Soldering

From ArticleWorld

Soldering is a method of joining metallic pieces with low-melting-point alloy. It is commonly used in electronics, as it is a very cheap way of achieving the required result. Historically, it is known ever since the Antiquity.

The metallic parts are connected by applying heat to the metal parts and pressing the low-melting-point alloy (solder) against them. As it heats, the solder is drawn into the joint, and, after it cools, it provides a quite solid and watertight joint, as well as an excellent electric conductivity.

There are various alloys used for soldering. Traditional solder is lead-based, but efforts are being made to create lead-free solder, because lead is toxic and cannot be reliably used in some installations, like soldering water pipes.

Soldering in electronics

Soldering is very common in electronics, because it is cheap and quite reliable in most cases. A soldering iron or gun is used when soldering electronic parts.

Although it seems easy, good soldering is hard to achieve in electronics. The soldering device must be clean to avoid excessive heating, and the devices to be soldered should be properly mounted on the circuit board.

Soldering electronic devices takes the same usual steps: heat is applied to the terminal lead and the copper pad, and the solder is applied to the lead and the path, but not on the gun, because it will not flow correctly. The electronic device shouldn't be moved until the solder has cooled down completely, and the cooling process should not be hurried by blowing air, for example. Excess solder can be removed.

Pipe and mechanical soldering

When soldering larger parts like pipes, different tools are used. These include blowtorch (usually propane-based), wire brushes, solder alloy and acid paste flux. The soldering materials used to solder pipes should be lead-free. The danger to the consumers themselves is minimal, since all minerals coat the inside of the water pipes, but the danger for the environment is considerable. Silver-based solder alloy is preferred instead, although it is harder to create solid joints with it.