Soft soldering

Soft soldering is distinguished from strong soldering by the temperature of

fusion of the filler material. Soft soldering uses fillers with
melting point below 450 °C and brazing above
450 °C.

Aplicaciones
Soft soldering has a wide range of applications, from manufacturing
from toys to airplane engines and space vehicles. In general, they
used for joining small pieces, different pieces
materials, where it would be very difficult to use a fusion welding process.
Soft solder is often used in electronic components, such as
printed circuits or transistors, ornamental pieces and pieces of
heat exchangers.

Advantages
The advantages that we can find in the use of this method of
welding are

No physical changes are achieved in the material to be welded as it does not reach the
melting temperature.
No surface tensions are presented due to the temperature
reached is very low.
Coatings and plating of materials can be preserved.
base.
Ease of obtaining healthy unions between different materials, even
between metallic and non-metallic materials or between materials of
different thicknesses.
Welds can be obtained on precision parts.
With some processes, it is possible to perform welding with many pieces.
at the same time, which makes it very economical.
Only low temperatures are required, with the energy savings that this entails.
involves.
The appearance of the welding is very good.
It is a process that can be easily automated.
No special protective measures are needed.
Limitations
The design of the pieces, and in some cases their preparation, can be more
complicated and expensive. Its application in the case of parts is very costly.
big.

Necessary means
1st WELDING DEVICE

They are the elements responsible for providing the necessary heat to reach the temperature of
fusion of the filler material to carry out the welding between the two materials. The
the most common welding devices are those called soldering irons
they specify according to their power in watts depending on the type of work. Likewise, the shape and

The size of the tip will also depend on the work to be done. The most common types of
soldering tools are: pencil soldering iron, industrial soldering iron, soldering gun, and gas soldering iron

blowtorch

2nd FUSIBLE CLEANING PASTE

The flux plays a crucial role in performing soft soldering, where its main
functions are:

. Isolate from air contact.

. Dissolve and remove the oxides that may form.

. Promote the wetting of the base material by the molten filler metal, achieving
that the filler metal can flow and distribute in the joint.

Fluxes are mixtures of many chemical components. Among those that can be mentioned
there are borates, fluorides, borax, boric acid and wetting agents.

They are usually supplied in the form of powder, paste, or liquid. The powder flux can
apply dry, or dissolve in water or alcohol which improves its adhesion. The type
The most well-known flux is paste flux; liquid flux is the least used.

The flux should be applied after cleaning the parts with a brush,
dusting in the case of powder, or dissolving it with water or alcohol which improves its
adherence.
 The flux indicates when the base material has reached the welding temperature and is
must apply the contribution material, in many cases the flux, when it melts, it
returns transparent, indicating that it is time to apply the filler metal.

Once the soldering process is completed, the residues must be cleaned to prevent the
corrosion. After removing it, it is necessary to apply a stripping treatment to eliminate the
oxides that may have formed during welding in the areas not protected by the
flux

When a small amount of flux is used, or the pieces have been overheated, the
flux becomes oversaturated with oxides, generally turning green or
black, being difficult to remove, for this case it will be necessary to submerge the piece in an acid

that will act as a stripper.

Contribution metal
It is the metal that is added during welding. The characteristics it must have.
fulfilling the contribution metal is:

. Ability to wet the base metal.

. Appropriate melting temperature and good fluidity to allow for its distribution by attraction.
capillary in the joints.

. Be able to produce a welded joint that meets the mechanical strength requirements.
and to corrosion in normal service conditions.

Each contribution material is used for a specific temperature range.

filler metal must interact with the base metal with which it will be used. Without
embargo should not form any compound that decreases the strength of the bond. The
contribution materials are sold in the form of bars, pastes, or in reels of
Hello. The contributing materials used in soft soldering are as follows:

. Tin-lead: It is the most common filler metal and is used in general cases.

. Tin-antimony-lead: Antimony is added because it improves mechanical properties.

of the contribution material.

. Tin-silver: It is used in delicate work instruments.

. Tin-zinc: They are used to solder aluminum.

 . Tin-bismuth: It has a wide application in the field of electronics.

. Lead-silver: Improves the wettability of lead when it is used in the

soft soldering of steel, casting or copper.

. Cadmium-silver: It is used in the joining of copper and also, although less so, in soldering.

aluminum-aluminum having great resistance to high temperatures.

. Cadmium-zinc: It is used in the bonding of aluminum.

. Zinc-cadmium: It is also used in aluminum joints.

. Cinc-aluminum: It is used for aluminum welding, achieving a great resistance to

corrosion.

Properties of soft soldering

The resistance of these joints to shear or shearing stresses, to
ambient temperature depends on:

a) The distance between the metals to be joined.

b) The welding temperature.

c) The heating time.

d) The composition of the metals to be welded.

The properties of the union vary if the filler alloy alloys or not with
the base metals. The distance between the metals to be joined can vary quite a bit.

Soft soldering is usually not recommended for joining aluminum, as it is already used for this purpose.
other methods. To weld zinc or galvanized iron, antimony must not be present in the metal.
contribution, since they form a combination that is difficult to fuse.

