Solder Station

A Soldering Terminology Guide

If you want to pick up the lingo of the soldering community and impress your colleagues by throwing in a couple to technical terms then this Soldering Terminology Guide is just for you.

The following is a simple list of common terms and what they mean:Solder Station

Alloy A uniform mixture of two or more materials. One of the materials must be a metal.
Cold Joint A dull, poorly soldered joint that does not provide good conductivity.
Eutectic Point The lowest temperature at which a substance will melt.
Flux A substance which facilitates soldering, brazing, and welding by chemically cleaning the metals to be joined.
Fume Extractor A device designed to remove harmful fumes caused by solder and flux from the soldering workstation by filtering the air.
Halide A highly reactive, highly corrosive compound that attacks dirt and bacteria. Chlorine and flouride are common halides.
Icicles Jagged extensions or spikes protruding from a soldered joint. Icicles can be caused by an iron that is too cool.
Lead-Based Solder Solder that contains more than 0.2% lead. Lead-based solder has been the standard soldering alloy for the past several decades.
Lead-Free Soldering Soldering with metal alloys that contain only trace amounts of lead, or no lead at all.
ORH1 A specific flux classification. Composition is organic (OR) with high activity (H) and the presence of a halide (1).
Oxidation A material’s chemical reaction with oxygen. Oxidation causes rust and tarnish to form on metal surfaces and also prevents solder from properly bonding to surfaces.
Pb-Free Solder Solder that contains less than 0.2% lead. Pb is the atomic symbol for lead.
Pre-Tinned Tinned by the manufacturer before the tip has ever been used.
SAC Tin (Sn), silver (Ag), and copper (Cu). This is one of the most commonly used lead-free alloys.
SnCu Tin (Sn) and copper (Cu). This is one of the most commonly used lead-free alloys.
Surface Tension An effect within the surface layer of a liquid that causes that layer to behave as an elastic sheet. This effect allows insects (such as the water strider) to walk on water, and causes capillary action.
Thermal Profile The range of temperatures involved in a heating process.
Toxic Poisonous or harmful. Many substances can be harmless with small amounts of exposure and toxic with large amounts of exposure.
Water Table The water table is found underground. Rock and soil are saturated with water that can feed or seep into wells or other water sources used by people for drinking.
Wettability The ability of a liquid to spread out over a surface.
Wetting The behaviour of a liquid when the liquid contacts a solid surface. Liquids with poor wetting ability tend to form droplets, while liquids with good wetting ability tend to spread out evenly over the solid surface area.
Whiskers A crystalline metallurgical phenomenon whereby metal grows tiny, filiform hairs. The effect is primarily seen on elemental metals but also occurs with alloys.
Wicking Capillary action that draws a liquid up and away from a surface.

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