Wave soldering is a commonly used soldering process that uses pump pressure to form a wave of solder of a specific shape from molten solder. In the wave soldering process, when the component passes through the solder wave, the solder wave heats the pin solder area of the component, wets the solder area and expands the filling, and finally realizes the soldering process.
Wave soldering works by using solder waves as a heat source to heat the solder surface of the component. The temperature of the solder wave is usually controlled at around 245. To ensure that the solder zone heats up, the solder wave usually has a width so that the solder zone can be sufficiently heated and wetted as the weld surface of the component passes through the wave. Traditionally, a single waveform is used in wave soldering, but with the use of lead-free solder, a dual-waveform is now common.
In the wave soldering process, the pins of the component are immersed in the metallized vias through liquid solder, and the solder climbs up the pins and hole walls using surface tension. After the solder reaches the pad of the PCB, it spreads out under the surface tension of the pad and finally forms a solder joint.
The wave soldering machine is mainly composed of a conveyor belt, a heater, a tin bath, a pump, a flux foaming (or spraying) device, etc. It is divided into flux addition zone, preheating zone, and soldering zone. The solder is heated and melted in the tin bath, and the solder wave from the pump acts as a heat source and solder. The component is placed on a conveyor and is welded through a solder wave at a specific angle and depth of immersion, hence the term wave soldering.