Halogen free, residue free and VOC free solders are the latest in the market

February 3, 2015: The latest solder paste and consumables offer excellent solderability across a wide variety of applications and products

By Shweta Sengar

Soldering consumables or filler metals are widely used in various applications across diverse industries like electronics, plumbing, metalwork and more. Soldering offers fairly permanent but reversible connections. In the electronics field, soldering connects electrical wiring and electronic components onto printed circuit boards (PCBs). Soldering wires, soldering braids, soldering paste, flux and soldering chemicals are some of the soldering consumables available in the market currently.

What’s new in the market

Soldering filler materials are available as different alloys. In electronics assembly, an alloy of 63 per cent tin and 37 per cent lead has always been the material of choice. For environmental reasons, lead free soldering materials are now becoming more acceptable, and in some countries mandatory. Most manufacturers of soldering consumables now offer lead free materials for soldering. In electronics manufacturing, wires and components are primarily connected to PCBs by way of wave soldering or reflow soldering. However, hand soldering is still practised at many plants.

Finely grained and shiny solders: Elsold GmbH & Co, a manufacturer of soldering consumables like specialised solder wire, solder paste, solder bars and solder fluxes, is continuously innovating. The company sells its products in India through its sole distributor, Bergen Associates Pvt Ltd. It recently launched its cored soldering wire called SN100 MA, which is finely grained and provides a shiny finish. The product ensures the lowest copper leaching in its category along with reduced erosion of solder tools. The company also ensures uniform material usage in the entire process chain, whether its bars, solid wires or solder paste are being used. Speaking about the company’s offerings for soldering consumables, Rajinder Kumar, chairman and managing director, Bergen Associates Pvt Ltd said, “Elsold’s products are highly advanced. The soldering consumables we offer are lead free and offer speedy wetting. The soldering consumables offer the lowest, bright, transparent and non-corrosive residues. Apart from these features, the soldering wire does not leave any foul odour.”

Zero halogen solders: Sumitron Exports Pvt Ltd recently launched its Kester NF372-TB liquid solder flux and NP 505-HR solder paste. These soldering products are highly advanced. Speaking about product quality, Sumeet Jain, managing director, Sumitron Pvt Ltd said, “These are zero halogen products which have a no-clean solder paste formula offering excellent solderability across a wide variety of applications and products.” He further added, “The NP505-HR solder paste is halogen free, compatible with most conformal coating materials, is reflowable in air and nitrogen and has stable paste properties with an outstanding nine month shelf life.” The Kester NF372-TB liquid solder flux boasts of many highly advanced features with the first being that this too is halogen free. Highlighting the innovative attributes of Kester NF372-TB liquid solder flux, Sumeet Jain, managing director, Sumitron Exports Pvt Ltd, said, “Kester NF372-TB is a no-clean liquid flux that is halogen free and has a low level of solids. The NF372-TB has been designed to withstand the long dwell times and high pre heat temperatures required in challenging applications, such as thick board assemblies, etc. Sustained activity within the flux allows for good barrel fill in difficult applications, such as reflowed copper OSP boards or with difficult to solder components. NF372-TB residues are minimal, clear and hence ensure improved aesthetics. Kester NF372-TB is classified as a ‘Type ROL0’ flux under the IPC J-STD-004B joint industry standard and complies with GR-78-CORE (Telcordia/Bellcore) standards.”

No residue and VOC free solder flux: Soldering fluxes are widely used in PCB assemblies. Advance Tech Services Pvt Ltd recently launched VOC free flux IF-2009 MLF-E (RoHS compliant) from Interflux Belgium, which is applicable for lead/lead free soldering. Ajay Kumar Gupta, director, Advance Tech Services Pvt Ltd, said, “Organic chemical compounds have the ability to evaporate totally when enough energy is transferred to them, resulting in an extremely clean and no-residue PCB.” Highlighting the features of the IF-2009 MLF-E flux, he added, “The product is of the highest standard and comes with no fire risk and no volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. The flux does not give off an irritating alcohol smell during production and does not require the use of thinner.” Besides, the flux offers a clean finish and is easy to store with comparatively lower insurance costs. “The flux is applicable for spray, DIP and hand soldering,” he added.

How to make the right buying decision

There are many companies that offer soldering consumables in different price ranges. Soldering consumables are very advanced these days. Most companies currently offer lead free soldering consumables adhering to the international standards. However, there are certain points that must be borne in mind before zeroing in on a particular soldering consumable, and these are listed below.

• Potential buyers must look at the quality of the product. They should ensure that the product is consistent and will deliver the expected results

• The long shelf life of the product is another important factor that should be kept in mind

• High surface insulation resistance should also be ensured

• A buyer should check that the product does not leave behind residues

• A good hole-fill capability is another factor to be checked

• Buyers should also look into the raw materials being used by the manufacturer

• The soldering consumables should be lead free, and if not, buyers should be aware of the fact

• The quality control process being followed during manufacturing should also be checked.

Boxes

Bergen Associates’ Elsold cored solder wire—SN100 MA-S

• Lowest copper leaching

• Reduced erosion of solder tools

• SN100 MA-S is available as ingots, bars, solid wires and solder pastes

• Fast wetting

• Non-corrosive residues

Advance Tech’s Interflux Belgium VOC-free flux IF-2010F

• RoHS complaint

• Reduction of approximately 30 per cent in flux consumption

• No VOC emission

• No residue PCBs

Sumitron’s NP505 -HR solder paste

• Consistent print performance to 0.55AR

• Low QFN/BGA voiding

• Reflowable in air and nitrogen

• Reliable residues in harsh modified

• SIR testing

• Zero halogen

Sumitron’s NF 372-TB solder liquid flux

• Minimal and clear residues

• Type ROL0 flux

• Compliant to GR-78-CORE (Telcordia/Bellcore)

• Sustains high pre-heat temperature

• Halogen free