RAYMING PCB & ASSEMBLY

What is a Cold Joint Solder and How Can You Prevent it?

Soldering forms a significant part of the manufacturing as well as

assembly of a PCB. A cold joint solder is one of the most known issues

during soldering. These solder joint types affect the PCB’s performance to

a very large extent. Asides from this, the cold joints will increase the cost

of your PCB assembly.

Table of Contents

What Does PCB Soldering Mean?

PCB Soldering Involves the process, which forms electrical and

mechanical connections on a PCB. Normally, manufacturers make use of a

combination of Lead and Tin for binding all electronic components that

should be placed on a PCB surface.

What Does Cold Solder Joint Mean?

Cold joint solders usually occur whenever solder doesn’t melt completely

to form proper joints. This wrongly formed joint or cold solder joint could

cause reliability issues for any electronic assembly. With a cold solder joint,

there will be an increase in the solder joints’ electrical resistance. This then

reduces the solder joints’ reliability.

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Below are some of the factors, which could result in cold solder joints.

 Improper wetting, reflow, or melting of a joint’s solder

 Disturbances like vibrations whenever the solder cools down

 Too high process temperature results in the premature breakdown

of the flux

 Too low process temperature of solder joints can result in

incomplete wetting

You can detect a cold solder joint using magnifying glass or through visual

checking. Cold solder joints may look deformed, convex, whitish, and dull,

which is much different from the normal solder joint.

What Type of Cold Solder Joints are There?

You can classify this bad solder joint into different types. Each has its own

specific behavior and causes. The main types include:

 Dry solder joints

 Cracked solder joints

 Cold solder joints

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Dry Solder Joints

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Dry solder joints can be described as joints that are soldered, but not with

enough solder. Whenever molten solder gets inside or flows in the joints,

the whole connection will wet, so that whenever it solidifies, there’ll be a

reliable electrical connection established.

Dry solder also lacks enough metal, which in several cases, causes a circuit

that is completely open. For other cases, this joint might have intermittent

high resistance and electrical conductivity. This causes noise during

operation. Also, a dry solder joint has a matt or dull finish that is easily

identifiable.

Cracked solder joints

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From the name, cracked solder joints are caused from stressed solder

joints which yields forming a crack. Immediately the crack begins to set in,

its pin gets detached partially from its board causing it to move freely. The

movement could break or close the electrical connection; this depends on

the crack’s profile.

This electrical connection stops and start will result in the failing or the

working of that specific appliance on random occasions. Vertically

mounted heavy components are the components that are most

susceptible due to gravity. When the boards flip or move constantly, this

issue becomes exaggerated as this crack widens.

The cracked solder joint is usually an issue when CRT monitors are on

transit. Usually, these monitors are placed in padded boxes by

manufacturers to help reduce vibrations as well as the chances of cracked

solder joints happening.

Cold Solder Joints

Generally, cold solder connection joints could be both cracked and dry.

Nevertheless all the cracked solder joints aren’t cold joints. However, this

doesn’t stop the fact that cracked solder joints would be a problem at

some point, if it isn’t attended to.

Factors that Could Lead to Cold Solder Joints

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The major cause of a cold solder joint can be seen in this section.

Insufficient Solder Application

Weak solder condition is known whenever solder spots lack enough tin

during the tinning of the board. Also, there are other possible cold solder

joint causes; however, the one that is most frequent is inadequate heat

provided throughout the process. Also, inadequate application of solder

could lead to poor connection. This could also cause electrical shorts.

Insufficient heat

One soldering error which causes cold solder joints isn’t heating the two

surfaces all at once, or the inability to heat them sufficiently. It happens

whenever the soldering iron stands at a very low temperature or

whenever you place the soldering iron on component pins for less time.

You need reheating for this situation.

There’s another instance where the pin of the components isn’t heated

even whenever the tip of the soldering iron is touching as well as heating

the circuit board pad. Because of this, solder bonds properly to the circuit

board pad and not the component’s pin. Also, this could happen another

way, leading to the bonding of the solder to the component pin but not

with the circuit board pad.

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Poor Cleaning

At times, while trying to rush through the process of soldering and not

being attentive to detail, the solder joint could come in contact with dirt.

Also, contaminants like metal oxide, grease, and grime might prevent

good soldered joints from happening. Normally, it becomes noticeable

whenever the solder doesn’t bond with dirty surfaces due to the formation

of globules or beads. In addition, this interference could make this solder

to take so much time to wet this joint, which results in cold solder joint

causes.

Asides from what we have already discussed, there are other predisposing

factors that cold solder joints possess. The factors include:

 Selective soldering frames

 Contamination of the solder alloy

 Uncomely wetting, melting, and reflow at joints

 Relative disturbance found between the boards and its components

before the complete solidification of the solder

 Soldering temperature is too low, which leads to incomplete wetting

 Soldering temperature is too high, which leads to the flux breaking

down prematurely

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Detecting and Testing Cold Solder Joints

At present, freelancers that meet tight deadlines usually get majority of

electrical projects assigned to them. This freelancer will have to be very

fast, in order not to mess the timelines of the client. More often, this quick

results in the cold solder joint might be too difficult to notice during

soldering.

