IF 710

Suitable for

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  Wave soldering

  Wave soldering is a bulk soldering process used in electronics manufacturing to connect electronic components to a PCB board. The process is typically used for through hole components but can also be used for soldering of some SMD (Suface Mount Device) components that are glued with an SMT (Surface Mount Technology) adhesive to the bottom side of the PCB before passing through the wave soldering process. The wave soldering process comprises three main steps : Fluxing, preheating and soldering. A conveyor transports the PCBs through the machine. The PCBs can be mounted in a frame to avoid adjusting the conveyor width for every different PCB.  Fluxing is usually done by means of a spray fluxer but also foam fluxing and jet fluxing are possible. The liquid flux is applied from the bottomside of the PCB on the surface and in the trough holes. The purpose of the flux is to deoxydize the solderable surfaces of the PCB and components and allow the liquid soldering alloy to make an intermetallic connection with those surfaces resulting in a solder joint.   The preheating has three main functions. The solvent of the flux needs to be evaporated as it loses its function once its has been applied and it can lead to soldering defects like briding and solder balling when it contacts the solder wave in a liquid state. Water based fluxes in general need more preheating to evaporate than alcohol based fluxes. The second function of the preheating is to limit the thermal shock when the PCB contacts with the liquid solder of the solder wave. This can be important for some SMD components and PCB materials. The third function of the preheating is to promote through hole wetting of the solder. Because of the temperature difference between the PCB board and the liquid solder, the liquid solder will be cooled down when going up the through hole. Thermally heavy boards and components can draw away so much heat from the liquid solder that it is cooled down to the solidification point where it freezes before it gets to the top. This is a typical problem when using Sn(Ag)Cu alloys. A good preheating limits the temperature difference between PCB board and liquid solder and hence reduces the cool down of the liquid solder when going up the through hole. This gives a better chance that the  liquid solder will reach the top of the through hole.  In a third step the PCB board is passed over a solder wave. A bath filled with a soldering alloy is heated up to soldering temperature. This soldering temperature depends on the used soldering alloy. The liquid alloy is pumped through channels up into a wave former. There are several types of wave formers. A traditional setup is a chip wave combined with a laminar main wave. The chip wave jets solder in the direction of the PCB movement and allows to solder the back side of SMD components that are shielded of wave contact in the laminar wave by the body of the component itself is. The laminar main wave flows to the front but the adjustable back plate is positioned like this that the board will push the wave into a back flow. This will avoid the PCB being dragged through the reaction products of the soldering. A wave former that is gaining popularity is the Wörthmann-wave that combines the function of the chip wave and the main wave in one wave. This wave is more sensitive to the correct setting and bridging. Because of the fact that lead-free soldering alloys need high working temperatures and tend to oxydise quite strongly, a lot of wave soldering processes are done in a nitrogen atmosphere. A new market tendency and the considered by some as the future of soldering is the use of a low melting point alloy like e.g. LMPA-Q. LMPA-Q needs less temperature and reduces oxydation. It also has some cost related benefits like reduced electricity consumption, reduced wear ot of carriers and no need for nitrogen. It also reduces the thermal impact on electronic components and PCB materials.

Key advantages

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  Fast drying, easily peelable

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  Does not easily break while peeling

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  For both SnPb and lead-free processes

  In 2006 legislation restricted the use of lead (Pb) in electronics manufacturing.  However there were a lot of exemptions formulated, mainly due to the lack of long time reliablity experience with the lead-free alloys. This resulted in a lot of electronics manufacturing sites that were using both lead-free and Pb containing alloys in their soldering processes. For wave and selective soldering, a lot of electronic manufacturers desired the use of  the same flux chemistry with both types of soldering alloys. This was because they were familiar with the chemistry in terms of reliability. Also introducing new materials in a manufacturing can require a lot of paper work, extra storage capacity, etc...Although the lead-free alloys require higher operating temperatures than the Pb-containing alloys, by increasing the applied flux quantity in a lot of cases the same flux chemistry can be used for both alloys. However in some cases, usually when soldering electronic units with high thermal mass, it is not possible to use the same flux for both soldering alloys. In these cases, usually a flux with higher solid content is needed. A lot of solder wires and solder pastes are available with the same flux for both lead-free and SnPb-alloys.
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  RoHS compliant

  RoHS stands for Restriction of Hazard Substances. It is a European directive: Directive 2002/95/EC. It restricts the use of some substances that are considered Substances of Very High Concern (SHVC) in electrical and electronic equipment for the territory of the European Union. A listing of these substances can be found below: Please note that this info is subject to change. Always check the website of the European Union for most recent information: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/topics/waste-and-recycling/rohs-directive_nl https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32011L0065 1. Cadmium and cadmium compounds  2. Lead and lead compounds  3. Mercury and mercury compounds(Hg)  4. Hexavalent chromium compounds(Cr)  5. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)  6. Polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCN)  7. Chlorinated paraffins (CP)  8. Other chlorinated organic compounds  9. Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB)  10. Polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDE) 11. Other brominated organic compounds  12. Organic tin compounds (Tributyl tin compounds, Triphenyl tin compounds)  13. Asbestos  14. Azo compounds  15. Formaldehyde  16. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and PVC blends  17. Decabrominated diphenyl ester (from 1/7/08)  18. PFOS : EU directive 76/769/EEC (not allowed in a concentration equal to or higher than 0.0005% by mass) 19. Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)  20. Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP)  21. Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)  22. Diisobutyl phthalate 23. Deca brominated diphenyl ester (in electrical and electronic equipment) Other countries outside of the European Union have introduced their own RoHS legislation, which is to a great extent very similar to the European RoHS. 

Physical & chemical properties

Note

May give a discolouration of Cu when applied on naked Cu or Cu-OSP.

Documents

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  TD IF 710 (PDF)

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