The history of the installation of soldering wave solder begins with the 50s of the last century. From the first simplest systems with manual control, the installation of wave soldering has evolved to almost automatic systems with double wave solder and computer control.
The principle of operation of the wave soldering installation implies the movement of printed circuit boards along a conveyor across a constantly circulating wave of molten solder. Wave soldering systems can be used for soldering both individual printed circuit boards and multi-products with already installed SMD components. The process of reflow is always preceded by several stages of preparation of the printed circuit board:
In order to achieve the most efficient use of a wave soldering installation, it is necessary to have a prior technologically competent design of a printed circuit board. In the case of a large number of output components on the PCB, the quality of the soldering will directly depend on the PCB layout.
Advantages Wave soldering:
High process productivity compared to manual and selective soldering
Possibility of simultaneous soldering of boards with mixed installation (SMD + THT)
Possibility of lead-free soldering
No highly qualified staff required
Disadvantages of wave soldering:
The entire board is exposed to high temperatures. Cannot be used with heat sensitive components.
Flux is applied by spraying over the entire surface of the board, which leads to its increased consumption
All components are soldered in one mode. There is no possibility to choose special conditions for sensitive components.
The large surface of the open solder leads to the formation of slag. As a rule, up to 2 kg of slag is formed within 8 hours
Soldering problems of thin printed circuit boards
