When industry announced the intention to eliminate lead (Pb) from the soldering process, a number of experiments were performed to test the cleaning efficacy of Pb-free soldering materials. The cleaning data, from over 75 Pb-free solder pastes, suggested different residue types that were more difficult to clean than standard eutectic Sn/Pb. As Pb-free materials evolved, innovative-engineered flux compositions addressed many of the soldering problems by improving wetting, solder joint appearance, flux residue content and visual appearance. Solder paste manufacturer innovations continue to improve flux compositions leading to better wetting, tack life, printability and void-free solder joints. Cleaning efficacy of the Pb-free solder flux residues continue to vary widely from materials offered by the different soldering materials companies. Read the full article (PDF)...

This article was taken from Global SMT & Packaging Vol. 7 No. 1 - January 2007 

Keywords : Pb-free, lead-free, cleaning flux, cleaning Pb-free, cleaning lead-free

Average user rating

   (0 vote)