Wave Soldering is a large-scale soldering process by which electronic components are soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB) to form an electronic assembly. The name is derived from the fact that the process uses a tank to hold a quantity of molten solder; the components are inserted into or placed on the PCB and the loaded PCB is passed across a pumped wave or cascade of solder. The solder wets to the exposed metallic areas of the board (those not protected with solder mask), creating a reliable mechanical and electrical connection. The process is much faster and can create a higher quality product than manual soldering of components. (De)soldering a contact from a wire. ... An electronic component is a basic electronic building block packaged in a discrete form with two or more connecting leads or metallic pads. ... (De)soldering a contact from a wire. ... Close-up photo of one side of a motherboard PCB, showing conductive traces, vias and solder points for through-hole components on the opposite side. ...

Wave soldering is used for both through-hole printed circuit assemblies, and surface mount. In the latter case, the components are glued onto the printed circuit board surface before being run through the molten solder wave.

As pin-through-hole components have been largely replaced by surface mount components, wave soldering has been supplanted by reflow soldering methods in many large-scale electronics applications. However, there is still significant wave soldering where SMT is not suitable (e.g. large power devices and high pin count connectors), or where simple through-hole technology prevails (certain white goods). A through-hole component, also spelled thru-hole, is an Electronic component that has pins designed to be inserted into holes and soldered to pads on a printed board. ... Surface-mount components on a keydrives circuit board Surface mount technology (SMT) is a method for constructing electronic circuits in which the components are mounted directly onto the surface of printed circuit boards (PCBs). ... Reflow soldering is the most common means to attach a surface mounted component to a circuit board, and typically consists of applying solder paste, positioning the devices, and reflowing the solder in a conveyorized oven. ... A major appliance is a large machine which accomplishes some routine housekeeping task, which includes purposes such as cooking, food preservation, or cleaning, whether in a household, institutional, commercial or industrial setting. ...

Wave Solder Process

There are many types of wave solder machines, however the basic components and principles of these machines are the same. A standard wave solder machine consists of three zones: the fluxing zone, the preheating zone and the soldering zone. An additional fourth zone, cleaning, is used depending on the type of flux applied. In metallurgy, flux is a substance which facilitates soldering, brazing, and welding by chemically cleaning the metals to be joined. ...

Fixtures

The printed circuit board with through-hole components on top of the board and/or surface mount components glued on the bottom side are sometimes placed on a fixture. The fixture is a fiberglass composite or titanium frame with openings exposing the components to be soldered. Wave solder fixtures are required for PCB's where bottom side components cannot be exposed to the solder, or the board is either too small or has a non rectangular shape and cannot be 'picked up' by the titanium fingers. The fixtures can also be used to incorporate clamping and alignment devices designed to hold components in place and prevent 'lifting' of the components as the leads hit the wave, whilst ensuring correct vertical alignment. The fixture is then placed on a conveyor which will carry the PCB through the machine. The conveyor consists of titanium fingers. Titanium is used because solder will not adhere to this metal. General Name, Symbol, Number titanium, Ti, 22 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 4, 4, d Appearance silvery metallic Atomic mass 47. ...

Fluxing

The PCB will then enter the fluxing zone, which applies flux to the underside of the board. Two types of fluxers are used: the spray fluxer and foam fluxer.

Spray fluxer

The spray fluxer some consist of a robotic arm which travels from side to side while spraying a fine mist of flux onto the bottom side of the board. Other spray fluxers can consist of a stationary bar with a series of nozzles that spray a fine mist. then there are additional ones that can consist of a single stationary ultrasonic head and or an oscillating ultrasonic head. Some systems will then use compressed air to remove excess flux or to completely remove flux from some areas. Dramatic morning mist Mist is a phenomenon of a liquid in small droplets floating through air. ... Compressed air is used to refer to: Pneumatics, the use of pressurized gases to do work, as used in the Air car Breathing gas, often used in scuba diving, also to inflate buoyancy devices Compressed air can also be used for cooling using a vortex tube. ...

Foam fluxer

The foam fluxer consists of a tank of flux into which a plastic cylinder with tiny holes is immersed; this is sometimes called a "stone". The plastic cylinder is covered with a metal chimney. Air is passed through this cylinder which causes flux foam to rise up the chimney, forming a cascading head of foam. As the PCB passes over the foam head, flux is applied to the PCB. A chimney is a system for venting hot gases and smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. ... Foam The most general definition of foam is a substance that is formed by trapping many gas bubbles in a liquid or solid. ...

For either flux application method, precise control of flux quantities are required. Too little flux will cause poor joints, while too much flux may cause cosmetic or other problems.

Preheating

The PCB will then enter the preheating zone. The preheating zone consists of convection heaters which blow hot air onto the PCB to increase its temperature. For thicker or densely populated PCBs, an upper preheater might be used. The upper preheater is usually an infrared heater. Image of a small dog taken in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of radio waves. ...

Preheating is necessary to activate the flux, and to remove any flux carrier solvents. Preheating is also necessary to prevent thermal shock. Thermal shock occurs when a PCB is suddenly exposed to the high temperature of the molten solder wave from the ambient room temperature. Thermal shock is the name given to cracking as a result of rapid temperature change. ...

Soldering

The tank of molten solder has a pattern of standing waves (or, in some cases, intermittent waves) on its surface. When the PCB is moved over this tank, the solder waves contact the bottom of the board, and stick to the solder pads and component leads via surface tension. Precise control of wave height is required to make sure solder is applied to all areas but does not splash to the top of the board or other undesired areas. This process is sometimes performed in an inert gas atmosphere to increase the quality of the joints. A standing wave, also known as a stationary wave, is a wave that remains in a constant position. ... In physics, surface tension is an effect within the surface layer of a liquid that causes that layer to behave as an elastic sheet. ... An inert gas is any gas that is not reactive under normal circumstances. ...

Cleaning

Some types of flux, called "no-clean" fluxes, do not require cleaning; their residues are benign after the soldering process. Others, however, require a cleaning stage, in which the PCB is washed with solvents and/or deionized water to remove flux residue. A solvent is a fluid phase (liquid, gas, or plasma) that dissolves a solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution. ... Deionized water (DI water or de-ionized water; also spelled deionised water, see spelling differences) is water that lacks ions, such as cations from sodium, calcium, iron, copper and anions such as chloride and bromide. ...

Process monitoring

Due to the precise requirements needed for wave soldering, the soldering equipment must be closely monitored. Common tests include visually inspecting boards for signs of problems with the soldering process, a resistance test to make sure no flux or other deposits are causing conduction between traces, halide content tests to check for proper flux activation, and others. In modern equipment, virtually all control of the process is computerized, and little human interaction is needed to monitor and adjust the equipment. Electrical resistance is a measure of the degree to which an electrical component opposes the passage of current. ... A halide is a binary compound, of which one part is a halogen atom and the other part is an element or radical that is less electronegative than the halogen, to make a fluoride, chloride, bromide, iodide, or astatide compound. ...

External links

• Tour of a motherboard factory, including pictures of a wave soldering machine
• Manufacturer of Wave Solder Machine
• Examples of Wave Solder Fixtures and other PCB assembly tooling