Name of the amazing type of soldering flux liquid

Thread Starter

Willen

Joined Nov 13, 2015
333
Hi all,
Recently my friend show me an amazing liquid flux. I am just using ordinary soldering paste from years for soldering. Its fumes smells not so bad. I was trying to solder a steel plate with ordinary flux but the steel was not being soldered. Then he dropped the liquid (not gel) on the steel, then when I touched the iron tip there, instantly got soldered. Its fumes smells like chilly in fire, extremly hard to breathe.

The friend bought the product in India. I am from Nepal and I never found that exact product. I attached its photo, same bottle from two side. Main question is what type of flux it is? If you know its real name or chemical name (instead of brand name) I could search more equivalent.
 

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jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
It is probably and acidic flux. Stay Clean Liquid Flux is another example. It even comes in a small bottle like you show. Here are its technical specifications: https://www.rsd.net/assets/item/1134.pdf Note its warnings for eyes and breathing (level 4 is "bad").

Contents:
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Zinc chloride and hydrochloric acid are in many acidic fluxes. They give off irritating fumes. Ammonium chloride is, like many salts of ammonia, volatile. It decomposes to hydrochloric acid and ammonia. Both are strong irritants. All of those are good fluxes for steel, many metals, and even stainless steel.

They should not be used in electronics.
 

Janis59

Joined Aug 21, 2017
1,834
Its small thing the corrosion, what may be washable soon after solder jobs are ready. But acid ALWAYS diffund into PCB, and damn deep, and stays there damn long, so deep that vacuuming after stirring into ultrasonic bath of deionisated bidistillate never gives a good result. Actually such pcb is damaged for forever, the ohmic values between any choosen patches will be instable hudreds of ohms that day, after year and after a hundred years. Never use an any kind of acid on pcb.
I deeply understand the situation if one lifes at middle of nowhere, but if that is Your will to persist - there are one exceptional way to order a things - the e-bay.com and another is way to brew DIY, as we did hundred years before mega-supermarkets like octopart.com or farnell.com was invented. Then here are some good receipts causing no alert about pcb

Receipt of Mitran radio-factory for pcb: colophonia about tea spoon, crushed; spiritus vinae purifikatum 96% about 30 gramm. Pour on the colophonia powder, close and wait three days or alternatively, use a magnetic stirrer for 10 minutes. Correct a spiritus amount let the result would be roughly - rich cofee drink with lot-of-sugar-&-cream consistence. Then add for better lifetime and technologysm (prolong a contact time and decrease an oxygen contact) a surfactant - glycerine, about half to three quarters of tea-spoon. On wish: for better reactibility (activity) add a tiny amount of NH4 liquid; but as more concentrated as better - water is contraindicated there. Dont apply too much to avoid the nose-itch. If the copper must have been an antyk, may add a half to one tablet of aspirin (acetylsalicyl acid) in crushed powder form. Avoid a "Western" drugs - there acid is mixed into microcellulose to save the stomack, which is powerful inhibitor of good soldering. Must use a "soviet/russian" type what is pure and "bad for stomack". Instead of spiritus may be applied acetone - but better think twice about own liver. Just spiritus is 1000-fold heathier.

Other receipt - exclusively for use on non-pcb. Orthophosphoric acid 50-90%, one droplet on joint with fast washing of residues afterwards. Acts very aggressive against solder-hammer copper. Solders stainless steel, copper, high-carbon steel, nichrome etc "difficult materials". Have tested personally, caca cola have no such capability if even its capable to chemically dissolute an American flag (in internet are plenty rolls of such experiment). But not a joint!

Third receipt - for not use on pcb because its impossible to take flux with solder-hammer like can be done with colophonia. Aspirin (purum, without micro-cellulosae), tke tablet, push from one side to joint and from other side the hammer with 40/60 lead/tin. Usable for very dirty copper, for hard steel, stainless steel, nichrome, manganine, constantan, fehral, alumel, and lacked winding wires. Just insulating lack is dissolute in this chemical. Very handy, especially for thin wires where spiritus burning method is difficult or impossible.

Fourth receipt - exclusively NOT for pcb, but best available against stainless, shivers even aisi-316. The powder of ZnCl2, teaspoon with less than teaspoon of water, consistence - like a creamy milk. ZnCl2 must be reagent not obtained by HCl+Zn, because last is outcome with too small concentration thus less activity. Application like with orthophosphoric - one droplet on joint and push the hummer. Afterward wash with pouring water.

P.S. bout Jpanhalt receipt: be scared of methanol, in large dose it causes blindness (only!) mut in small microdoses daily, it is strong genotoxin, causing sharp loss of IQ, what persists about 7 generations afford. Means You, Your children, grandchildren, grangrandchildren etc etc all will become irrevocably dumb. Better DONT risk!
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
P.S. bout Jpanhalt receipt: be scared of methanol, in large dose it causes blindness (only!) mut in small microdoses daily, it is strong genotoxin, causing sharp loss of IQ, what persists about 7 generations afford. Means You, Your children, grandchildren, grangrandchildren etc etc all will become irrevocably dumb. Better DONT risk!
Please provide refereed citations for the genotoxicity and IQ effects of methanol, particularly the "7 generations" statement. Maybe that was a pre-existing condition in one's ancestors.

There is no debate that methanol is poisonous and can cause blindness in high doses, but that toxicity can often be treated effectively (with ethanol) if caught soon enough. Otherwise, incidental exposure through inhalation or skin contact, such as when using denatured alcohol as a reducer, is generally considered harmless.

EDIT: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=8fdc5ad8-17f5-4346-934f-99c4e2878a54

I stand corrected. By all means, stop eating fruits and vegetables. I need a T-shit with a Proposition 65 warning.
 
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