Why can't die cast metal be soldered?

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Why can't die cast metal be soldered? I have an old toy guy form my childhood that i was repairing and refinishing. The barrel is cracked and I thought I would solder the crack, but the solder wouldn't stick. The gun is made out of die cast metal (I think). I know this is isn't an electrical question but I guess you could consider this as Types of Materials that can be soldered.

-- john russel (wild_deuce_1932@yahoo.com), June 20, 2004

Answers

I don't know the chemical reason. There are just some metals you can solder and others you can't - no matter how hard you try! Die cast metals is one of the no-way metals.

-- Allan Gartner (wire4dcc_admin@comcast.net), June 20, 2004.

John

You could use epoxy or try keying in EUTECTIC and search. These guys will join anything to anything.

ken

-- ken ison (kvison @ shaw.ca), July 16, 2004.


If you need an Electrical connection, try tapping a hole and anchoring a wire with lug and screw. White metal is usually a Zinc alloy - electroplating it with copper (as post 1982 pennies are) is a possibility - but... why?

-- Peter Friedrich (p.friedrich@att.net), December 07, 2004.

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