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Registered Member #1497
Joined: Thu May 22 2008, 05:24AM
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 801
So I'm nearing completion of my capacitor bank, and many many people have told me to solder the bus bars in my bank, however I'm wondering what type of flux to use...
So my choices are: 1. An obscene amount of rosin core electrical solder (good, expensive, known to be non-corrosive) 2. A reasonable amount of plumbers flux, and solder, along with a blow torch
The second choice seems the most reasonable since I can get a good amount of the solder cheaply enough, along with separate flux to apply to the bus bars, however I'm left wondering whether or not plumbers flux is corrosive and if I need to give the entire set of bus bars a sanding and oiling after I have completely soldered them. The way my capacitor bank is put together, I will have to keep the bolts connecting bus bar to bus bar in, and solder everything in-place (the box is wood and very tight), and then insert the entire soldered frame back into the box (a time consuming process).
I'm also wondering what to do with copper to aluminum connections, I have already clamped them together with as much force as a 1/4-20" bolt can hold with washers to spread the load over a large contact area, since solder won't take to aluminum well, what can be done?
Registered Member #193
Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 07:04AM
Location: sheffield
Posts: 1022
What are you actually soldering? Solder isn't a very good conductor so using less of it is better. If all you are doing with it is filling the gap between two bits of flat metal that are held tightly together it doesn't take all that much solder. Since you don't need much you can use the easy, non-corrosive stuff even though it's expensive. If you want to swamp the joints with solder afterwards to make sure that there's enough mechnical strength then you can use the plumber's stuff. You shouldn't need more flux to coat solder with solder. As for the Al to Cu joints; that's what aluminium solder was invented for.
Registered Member #1497
Joined: Thu May 22 2008, 05:24AM
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 801
Well my concern is that because I'm using a blow torch, the areas inside will not get hot enough to take solder, or, that the heat will cause oxidation before the flux in my electrical solder can form the layer ontop to prevent oxidation.
I did some tests last night on a scrap and thats exactly what happened. I sanded the entire piece of copper, heated from below and tried to spread the rosin from my solder as much as I could, but as the copper warmed up, by the time it got hot enough to wet with solder, the areas not covered by rosin had oxidized.
So this begs the question, where can I get more rosin flux?
Registered Member #509
Joined: Sat Feb 10 2007, 07:02AM
Location:
Posts: 329
Got a solder pot to pre-tin the bus bars? (presuming youre soldering the ends of the bars and not something to a mid point)
If not, a rosin flux pen will be your friend, and that was through digikey canada, so it should be available to you.
Once you start working with extra flux you'll hate not having it. I hate not having a bottle of flux at home because I use it ll the time at work. Makes reworking joints as nice as the first time, for laying down all those 0402s nice and straight.
Registered Member #2123
Joined: Sat May 16 2009, 03:10AM
Location: Bend, Oregon
Posts: 312
You can try applying an excess of solder paste (solder + flux) to the area of the copper bar you want to whet, then heat up the bar with your torch, NOT at the area of the paste but near by, to reflow the solder and cook off the flux.
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Types of flux safe to use for soldering?
