To create a beautiful, shiny, and durable solder paste joint, it is definitely necessary to use quality leaded solder paste. So what is a quality solder paste? What are its characteristics? Follow along with the article below to get these questions answered!
What is a quality lead solder paste?
Quality lead solder pastes are lead solder pastes of clear origin, produced by famous brands of lead cream manufacturers, with full product quality inspection papers. And when sold on the market, quality solder paste products must have full labels, ingredient lists, and specific information related to the product.
Characteristics of quality solder paste
Solder paste is a wet mixture mixed with alloy particles and flux in certain proportions to give the following properties:
High viscosity ensures uniform printing and foam-free printing
Long-lasting adhesion ability
Exceptional printability while maintaining consistent print results
Welds using quality solder paste will have good oxidation resistance from the environment, corrosion resistance, and good thermal shock resistance.
How many types of quality leaded solder paste are there?
Manufacturers of quality leaded solder paste on the market today divide leaded solder paste into 2 types: Lead-containing and Lead-free.
View more: Solder Paste
Leaded-containing type
Leaded-containing solder paste is a solder paste composed mainly of two metals, tin (Sn) and lead (Pb), mixed in a certain ratio. The two ratios of solder paste commonly used today are the 63/37 ratio and the 60/40 ratio.
The 63/37 ratio: consists of 63% tin (Sn) and 37% lead (Pb), this is the standard lead solder paste ratio, and has a defined melting point of 183 degrees Celsius.
60/40 ratio: consists of 60% tin (Sn) and 40% lead (Sn), the melting point is in a range, from 90 degrees Celsius to 450 degrees Celsius, this type of ratio is less used than grade 63 /37.
Lead-free solder paste
Lead-free solder paste, as the name suggests, is a solder paste that does not contain toxic lead metal in its composition. Instead, the manufacturer will use some other metals such as silver, copper, nickel, gernani, bismuth, … to replace them. In which, tin content still accounts for 80% – 90% of the composition.
This is a very popular leaded solder paste used by businesses, enterprises, and factories today. Because it has a safe ingredient, it does not pose a danger to people’s health, and at the same time, protects the environment, replacing the traditional tin-lead mixture.
Instructions for storing and using solder paste properly
Quality leaded solder paste wants to promote all its effects, you need to know how to store and use it properly.
About storage, you should store the jar of lead cream at a temperature of 0 – 10 degrees Celsius. This is the right temperature to keep the properties of lead cream for a long time.
When needed, remove the leaded solder paste from the freezer and leave it at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours. Then, open the lid, and use a specialized tool to stir the leaded solder paste mixture. Note that do not stir for a long time, only stir within 2-3 minutes.
When you open the lid of the leaded solder paste and you cannot use the full amount of the leaded solder paste for the day, you should close the lid tightly and continue to store it in the freezer.
In particular, the time interval between using leaded solder paste is more than 1 hour, you also close the lid tightly to prevent oxidation but do not need to put it in the freezer.
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Above is an overview of quality solder paste and its properties. Hopefully, through this article, you have gained more understanding of this material. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Thetech for the advice!