Wave Soldering Using Sn/3.0Ag/0.5Cu Solder and Water Soluble VOC-Free Flux

Environmental and health concerns, due to the leaching of lead from landfills into ground water, have necessitated legislation that restricts the use of lead in electronics. The transition from the eutectic tin-lead composition used in electronic solders to lead-free solder is imminent. Understanding the impact of this transition on lead-free wave soldering is crucial because a large segment of printed circuit boards (PCBs) used in electronic home appliances are wave soldered. The usage of volatile organic compound (VOC)-free flux chemistry is expected to gather momentum in conjunction with lead-free wave soldering because of process requirements and environmental considerations. A thorough review of published literature indicated that there is limited information available on the application of water-soluble VOC-free flux chemistries for lead-free wave soldering. Consequently, the objectives of this research were to select a preferred VOC-free water-soluble flux chemistry, understand the process window of wave soldering using a 96.5Sn/3.0Ag/0.5Cu lead-free alloy, and study the impact of the lead-free wave soldering process on different surface finishes. Many of the earlier process recommendations were based on a solder pot temperature of 260 degC and higher. However, the packaging of through hole components may not withstand the higher pot temperature and longer contact time. Hence, assembly at a lower solder pot temperature and shorter contact time are highly desired. Consequently, experiments were conducted to verify the feasibility of reducing the solder pot temperature (250 degC) and the contact time (2 s). Three VOC-free fluxes, from three different vendors, were evaluated and the best flux chosen was used to establish the process window. It was demonstrated through this study that it is possible to wave solder, using a lead-free solder with low silver content, different surface finishes with a wide process window. The effect of lead-free process temperatures on the cleaning of the VOC-free water-soluble flux residues was evaluated. Residues were washed and cleaned using the existing equipment sets without any change in the process parameters. The process developed based on the initial set of experiments has been validated by the successful assembly of a number of lead-free prototype assemblies