnished'' ?

I have some 2 year old silver solder which has been hanging on the wall inside the house. It is good quality silver solder with cadmium which I use for soldering copper boilers. It has lost its bright and shiny new look ; it is a bit ''tarnished'' for want of a better word. Should it be cleaned before use by using steel wool or something similar ?

NOTE : I always make sure the copper surfaces to be soldered are clean and bright and I use plenty of flux.

Hello Brian (what a good name!), personally, I would clean off the tarnish before use but not with wire wool as it can leave particles of steel embedded in the silver solder.

I just use some fine emery paper or cloth and wrap it around the silver solder sticks and pull the stick through a couple of times.

Brian

I have some very old easyflo that is tarnished, it dates back to the 1980s, I give it a pull through a piece of scotchbrite before I use it, probably unnecessary as the flux would remove the oxides but it makes me feel happier.

Hi Brian,

If it makes you feel better, then clean it, but it's not really necessary. The tarnish is only a film of oxide that the flux will remove.

When doing a brazing demo, I might have cleaned the rod purely for a esthetic reasons.

I would use a piece of newspaper. If the silver solder contained more than than 40% silver I would use a broadsheet, if it was less, I found a tabloid satisfactory!

Regards

Keith

Okay, thanks for that. It is probably not necessary but I will give it a quick pull through some emery paper anyway.