Help! > Mistakes, muckups, and dangerous behaviour

help with silver solder

(1/3) > >>

cmitcham:
obviously, i'm doing something wrong. in the picture below, i fluxed all the joints, and put pieces of solder in the flux for the bottom (right) fourth of the joints. i slowly applied heat, but after not very long, the flux just burns to a crispy black mess. this isn't how it looks in the few youtube videos i have found. any ideas what i need?

thanks!

crueby:
Couple of questions:  which flux and which solder are you using, what percentage of silver? Some fluxes will last longer before burning off, and the silver content determines the temperature it needs to reach to flow. The flux and solder need to have a compatible temperature range, which is why I was asking for specifics


In general, you want to get the two parts up to temperature at the same time, so the solder flows evenly onto both. Heat from the back side, not putting the flame onto the solder, but getting the metal hot enough to melt the solder. Also, you need to heat quickly, not slowly, any flux will burn off if you go too slow. Most fluxes will melt and go clearer as they get to temperature, and the solder should go shortly after. 


Hope we can help you out, silver soldering does have some key techniques, but once mastered its an incredible tool.


Chris

crueby:
Oh, and if you are doing a series of joints, best to do them a couple at a time, and pickle the last parts/joints and get them clean before doing them otherwise you will have oxidation in them that will mess up the flow.

tghs:
correct flux is very important,, I've had good luck with harris stay silver..  soldering in a darkened room can help as you can see your metals heating to the correct temp better and helps with bringing all the pieces up to temp evenly,, cleaning you solder and brushing or dipping it in flux can help greatly..

crueby:
I started out using the Harris white flux, couple of years ago switched to the newer Harris Black, it has a longer working time. Both are good.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page