Ep.49: The role of flux in PCB assembly

Flux is friend. Not foe.

To create a solder joint, you have a lot working against you. Boards, parts, the air...it’s all very cold compared to the melting point of solder. Those are easily overcome with a good heat source in the way of a soldering iron, wave solder, or selective solder. However, none of this will do you a lick of good without flux because metal oxide is the biggest challenge you have to combat.

In this episode, we go over flux's role in fighting the oxide layer that forms during PCB assembly, the basic chemistry of flux, what cold solder joints are, and more.