Indium Blog

15 Years of LIVE@APEX

Category:
  • No Clean Solder
  • Solder Wire

  • Fifteen years ago, Indium Corporation started the Live@APEX program. At first it was small – a few equipment suppliers were looking for materials to use live on the showroom floor. They came to us because they knew that our materials work great on their equipment. Fast forward to 2019 and you would see that Indium Corporation materials were featured throughout the APEX show floor. Some of the materials we will highlight include:

    1.         Core 230-RC No-Clean Flux-Cored Solder Wire

    2.         Indium 8.9HF Solder Paste

    3.         Solder Fortification® Preforms

    For decades, one of the most popular ways to solder was hand soldering, and soldering wire was made specifically for that method. As the industry moves towards automated processes, laser and robotic soldering are becoming more and more popular. That’s why Indium Corporation has developed Core 230-RC Flux-Cored Wire. With its “no-spatter” technology, it is ideal for laser and robotic soldering, but can be used for hand soldering applications as well. With 0.09% spattering, there is no risk that the operator will burn his or her hands. This wire is compatible with HASL, Immersion Silver, ENIG, and OSP surface finishes, and it can be used with Pb-free and SnPb alloys. Fine diameter wire (0.008” – 0.015”) with a high flux percentage (4%-4.5% by weight) is most suitable for robotic and laser soldering, as it eliminates peaking and bridging defects. You can read more about ideal flux percentage for cored wire in my colleague’s (Kim Flanagan) blog.

    Shelf life for SnPb and Pb-free alloys is three years from date of manufacture (DOM), and for the high-Pb alloys (>90% Pb) it is one year from DOM.

    Here are some of the exhibitors that featured our flux-cored wire:

     

    Miloš Lazić

    Live@APEX Coordinator