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Dip Soldering Advice

Dip Soldering Advice

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Hello, I am looking to change from hand soldering to a dip ... - Nov 13, 2005 by James

By "Dip Soldering", do you mean like in a solder fountain ty... - Nov 14, 2005 by PeteC

Hello, I am looking at a manual solder bath that the operat... - Nov 14, 2005 by

Talk with these guys, they can give you good guidance: ... - Nov 14, 2005 by PeteC

Good ol'Wenesco. That's one of my old products they have in... - Nov 15, 2005 by URL

Can I dip the populated board in flux and achieve good resul... - Nov 15, 2005 by

These are all good questions. Dip fluxing is fine. Mak... - Nov 16, 2005 by URL

Check out the Unit Design web site and look at their drag so... - Nov 16, 2005 by

James

#37837

Dip Soldering Advice | 13 November, 2005

Hello, I am looking to change from hand soldering to a dip soldering method. The board is double sided (only one side has components though) and has all through hole components currently. I would just like to know if dip soldering would be the best choice to increase production. Also are there are any tips or tricks before I buy equipment? I am sure there are people here with decades of experience in dip soldering that could help me out! Thanks!!!

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PeteC

#37842

Dip Soldering Advice | 14 November, 2005

By "Dip Soldering", do you mean like in a solder fountain type machine as is the Electrovert Soldapak ?

http://www.speedlinetech.com/electrovert/soldapak.aspx

If so, the nozzle sizes are about the most important for best results, not to mention flux, OA works best as with any soldering method.

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James

#37843

Dip Soldering Advice | 14 November, 2005

Hello, I am looking at a manual solder bath that the operator will dip the boards into. We looked at the cost of a wave machine but it is not in the budget for this year so we would like to go with the static bath method. I was hoping someone would be able to give me some more information on it. I have not been able to find much information on the process aside from the basics. Is it really that easy to get acceptable joints with this process. What about bridged joints and other problems? Thanks!

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PeteC

#37860

Dip Soldering Advice | 14 November, 2005

Talk with these guys, they can give you good guidance:

http://www.wenesco.com/electronics.htm#electronicstop

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URL

#37871

Dip Soldering Advice | 15 November, 2005

Good ol'Wenesco. That's one of my old products they have in their advertising. The tricky part about dip process is in the fluxing. Spray fluxing a populated board from the bottom looking up can be a challenge. You'll notice the areas you missed right away, then it's time to double dip. Our problem was always too much flux, so we used a water wash flux and rinsed the boards off afterwards.

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James

#37872

Dip Soldering Advice | 15 November, 2005

Can I dip the populated board in flux and achieve good results? Also how easy is it to clean the flux off the board afterwards if it is waterbased? Do you simply brush the board with a damp brush or spray some remover on the board? I also have this question , do I need to physically press the components down as they are dipped or does the solder not push the components back up? I know these questions sound very basic but I have never used this process before and I am trying to learn about it before I implement it in the shop.

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URL

#37896

Dip Soldering Advice | 16 November, 2005

These are all good questions.

Dip fluxing is fine. Make sure you let all the remaining flux drip off the board. Letting it drip into the pot will cause a lot of spattering of hot solder � be careful. Dipping the board slowly into the pot should not push the parts up. The flux will work with you and start the capillary action, keeping your parts in place. The hard part is making sure the entire bottom side is submersed in the solder within about a 4 to 5 second time frame. Remove the board by picking up one end first. Do not remove the entire board at once.

Cleaning the board can be tricky depending on your board, cleaning process and also drying process. Not to mention environmental pitfalls. The concept to cleaning is to remove the flux. So the best way to do this depends on what you have available or what you can afford. Typically you need to spray the water onto the board to remove the flux from under the parts. Several small run companies use the dish washer type of machine lie EMC makes (http://www.bita.lu/emscreen.htm). Another thing to think of is water hardness. Softer water works better than hard water. Deionized water works better than soft water. Saponifiers or soaps can be used to help clean the boards too. The flux manufacturer can provide some help there. So depending on your product, water spots may or may not be acceptable.

You also have to consider the environmental aspect of cleaning boards too. Depending on your flux, you may not be able to simply let the flux wash down the drain. Do your homework here. You may want to think no-clean flux. I don�t believe there are any that allow you to "dip" the board into. Generally they require you to spray them, but I may be wrong, ask around.

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Mike F

#37919

Dip Soldering Advice | 16 November, 2005

Check out the Unit Design web site and look at their drag soldering machines. You do not want to try to do any of this manually. How consistent are your operators when working above a 500 F solder pot?

I strongly recommend you buy one of the books that deals with soldering processes that has wave solder machine information. For a repeatable process you need to deal with flux application, preheat temperature and time, solder contact time, and other variables. Do some reading first and then you will have a better idea what you need and how to set it up.

Good luck, Mike F

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