Controlled atmospheres
The atmospheres are used to prevent the formation of oxides during the welding process, and in
In many cases, reduce the presence of oxides, so that the filler metal can wet and flow.
better about clean base metal.

The majority use of controlled atmospheres is in furnaces. When it is used, it is usually

to dispense with post-soldering cleaning, although if flux is used, cleaning will be necessary.

In high-quality unions, it is always advisable to carry out the union in controlled atmospheres.

The atmospheres used are those of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen and
Nitrogen. Necessary precautions must be taken when using certain gases, either because they are
toxic, explosive or any other that could be harmful to health.

Soft soldering processes

The following processes are highlighted for their importance.

. Soft soldering with a blowtorch

. Soft soldering in oven

. Soft soldering by induction

. Soft soldering by resistance

. Soft soldering by immersion

. Soft soldering by infrared

. Soft soldering with a copper soldering iron

. Soft soldering by ultrasound

. Soft soldering with paste

. Soft soldo with waves

Welding execution process
mix
. 1st. Preparation and cleaning of the pieces to be joined:

The areas of the parts to be joined must allow for the most perfect contact possible between them, for this
It will be necessary to prepare them. It will also be necessary to clean them, removing the husk, rust, or the

possible dirt. For cleaning the part we will use the flux. The most commonly used are:
Zinc chloride, ammonium salt, and resins. A sign of good cleanliness and free from oxides of the
parts to join, it is that the filler material flows normally and if they are dirty droplets will form.

. 2nd. Preparation of the welder:

The heating of the parts to be joined and the melting of the filler material will be carried out by means of the

soldador, para ello se enchufara al soldador a la red eléctrica para producir su calentamiento.
We must take into account that the soldering tips are clean without any type of
leftover material from other operations.

. 3rd. Execution of the welding:

With the pieces together, a layer of flux material is applied, and they are heated using the soldering iron.

electric and approaches the filler material, which, when melted, falls onto the joint area. As it passes a
time, when the metal solidifies (once the soldering iron is removed from the joint area), the pieces will remain

united.

Welding of a joint
To weld a joint between 2 metal or non-metal pieces, the following process can be followed:

. Place the 2 pieces on a suitable surface.

. 2. Clean the welding area to remove any possible oxides, greases, paints.

. 3. Secure the pieces in the joint area appropriately.

 . 4. Apply a suitable flux layer over the joint area.

. 5. Heat the soldering iron until it reaches the appropriate temperature for the pieces to be soldered.

. 6. Apply several welding points on the seam so that it does not separate due to defects.
the dilation.

. 7. Once the joint to be welded is bridged, the seam should start from one end of the
same, moving the welder in one direction and adding the material of
contribution whenever required.

. 8. Once the joint is welded, it will be cleaned to remove any residue.

flux that may have remained from previous operations.

Electric cable welding

To achieve a perfect connection between 2 cables, we can follow these steps:

. 1. Strip the ends of the cables to a length suitable for their gauge.

. 2. When the wires are not solid, it is necessary to braid the copper strands to
prevent them from spreading when applying the tin.

. Apply a layer of flux on the stripped ends of the wires.

. 4. Heat the soldering iron until it reaches the appropriate temperature for the parts to be soldered.

. 5. Deposit a small amount of tin on each of the stripped ends of

the cables (on their entire surface.)

. 6. Join and immobilize both ends, and apply the tip of the soldering iron to them.
until the contribution material flows again forming a homogeneous solution,
moment from which the welder must separate to achieve cooling and
solidification of the joint (Avoid possible cable movements).

. 7. Isolate the obtained joint with some type of insulation.

Typical defects in welding
Now we will talk about the defects and the most typical possible causes in soft soldering, which are the
next

Lack of contribution material, it may not have been

achieved an adequate distribution by
capillarity.
Inadequate or defective contribution metal.
Low welding temperature due to using a bad one
technique.
Very short welding time.
Inadequate cleaning of the parts to be joined.

Small amount of flux or inadequate flux.

Oxidation of the base metal.
Excessive separation between parts.

Estados de la soldadura blanda 1) Buenas propiedades mecánicas 2) Malas propiedades mecánicas 3) Soldadura
without adherence.

Excessive amounts of input metal where it is not desired.

Temperature too high due to poor technique or a failure in the oven.
trapped.
Inadequate flux for the filler material.
Excessive welding temperature or time due to poor technique or a failure in the
control.
Excessive amount of input metal.
Use of filler metal very close to the upper limit of its temperature range.
Inadequate contribution metal.

Safety measures
In soft soldering processes, the following safety measures should be taken into account:

The eyes must be protected with glasses to avoid projections and splashes.
being for this process those of plexiglass the most suitable thanks to their good
vision
All accessories such as rings or bracelets must be removed so that they do not
they cause accidents.

The hands will need to be protected with suitable gloves to avoid

burns and contact with strippers or flux.

Gas equipment must be inspected to ensure there are no leaks of any kind.
can cause fires or explosions.

In case of god