Choosing Cored Wire for Robotic Soldering

Robotic soldering has helped improve the process of small and large scale PCB (printed circuit board) manufacturing while keeping production and labor costs low. Robotics has helped boost productivity, reduce rework, and improve the quality of electronic components and products, too, as it minimized or completely eliminated common issues in soldering, like spattering, bridging, and problems caused by human error. However, be sure to choose the right cored wire before automating the soldering process to maximize the high-speed assembly benefits of robotic soldering, and to be more confident in the quality of the results. Take note of the following guidelines for selecting the right materials for robotic soldering:

• Cored wire for robotic soldering - Reputable manufacturers of flux cored solder wire specifically formulate their products to be suitable for robotic soldering to make sure that the process can produce consistently excellent solder joints and deliver high throughput yields. The cored wire must be made to the highest industry standards to ensure electro-chemical reliability, low flux spatter, and fast wetting. Some flux cored wires are halogen-free to meet environmental protection standards.

• Determine the type of flux – High-quality halide-free and halogen-free flux cored wire produces minimal spatter and wets fast, making it one of the high-performance cored wires when benchmarked against alternatives containing halide and halogen. Rapid wetting ensures that the flux can meet the drag soldering requirements and other soldering needs in robotic soldering. It dries clear, enabling easy inspection of the solder joints. Lower spatter rates help keep the board aesthetically pleasing and clean, while maintaining user comfort. Likewise, it ensures an environmentally compliant and safe product that is easy to use and operator-friendly.

• Cored wire for meeting JIS Class AA requirements – Cored wire that has less than 1,000ppm of halide is ideal for robotic soldering of lead-free and no-clean applications. Formulated to meet industry standards and requirements, it ensures high SIR reliability with superb spread characteristics. It complies to the IPC flux ROL1 classification, too. The material is operator-friendly and safe to use with low-spatter and fast-wetting, and it dries clear to enable easy inspection.

About the Author:

Alpha Assembly Solutions Inc. is a premier company engaged in the development and manufacture of high quality electronics assembly materials. Since the year of its inception, way back in 1872, the company has played its role on the frontline of innovation, bringing many first-to-market products to the fore thereby, creating a premier niche for itself in the market.

Alpha Assembly Solutions Inc. is the global leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of innovative specialty materials used in a wide range of industry segments, including electronics assembly, power electronics, die attach, LED lighting.