some silver soldering guidelines
some silver soldering guidelines
(OP)
Weller and Aladdin are pretty sketchy.
EngTips searches have come up thin.
When silver soldering multiple magnet wires slid single file into a slotted copper fork, would it be good form to flux everything before assembly?
Should the solder wire be applied near the top of the joint or the bottom of the joint?
Any other best practice tips, including decent references.
thanks,
Dan Timberlake
EngTips searches have come up thin.
When silver soldering multiple magnet wires slid single file into a slotted copper fork, would it be good form to flux everything before assembly?
Should the solder wire be applied near the top of the joint or the bottom of the joint?
Any other best practice tips, including decent references.
thanks,
Dan Timberlake





RE: some silver soldering guidelines
RE: some silver soldering guidelines
220C/430 F . That makes a difference for fluxing?
Eutectic with virtually no mush phase to set up quick. Turns out its optimum gap is 0.003 inch (no mention of acceptable gap range, sheesh), and we will have to perform a miracle or 2 to get the the double gap below 0.008, which the lack of capillary action suggests we badly need to do.
We also are only heating one part, the fork, with an iron, so heating the individual wires is primarily by solar insolation until the frisky solder reluctantly forms a bridge.
RE: some silver soldering guidelines
If this is a one-off job with small diameter wires look for a cored solder wire containing a water-washable flux and make sure you get the residue thoroughly removed after soldering.
Personally I'd work from the closed end of the joint out over, but see what works best. You should be a good 30 - 40°C above the 'mush' point to form a decent joint.
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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
RE: some silver soldering guidelines
So far all the joints look pretty poor to non-electrical me.
The flux we/they are using is some hellishly expensive water soluble electrical grade stuff.
RE: some silver soldering guidelines
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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
RE: some silver soldering guidelines
If you need to, take pictures. Do a movie. Get someone in the know to check out your method. Very tiny errors can make a large difference in your joint qualities.
Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.- http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: some silver soldering guidelines
I am looking for guidelines of good solder technique, as a starting point, since I am worried we may be simply ignoring some basic stuff.
Here is an image of the latest unsuccessful solder joint that our soldering senior manufacturing engineer produced. No pre-cleaning, no pre-fluxing, no pre-tinning. The 7 wires are 0.072 X 0.14 " rectangular mag wire. The 30 gram "fork" is about 0.2 inch thick, and the fork's hammer head face is in light contact with a nomex insulated aluminum fixture, plus two steel pins, so some heat is lost to the fixture. Heat is provided by a 1000 watt resistive soldering iron squeezed on the fork. Currently No wires contact with iron's carbons, and the 7 wires are a snug slip fit (0.000 to 0.003 inch clearance?) between the fork tines, but the fork tines cut faces are tapered about 0.004" as a result of the water jet mfg process, so things are only snug at an edge.
RE: some silver soldering guidelines
Just out of curiosity have you asked anyone about just TIG welding those?(Fluxes, and expensive solders, and cleaning, be damned!)
Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.- http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: some silver soldering guidelines
RE: some silver soldering guidelines
Is the fork an investment casting or something similar? Cast copper is not great to solder to - can you do anything to polish or machine the surface to remove some of the oxide layer? That would make things easier for the flux.
As an experiment can you get hold of a plumbing flux such as Fry's Powerflux http:/
A small gas torch might be a better tool to use rather than an electric iron - one of the gas soldering irons with the burner element rather than the catalytic soldering tip would be a possibility. BTW, are you serious about a 1kW soldering iron?
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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
RE: some silver soldering guidelines
Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: some silver soldering guidelines
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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
RE: some silver soldering guidelines
I just noticed the gap is 0.2" wide, which gives me a better size relationship of the wires in the pic. That fork is about 1.5-2" long? Propane/butane may be adequate.
Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com