Since solder is such a poor conductor, why use it?

1)Consider the hundreds and in some cases possibly even thousands of solder joints within many electronic components. Why worry about a few more external ones?

2)In a properly soldered joint there will be extensive direct contact between the conductors being mated, so the resistance of the surrounding solder shouldn't matter.

3)The resistance of a properly soldered joint is likely to be negligible compared to the resistance of the wire being soldered, due to the great disparity in length.

4)In many applications, especially line-level analog interconnects, fraction of an ohm resistances will be totally unimportant anyway. Assuming, that is, that the line-level components being connected are not susceptible to ground loop issues as a result of poor design (in which case the resistance of the ground conductor might be of some significance).

Regards,
-- Al

Plus, there are cable brands that use no solder.

Al,

I understand that ARC uses "silver solder" in its products. That said, I am dubious the solder is 100% silver or any silver alloy even close to pure silver. Not even sure what the melt point of pure silver is ... but I surmise it's a lot hotter than the typical lead/tin alloy used in regular solder.

Is the notion of so called "silver solder" real or hype??

Cheers,

BIF

The purpose of solder is to exclude air and thereby oxidation from the joint.

The connection should be first made mechanically and electrically sound, then soldered.

Crimped connections can also be effective in excluding air.

Crimp for a solid mechanical connection. Solder to add strength and rigidity.
That's the way I learned it 40 plus years ago. Hve things changed since then?