Hot Air Solder Leveling

Amerway 1500 HASL Flux -- The Amerway 1500 Flux was formulated for use in the Hot Air Soldering Leveling of printed circuit boards.  The Amerway 1500 HASL Flux can be used in vertical as well as horizontal leveling equipment.  The Amerway 1500 HASL Flux when used in the hot air leveling process will produce a brighter solder surface which will have excellent solder ability.  This flux also acts as a heat transfer medium and reduces surface tension for a smooth solder flux and aids the wetting of surface mount pads.  The Viscosity level of the Amerway 1500 HASL Flux provides an exceptionally level surface for SMD's and leaves the printed circuit boards wet after leveling for easy flux removal in water.

Application:  Amerway 1500 HASL can be applied by conventional dipping, brushing or spraying.  However, roller coating with NAP covered rollers ensures that no excess flux is applied to the printed circuit boards.  With excess flux it is possible that longer solder dwell times would be needed to achieve the desired solder ability.  The Amerway 1500 HASL Flux can be used at ambient temperatures, however; if heating is desired, temperatures should not exceed 150 F.

Flux Removal:  Amerway 1500 HASL Flux is an organic acid based fluid which is totally water soluble.  Rinsing can be accomplished at ambient room temperature water, leveling no white residue.  If desired, the water may be heated to 120 - 140 F for even higher ionic cleanliness levels.  If an extremely high surface insulation resistance (SIR) is desired, a 3-6 % solution of Amerway 900, Enviro-Clean may be utilized followed by a final rinse with water.

Process Parameters:

Solder Temperature-  475 F optimum, this material is effective up to 520 F.  

Dwell Time-  As required to accept solder coating.  Typically 4-7 seconds is sufficient.

Air Knife Angle-  Per manufacturers recommendation, typically the front knife is set at 4 degrees and the back knife at 8 degrees.

Air Pressure-  Normally in the range of 20-35psi.  Air should be filtered and clean of water and oil.

Speed-  Entering speed is not critical, only for production throughput.  Exit speed determines coating action, fast speeds equals to thickness of coating and the slow speed equated to thinner coating.

The above parameters are general guidelines only.  The printed circuit board geometry, size, configuration, type of solder pads and various solder masks combined with various types of equipment dictate the job must be monitored and evaluated individually for optimum results.

Advantages:  Then Amerway 1500 HASL Flux was designed not to emit strong alcohol or acid odors.  The product does not create a high degree of smoke when heated.  It is also designed to produce more level solder deposits on SMD pads with a bright shinny solder pad with minimal thickness of solder coating.  The Amerway 1500 HASL Flux can also be cleaned with ambient temperature water.

Physical Properties:

Specific Gravity @ 25 C         1.087
Pounds/ Gallon                        9.06
Flash Point                              > 220 F
pH (Concentrate)                   1-2