Immediately the board is completed, this electrical engineer will then go

ahead to handle the issue of the board not working. First, conduct tests.

But how can you achieve this?

Visual Checking

The solder joints of printed circuit boards are usually tiny. This is why you

will need a spotlight and magnifying lens. First, check the joints’ color, As

mentioned earlier, dry solder joints are dull.

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Next check the solder joint’s shape. It is deformed or lacks a concave

shape, then the solder alloy failed to melt sufficiently as a result of

improper heating. It could cause cracking and will eventually detach from

the board whenever the joint is heated up by resistance.

Next, make use of a magnifying lens and torch to see whether light is

passing through any of the joints. If light truly passes, then the joint is

inadequately bonded.

Lastly, tilt this board and check if the joint detaches partially from the

board’s base. Also, you may check for any overspills top make sure that

short circuits were not created. This is because they can ruin this board

completely.

Check using a multimeter

Multimeter helps in checking the continuity and resistance across joints.

By this, you will be able to know if there is something wrong about the

joint.

Testing for the resistance

On resistance mode, set your multimeter to 1000. To be sure your device

is functioning effectively, try to interconnect this testing probe. You ought

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to get a reading of zero. Connect a testing terminal on one of the joints to

the second terminal through another component.

When this component isn’t a resistor, you will get a reading of zero all the

time. Once your reading is higher than zero, then there’s a high chance

that there’s a cold joint.

Testing the Device’s continuity

Here, you will switch the device to the continuity mode. This is to test the

functionality of your device through connection of the test terminals.

Normally, this gives a beep sound. Now, connect both test terminals to

any of the solder joint’s ends. It you don’t get a beep, then there is need

for rework on that joint.

Repairing the Cold Solder Joint

The most common type of cold solder joints are the disturbed and normal

cold solder joints.

Normal Cold Solder Joint

The two major causes of cold solder joints is the inadequate heating of the

soldering iron as well as contaminated soldering tips. Before use, ensure

that the tip of the soldering iron is very clean. After use, make sure the

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tool is stored in a box. This is to prevent particles of dust from getting to

the tip.

Furthermore, make sure that the tip of the soldering iron is well heated

before use. You can even use any soldering station having a working

temperature that is easy for you to regulate. Once you are able to achieve

the ideal heat, reheat this solder and mount it. Also, if you discover that

the soldering iron is cooling fast, make use of the SN96 lead-free solder

alloy. The alloy will melt at lower temperature as well as exhibit plastic

time of transition.

In addition, the cold solder joint feature high resistance. This is happening

due to the solder iron not melting completely. This high resistance could

lead to excessive heating, which could ruin the board or the component

immediately or later on. It will also lead to high consumption of power.

Disturbed Cold Solder Joint

They usually happen whenever the soldered components or board is

moved before the sufficient solidification of the solder. Here, the most

important feature is its concave shape as well as a tilted pin within a

solder spool. In order to prevent this problem, the board has to be

soldered on tightly fixed tables or wall-mounted soldering vices where

space could be an issue.

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Ways you can Prevent Cold Solder for Electrical Connections

There are some simple strategies to work with to avoid and prevent cold

solder for electrical connections. These include:

Pay attention

During the application of solder, take time and pay attention to whatever

joint you will be manipulating. Ensure this solder has melted sufficiently as

you apply it carefully to your desi8red location. Also, ensure that you’re

working with flat surfaces. With this setup, you will be able to reduce

runoff as well as prevent the dripping of the solder onto the other areas of

your component.

Work with high-quality equipment

Just like all other devices, as they age, the solders could be prone to

experiencing failure, and therefore may not heat the filler material

efficiently. Also, devices not function effectively have a higher chance of

producing cold solder joints. This is why it is important to work with high

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quality equipment. Also, if the soldering equipment isn’t functioning the

way it should be, then replace it quickly.

Attend some certification classes

To become an expert at soldering as well as reduce the possibility of

creating any co9ld solder joint, there is a need to attend some certification

classes. While attending these classes, you’ll learn and understand those

soldering techniques which will assist you in creating solder joints of high

quality, which will also help in improving the outlook of your career.

Adequate Application of Heat

Cold Joint results whenever the solder applied don’t melt completely. One

reliable way of preventing this is to make sure that your soldering iron has

been properly pre-heated with enough power. This is to achieve the best

possible soldering temperature. Its peak temperature has to be kept at a

minimum of 15 degrees Celsius above the melting point of alloy for a

minimum of 45 seconds. By so doing, you will be able to avoid any

unreliable solder.

Conclusion

Cold solder joints results due to the improper execution of the soldering

process of the PCB components. As we have already explained in our

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article, the cold solder joint can increase the solder joint’s electrical

resistance, which will affect the solder joint’s reliability adversely.

Related Posts:

1. How do you inspect a solder joint BGA ?

2. What Does Solder Mask Bridge Mean and How Can You Prevent It?

3. What are the Best Possible Ways to Prevent Solder Voids in PCBs?

4. Difference Between Cold welding and Pseudo Soldering

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