Flux gels are often used for repair work on assembled printed circuit boards. In the past, it was often necessary to use fluxes for manual and repair soldering that contained other activators that were used for series production. The new flux gels developed by Emil Otto are based on standardized activators that are contained in the existing electronic fluxes. "Emil Otto is the only manufacturer to offer products on an activator basis, from the flux concentrate to the finished flux and the flux gel," says Markus Geßner, Head of Marketing and Sales at Emil Otto GmbH.
For the fluxes EO-B-001A to C, EO-B-002A to C, EO-B-006A to C, EO-B-007A to C and EO-B-009A to C, Emil Otto can offer the corresponding gel with the identical activator system. The respective gel is highly concentrated and is characterized, among other things, by high activity as well as good wetting and spreading properties. Due to these properties, the paste should be applied sparingly. The gel is applied from a dosing syringe with a metal dosing needle. This enables precise application and positioning of the flux.
The flux gels were tested on standard soldering systems. The test results were very satisfactory. The existing flux EO-B-006 was applied to printed circuit board types (HAL, OSP, copper). The soldering results were very good. In the course of this development, EO-B-006 was also divided into versions A, B and C. These versions were introduced by Emil Otto in 2017. The A versions generally have a low solids content of 1-2% and were specially developed for full-tunnel nitrogen applications. They therefore guarantee a wide process window and high temperature stability when using full nitrogen. The B variants, on the other hand, correspond to the standard version with a solids content of 3%. This is the all-round version.
The range is rounded off by the C variants, which have a solid content of 4%. These were specially developed for power electronics, where large component bodies have to be soldered with a low placement density.
The completely newly developed flux EO-B-009 also achieved similarly good soldering results. These fluxes will also be available in versions A, B and C. EO-B-009 was developed for wave, selective and manual soldering processes as well as cable assembly. It can be applied using all standard application methods, with the exception of foam fluxing. The solids content is 2.0 wt.-% for the A version, 3.0 wt.-% for the B version and 4.0 wt.-% for the C version. EO-B-009B and EO-B-009C are particularly recommended for OSP printed circuit boards.
The flux gels are ideal if the customer requires the same flux activator for different processes. In this case, the customer can rely on one supplier. Uniform activators prevent cross-reactions that can occur when using different activators from different manufacturers. The gel can be applied carefully and precisely using the dosing syringe. The metal dosing needle is thermally resilient and can be used with a hot air or soldering iron during application. Even contaminated pads and component legs are activated by the gel. No crystals form and the flux gels remain homogeneous and stable. The gels leave no sticky residue after soldering.
The flux gels are processed using reflow or piston soldering. In individual cases, which must be checked by the user, a flux gel can also be used to support wave soldering of critical components. The flux gels are available in 5 ml or 10 ml dosing syringes, including dosing needle and cap.
Emil Otto will be presenting the new products at SMT 2018, in Hall 4A, Stand 144.