How to weld in a workmanlike manner in a few simple steps?

The management of a soldering station or a simple soldering iron is a daily routine for electronic technicians and maintenance technicians. Even experienced hobbyists have no problems with soldering lead free solder bar. But if you only pick up the soldering iron from time to time, the result is often not satisfactory.

Correct soldering is simple to carry out, even without experience; you can easily learn how to weld. We show you how it works and how to do a correct soldering.

When was soldering invented?

Man has been working with metals for thousands of years. And the desire to be able to permanently bond these metals is equally ancient. As early as 5000 BC, metals such as copper, silver and gold combine to form jewels or objects of worship. At that time an alloy of copper and gold or copper and silver served as a solder.

With the discovery of tin as a solder metal, soldering technology flourished more and more. Already in ancient Rome, about 4000 years ago, water pipes were soldered together from lead pipes. The craftsmen made stoves and bathtubs out of bronze sheets, which were then soldered together. But also gunsmiths and goldsmiths common this technique to join lead free solder bar.

In which field firstly soldering becomes important?

Over time, the soldering technique has become more and more widespread and refined. In addition to craftsmanship, soldering has also become increasingly important in electrical engineering. Every service technician who maintains and repairs electrical appliances has a soldering iron in their toolbox.

And without automated soldering processes, the mass production of electronic boards would no longer be conceivable today.

What is the difference between soldering and brazing?

Soldering and brazing are connections that join materials together and differ from each other in three places:

1. Working temperature

The lead free solder bar liquefies at a temperature below 1000 ° C. In gas fusion soldering, on the other hand, the oxygen / acetylene flame has a temperature of almost 3000 ° C. This is the temperature at which the brazing liquefies.

2. Type of connection

During brazing, the materials to be joined liquify in the soldering area. The supplied solder wire is common to fill gaps and can affect the properties of the casting. During soldering, the materials do not heatto the point where they form a surface connection with the weld. The pieces don't melt like in brazing

3. Strength of the joint

In essence, we can say that the higher the temperature during the connection, the greater the duration or resistance of the connection. As a result, a brazed joint has higher strength than a soldered joint. And a brazed joint is stronger than a soft solder joint or lead free solder bar.

Summary

A "brazed" joint is much more stable than a soldered joint. However, brazing is much more complex and extensive protective equipment is required. Also, not all materials or joints are able to withstand the high temperatures during the process. In this case it is necessary to carry out soft soldering. Thanks to the low thickness of the material, Spengler gutters will weld instead of weld.

Soft soldering

In soft soldering, heating occurs selectively. Soft soldering is mainly common in electrical engineering, for example to electrically connect components to a printed circuit board. This technique offers many advantages:

• The operating temperature range is between 180 - 250 ° C,
• It means that the components connect.
• The soldered joint offers sufficient mechanical strength to ensure that even the largest components hold securely in safety.
• The welder heats the material only selectively, so that the soldering process is easy to do quickly.
• In addition to the extraction of lead free solder bar, no special protective measures are necessary.

Large surfaces heat up during brazing

In brazing, the temperatures are noticeably higher and no punctual work is easy to do. If a soldering joint comes at a temperature above 450 ° C, we call it brazing. Here too are some things to consider:

• Some brazing alloys have a melting point that is nearly 1000 ° C.
• These temperatures cannot be reached with soldering irons.
• For this reason suitable soldering guns are common.
• The temperature effect is not punctual, but rather large.
• As with soldering, the relevant fire regulations we must observe when brazing.
• Due to the high temperatures, fireproof clothing, an apron and darkened safety glasses are important.

What materials can be in lead free solder bar?

In principle, many metals and alloys are easy to solder in lead free solder bar. With universal soldering machines and fluxes, the following materials are easy to solder together without any problems:

• Copper (Cu) and copper alloys such as brass (Me) or bronze (Br)
• Nickel and nickel alloys
• ferrous materials
• steels
• precious
• Other metals such as aluminum, tin, zinc, lead or steel stainless steel require special welds.

What do you need to weld?

When we talk about "soldering" in general, we mean soft soldering in most cases. Unlike brazing, which, the tools needed for soft soldering is easy to find in almost any household.

Soldering tools lead free solder bar

A soldering iron is needed to generate the heat needed for soldering. In most cases, hobbyists will use a manual soldering iron without temperature control. The lead free solder bar offers an excellent price / performance ratio, so the hobby cash register does not overload. In addition, they are available in a wide range of power classes and sizes, so that different soldering operations are easy to perform optimally.

Soldering lead free solder bar gun

The service technicians are happy to take the soldering guns with them in their tool cases. Because it is often not certain in advance whether soldering is really necessary for the repair of an appliance.

If the cause of the error appeared in a bad solder joint, a broken conductor, or a loose wire connection, the soldering tool should be quickly ready for use. And that's exactly when the soldering gun plays its trump card.