“Low melt alloys” is a term some people use to describe alloys that melt at temperatures lower than more traditional SnPb or SnAgCu alloys.
You may have heard of (or perhaps are looking for) alloys with names like wood’s metal, field’s metal, galinstan, cerrosafe, or rose’s metal. At Indium Corporation we call these alloys out either by an Indalloy® number or the full elemental composition, such as 51In/32.5Bi/16.5Sn. The problem with some of these trade names is that they describe a range of alloys that is inconsistent from supplier to supplier. It is ALWAYS better to use the full elemental composition when requesting a quote, and if you don’t know exactly what you need, we have Tech Support Engineers ready to help you.
As a quick guide to help you make sense of the popular names for these low-temperature alloys, here they are with trade name, melting point, and composition:
|
Alloy Name |
Alloy Composition |
Melting Point |
|
Galinstan |
68-69%Ga/21-22%In/9.5-10.5%Sn/<1.5%Bi/<1.5%Sb |
-19°C |
|
Wood’s metal |
50%Bi/26.7%Pb/13.3%Sn/10%Cd |
70°C |
|
Field’s metal |
51%In/32.5Bi/16.5Sn |
62°C |
|
Rose’s metal |
50%Bi/25%Pb/25%Sn |
98°C |
|
Cerrosafe |
42.5%Bi/37.7%Pb/11.3%Sn/8.5%Cd |
74°C |
This information came from Wikipedia, which everyone knows as the most trusted source of information… Honestly though, we really don’t use these terms anymore in the electronics soldering industry – these names are not descriptive enough, and the ranges are not precise enough.
Again, if you need one of these alloys, please contact us and we can help you find what you’re looking for.