The Use of Wetting Balance Data to Predict Soldering Materials Performance and Soldering Process Parameters,

In the design of a new soldering process or during the improvement of an old one it is often desired to know what the effect of making a parameter or material change will be. The classic method for achieving this was to run a number of samples with the process and then evaluate the results by counting defects or other similar methods. Experiments in our laboratory have shown that the wetting balance solderability test equipment is a much more efficient method of evaluating the effect of parameter changes to a process. When the wetting balance is used for this purpose it is possible to run more tests at less cost than running experiments on production equipment. This paper discusses the types of experiments which can be run on the wetting balance and the types of quantitative data which can be collected. Examples will be shown on the effect of flux, base metal solderability and solder temperature parameter changes. The methods of data presentation and interpretation will be discussed. Author