Selective wave soldering, also known as selective soldering or robot soldering, is a specialized form of wave soldering technology developed to meet the growing demand for through-hole component soldering.
Selective wave soldering machines are advanced through-hole soldering equipment. During soldering, they are similar to traditional wave soldering, using common solder bars or lead-free solder bars as soldering materials. However, compared to traditional wave soldering, they offer several advantages. Firstly, they can save material consumption and significantly reduce the generation of solder dross and flux residues. Secondly, they provide good soldering consistency and high soldering quality, with through-hole fill rates reaching up to 99.99%. Additionally, selective wave soldering machines have lower energy consumption and can achieve fixtureless operation.
In recent years, selective wave soldering has gradually become a popular trend in through-hole soldering in various industrial applications. It is widely used in industries such as aerospace, maritime electronics, military electronics, automotive electronics, printers, digital cameras, and other applications with high soldering requirements and complex processes.
Selective wave soldering typically consists of three modules: flux application, preheating, and soldering. Through the equipment programming device, the flux application module selectively sprays flux onto each solder point. After preheating, the soldering module solders each solder point individually.
In terms of working principles, selective wave soldering can be divided into two types. One type is “in-line selective wave soldering,” which employs fully automatic design and conveying methods, with relatively high prices and large space requirements, suitable for enterprises with high automation requirements. The other type is “off-line selective wave soldering,” which adopts a human-machine combination approach, achieving higher output capacity under similar conditions, with relatively lower prices, reducing the equipment acquisition threshold, allowing many small and medium-sized enterprises to use this technology.
Depending on the design principles, selective wave soldering can also be divided into two module forms. One is the three-module form, which separates the flux application area, preheating area, and soldering area. The other is the two-module form, which integrates the flux application area, preheating, and soldering area into one module.
