I ask this in all seriousness; and with no disrespect. But am I
missing something here? Why would folks use this stuff if it's such a
pain in the butt?
I believe that it's normally used with automated soldering equipment,
and the boards are washed in a hot water bath after soldering. I
presume (I'm sure Lyle or someone knows for sure) that the advantage is
that the flux can be removed without using environmentally dangerous
solvents.
That's correct. Water is an environmentally friendly solvent (at least
for now :-)
It does an excellent job of cleaning the surfaces to be soldered.
It cleans well (as long as you do it quickly!), so joints can be
inspected. It is (or was) not considered hazardous. It acts like soap -
you get suds as you wash/scrub the board.
It is not recommended for kit building because of the dangers of
corrosion. In automated work,the boards are exposed to the flux, then a
wave of molten solder, over a period of some few to tens of seconds. It
is then rinsed thoroughly.
The organic cored solder was probably intended mostly for touch-up and
rework.
73,
Lyle KK7P
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