Does a cold solder joint really exist in electronics manufacturing?

Absolutely. Since most manufacturers have changed the FLUX to a water base, and have changed solder from lead to mostly tin and aluminum and have to work at slightly higher heats, cold solder JOINTS may be more prevalent until they increase their quality.

A cold solder joint is typically a joint where maybe the soldering iron wasn't hot enough or enough heat wasn't applied for the solder to melt and really form a good bond. Or maybe the surface being soldered wasn't nice and clean and contaminent free. You may need a magnifying glass but usually you can wiggle the joint and notice a 'crack' in the solder joint. Sometimes it is very noticeable and sometimes they are hard to find. But they can cause static noises and/or intermittant cutouts, etc. It is best to suck the old solder out, clean really well then resolder although you can sometimes just remelt the existing solder or add a little new and get away with it but the problem will sometimes return.

It's hard to say if that's what you've got. They tend to be a little more intermittant unless it's a really bad joint.

It may be more likely to be something like a capacitor or a transformer? I don't know.....I'm not an electronics expert. I just know a little about soldering and finding solder related problems.

A cold solder joint is not a hoax. It is one where the solder was either not heated to the correct temperature or was cooled incorrectly. If the solder connection is bumped or wiggled before it cools, that will also cause what is called a cold solder joint.

This is not the same as lack of sufficient solder. Lack of solder is just lack of solder. In my years in electronics, I've seen plenty of both. I've even seen solder joints with no solder on them at all. I've also seen solder joints with so much solder that they short to the next connection.

With machines doing more of the soldering, cold joints are not as common as they once were. Some joints still require a human to do the work. If the company isn't concerned about quality as much as cost, they don't train the people who do the soldering correctly. In that case, solder problems increase.

Do you know what a cold solder joint is? It is simply a saying for a bad solder connection. As in one that has air bubbles inside of the outer layer, or a poor connection where the solder didn't flow into the joint. So yes it exists, I've repaired quite a few computers and monitors that had them in years past. These days you don't see it as much, but these days such things are disposable and cheap anyway.

Don't know where you heard this, but the term refers to unre-flowed solder. Cold solder is solder not properly heated and cooled for a specified amount of time so that it makes a proper, long term, conductive bond. It has a distinctive appearance. This can lead to products failing and components building heat and overloading. I work in electronics manufacturing for a Telecom product manufacturer and that is a leading cause of product failure.

yes its simply a poor connection where it was inpropery soldered or a pin or leg has come loose. tv tech

i do not know