G.Daniel sez:

> I am considering making up a basic wave soldering "machine".   What
> I would like to know, is what materials are commonly used for tank
> and bearing materials, ie I presume teflon is too low atemperature
> for sustained operation ?   Any advice or hints appreciated, thanks.


Here is how you can build one:   Take a standard, off the shelf
electric frypan.  Bolt it into a larger steel pan, to give it a big
footprint and in case you spill some liquid solder  (this is a safety
measure - secondary containment)   Put a few bars of 60-40 bar solder
in the pan, and melt them with the temperature turned all the way up.
 I fiddled with the thermostat to get a few more degrees out of mine.

You will need bulk flux for your board.  I use a bulk rosin based
flux from Kester.  I bought a quart of it, and brush it on with a
small brush.  Don't get it on your skin.

No clean fluxes never worked well for me with this method.

Build a small clip to hold your board.  After fluxing, dip the board
into the melted  solder for about three or four seconds.  You'll have
to experiment with times, temperatures, etc.   I can make a pretty
decent single sided board by this method.

Clean the board with some kind of nasty, bad for the ozone flux
cleaner.  Don't breathe it or get it on your skin.  And don't put
your finger in the hot solder.


There are many factories in china that use only hand labor, and
"wave" solder zillions of boards by such methods.    A real wave
solder machine, with a conveyor and a pump that can move hot solder,
will costr you thousands of dollars and many hours to get working.
They are finicky.
Best Regards,

Lawrence Lile