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curated with aloha by
ted_yosem
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
- Pine Beach, NJ
finishing.com -- The Home Page of the Finishing Industry


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Trying to solder to chrome



Q. We are trying to solder metal sockets onto chrome plated circuit board. Anyone experience?
Thanks in advance!





Ernst Wagner
manufacturer - New York, NY
February 2, 2009


A. I do not think that you will achieve decent results soldering to chrome. You might be able to develop a crimp fitting, but I would switch to electroless nickel which will solder, looks good and has better corrosion resistance.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida


A. Ernst

If I wanted to guarantee that solder would not stick, chrome plating would be high on my list.
You may have some success with a flux designed for stainless steel but I would not put money on it.
The other thought that strikes me is that in many years in printed circuit plating, I have never met chrome on a PC.
Unless there is a pressing need, you may be better off with nickel plating - not easy to solder, but a great deal easier than chrome.
Don't forget that the aggressive fluxes need careful removal after soldering or you are inviting corrosion problems.

geoff smith
Geoff Smith
Hampshire, England


A. Use a solution of zinc chloride as a pre solder flux. To make zinc chloride; get muriatic acid (HCl) and put some galvanized items in it, like nails, screws, boat anchor chain. Let the acid dissolve the zinc which is zinc. The solution should turn yellow. Apply the solution to the parts needing soldering, then apply solder.

51253-4a   51253-4b

Kandela brown
- Willemstad, Curacao
February 27, 2022

Ed. note: Although those wires appear somewhat soldered to those pins, we would not offer those photos as an example of good soldering :-)






Q. All State Made a DUZALL flux that i used for 30 plus years to solder Chrome proficiently. Today I cant find it to buy. If I could only get the Data sheet?

Ron Lyda
owner - Hendersonville North Carolina
July 29, 2024


51253-5

A. Hi, Ron.
It looks to me like Duzall is a product of ESAB and is still available. Have you asked them about a TDS? The SDS is certainly out there ⇨

If you are talking about soldering an item with decorative chrome plating, this is actually a heavy layer of nickel plating followed by a very thin layer of chrome plating. Fluxes with HCl will quickly strip the chrome such that you are actually trying to solder nickel. Luck & Regards,

ted_yosem
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey




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