Reflow soldering and wave soldering main differences introduction

Reflow soldering and wave soldering main differences introduction

Reflow soldering and wave soldering main differences:

1. Wave soldering is the process of dissolving tin bars into a liquid state through a tin bath, which is stirred by a motor to form a wave peak, allowing PCBs to be soldered together with components. It is generally used for soldering hand inserts and SMT adhesive boards. 

Reflow soldering is mainly used in the SMT industry, which melts the solder paste printed on PCB and welds the parts together through hot air or other thermal radiation conduction.

2. Different processes: Wave soldering requires spraying flux first, followed by preheating, welding, and cooling zones. Reflow soldering passes through preheating zone, reflow zone, and cooling zone. In addition, wave soldering is suitable for hand inserted boards and adhesive boards, and requires all components to be heat-resistant and have no SMT solder paste on the surface. SMT solder paste boards can only be reflow soldered and cannot be wave soldered.

3. Wave soldering is mainly used for soldering plugins.

Reflow soldering mainly involves soldering SMT components.