Hi Mark! One additional comment to add to Mike's information. Brass is an
alloy of copper and zinc.  One potential problem when soldering to a brass
alloy is the zinc content causing long term solder joint integrity issues.
De-zincification is where the zinc preferentially diffuses into the solder
joint potentially causing solder joint failures. The way to avoid this
phenomena is to plate the brass with a barrier layer such as copper or
nickel. You might check to see if the contacts have a barrier layer. Good
Luck.

Dave Hillman
Rockwell Collins
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             "Barmuta, Mike"
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                                                                   Subject
             03/21/2006 09:51          Re: [TN] PB-Free Solder and Brass
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Hi Mark: First of all it doesn't make sense why the customer wants to
use a leadfree solder on a leaded (C360 brass)  component. It won't be
RoHS compliant. What is there reason for asking for leadfree solder?

However if ours is not to question why then give them what they are
asking for; leadfree solder.

You may have oxidized parts and need a stronger flux/deoxidizer. As a
test try dipping a few in 5% sulfuric acid for 20-30 seconds at room
temp, rinse well with cold water and dry immediately.
See if they wet better. If they do then use the acid predip or a
stronger fluxing agent. If they don't you could always tin plate them
along with a copper or nickel barrier plate and solder to the tin.



Regards

Michael Barmuta

Staff Engineer

Fluke Corp.

Everett WA

425-446-6076

-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Clark
Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2006 6:52 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] PB-Free Solder and Brass

I have a customer that is required to use a Lead Free solder to attach
some
brass components (battery contacts) to a PCB.  What he is experiencing
is
the brass will not tin using this solder.  Anyone have any suggestions:



Solder required for use:

Cookson Electronics - Alpha Cleanline 7000

Alloy 96.5Sn 3.0Ag 0.5Cu

Flux: P2



The contact material is:

360Brass



His customer is in a rush for these components, and is demanding the
Pb-free
be used.



BTW - the good old fashion No-clean and Rosin (both of these have lead
in
them) work great.



TIA

Mark Clark

Avalon Engineering, LLC

2179 Fourth Street, Suite 2D

PO Box 10789

White Bear Lake, MN 55110-0789

Phone: 651-426-8599 x202

Fax: 651-426-4418

mailto:[log in to unmask]

www.avalon-us.com

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