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any tips on soldering aluminium?
planning to solder together pc watercooling waterblock out of aluminium i have lying around. i know aluminium soldering is tricky business and i have never done it before so im asking for some knowhow. im planning to use ALUSOL solder to do it,
Solder with water-soluble four-core flux. Suitable for soft soldering of aluminium, stainless steel and other low alloy metals. Not suitable for electrical joints and duralumin. Normally requires no prior processing of oxidised surfaces. Alloy: tin 18 %, lead 80.1 %, silver 1.9 %. Melting temperature between 178–270 °C. Suitable tip temperature 350 °C
a heat gun to heat up the pieces of aluminium and that's about it.
so far i know that aluminium high heat conductivity and oxidation make soldering it difficult, if anyone with experience on the matter knows some reason why my plan will not work or has any additional tips, please answer
3 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
Yeah, using aluminum solder takes a bit of practice.
(If you have any bits of aluminum scrap metal laying around, you might want to practice on some scrap before tackling the real thing.)
A heat gun probably isn't up to the task here. I suggest you get yourself a propane torch.
1)To start, make sure your joints are clean and grease-free. the best way to prepare the joint is probably either a bit of clean sandpaper, or a stainless steel brush, the point being to abrade off the dull oxide layer on the base metal. When it comes to making good sound joints, cleanliness is godliness.
Note: solder won't fill gaps or irregular joints; It's too fluid. If your joints have gaps or holes, you might as well take it to a welding shop and have them TIG weld it.
2)Apply the flux only to the areas you want the solder to flow onto, (unless you're using flux core wire...I recommend using a system with a separate flux)
(Protip: if possible, you can try wraping a bit of solder wire around the joint, like a twist-tie, then paint with flux.)
3)The trick with any kind of soldering is to heat the *base metal*, not the solder. (What makes this difficult is aluminum is a good heat conductor, while the melting point of the solder is relatively low.) With aluminum solder, you want to heat the base metal JUST to the melting point of the solder, without overheating! If you overheat, the flux will start burn up and you'll get porousity and oxidation in the joint.
Be patient and heat the joint slowly and very gently! Take your time! Generally, you don't need to heat the joint directly, but you can alternate heating on either side of the joint. Once the solder starts to flow, you can probably remove your flame at that point.
Source(s): Certified Welder - charcindersLv 71 decade ago
Alusol is good stuff. Be careful though because it spits and the fumes are terrible.
You are right about the heat loss. If it is thick aluminium it will be difficult unless you can heat the whole part. You will need a big soldering iron. Clean off the surface oxide with sandpaper just before you solder it.
