Wave soldering carries a board on a conveyor over a fluxer, through preheaters and across a pumped wave of molten solder that wets the exposed leads and pads on the bottom side and rises up the plated holes. It solders hundreds of through-hole joints in seconds. Bottom-side SMT parts can be glued and waved or shielded with a pallet, and pad orientation and solder-thief pads help prevent bridges.
Run the SOICs lengthwise through the wave and add solder thieves on the trailing pins, or every one will bridge.
Also heard as
- wave solder
- flow soldering
- the wave
Related terms
Through-hole
Mounting method where component leads pass through plated holes and are soldered on the far side.
Bridging
Solder defect in which solder joins two pads or leads that should be separate, creating a short.
HASL
Hot air solder leveling: finish made by dipping a board in molten solder and blowing off the excess.