Steve:
Not to long ago I had the pleasure of wavesoldering some old Avionics
designed boards.  Large heat sink on top the board with some enormous power
transisters on top of that.  We have a Soltec machine with a lot of preheat
(convection) and use a VOC water based low-residue flux.  I ran the profile
on the hot side.  Hot side means this.  My rule of thumb in wavesoldering
days was to keep everything at 230 F top side.  Hot side is around 240 or
250 F on the top side.  The trick was to get it that hot and not bake out
the advantage the flux provided for soldering.  We fluxed heavier, however,
had to still make sure that the moisture was out at wave.  I can appreciate
your frustration.  If you do not have 6 feet of convection preheat, then I
really feel for ya.  I used to work with two old Hollis machines and preheat
was only 4 feet so speed was critical in getting boards hot enough but not
too hot.  Go to the hot side.  The max temp you should play with should not
exceed 260-265 F.  Make sure your components can take the heat.  Hand
soldering will provide the operators with enough frustration trying to heat
up that metal with a soldering iron.  At least the machine can't hit.  Well
sometimes.

Good Luck
Ron Hollandsworth
ITT

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