Solder flux boost with first uniform activator for water and al...

May 28, 2023

Emil Otto in Germany has developed the first uniform activator system for water- and alcohol-based solder flux used in wave or selective solder.

The use of different fluxes led to potential defects from cross-reactions. In particular, the use of water- and alcohol-based fluxes in one production process has been a problem. But there is demand for the use of the two flux technologies for wave and hand soldering and also to address the shortage of alcohol from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Water-based solder flux is not recommended for hand soldering or rework due to slower drying characteristics. However, customers who use the EO-G-003 water-basedd solder flux for wave or selective soldering wanted to have the same activator system for hand soldering to prevent cross-reactions of the different fluxes.

"After we succeeded in developing a corresponding alcohol-based rework flux with the same activator system for water-based fluxes EO-G-003, we have achieved another innovation breakthrough. We can now offer identical activator systems as alcohol-based rework fluxes for all existing water-based fluxes," said Markus Geßner, Marketing and Sales Manager at Emil Otto.

This means the water-based flux EO-G-003 and the alcohol-based EO-RF-G003 can be used across the same process.

"Until now, it was not chemically possible to dissolve the activators of water-based fluxes in pure alcohol. However, we have now succeeded in doing so, and we can now offer a flux that is 100% pure alcohol but contains the same activators as the water-based flux," said Geßner.

If customers use water-based fluxes for wave and selective soldering, but use the new fluxes of the EO-RF series for manual soldering, rework, strand tinning or cable assembly, they do not have to fear any cross-reactions. This risk minimization is an advantage that greatly simplifies the use of different fluxes. Especially in these applications, a short drying time is important, which is why alcohol-based fluxes have been favoured by many users for this purpose. Due to the same activator system, these short drying times can now be guaranteed.

"The innovative solution is unique to date. However, we have now completed this development for all water-based fluxes from our company. Cross-reactions are thus a thing of the past," said Geßner.

www.emilotto.de/produktkategorie/flux-metering/

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