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OT: RFQ: Solder 316L CRES tube to Cu 10100 plate

Please forgive the interruption - this isn't anything "for sale", this is "seeking services". I'm getting paid for this "research", but whoever gets the job also gets paid, albeit probably not much.

I'm tasked to find somebody, preferably in the LA County or Orange County (CA) area, who can solder 316L CRES to 10100 or 10200 alloy copper. Here's a print of the final assembly:

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and we need to get the little tubes soldered to the copper platform. FWIW, this is the spec that's supposed to be met:
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The boss isn't literally looking over my shoulder as I type, but he's impatient, and wants me to "Get Quotes!". It really should be in the LA County (CA) or Orange county area - we need to do three of these parts, and any one of them could fit in your hand, so it makes sense to minimize shipping.

I've tried to tell him, "You can't solder stainless with rosin flux and 63/37 solder", but, since he's always right, I have to find someone who _can_, or who can convince him to tell our customer that they have to change the spec, so they can at least use the proper flux and solder to do CRES.

Anyway, if you'd like to email me, it's just richgrise and the rest is plain ol' yahoo dot com - that shouldn't be too hard to unmunge, or if you'd like to call or fax, it's ABI Engineering Voice: 562-696-4686 Fax: 562-696-4411

I'd appreciate any leads.

Thanks! Rich Grise - say "Gryce". :-)

Reply to
Rich Grise
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You are correct. You will need a more agressive flux for the stainless steel like Allstate Duzall.

Reply to
tomcas

One can pre-tin the stainless steel using acid flux, wash the tinned part, then use plumbers flux to complete the soldering.

Joe Gwinn

Reply to
Joseph Gwinn

Thanks - now all I have to do is convince the PHB that the customer is wrong. =:-O

Thanks, Rich

Reply to
Rich Grise

Or, rosin flux for that matter. That is, use the 'hot' flux first to tin, and then rosin or ZnCl paste flux. I do this all the time, but be careful not to burn off the tinning when doing the final reflow.

Another, less 'hot' but still entirely adequate flux for the initial tinning is an organic liquid flux called "supersafe" which *will* tin stainless but leave less of a problem with spatter and contamination.

The OP's problem of course isn't a technical one, but rather an interpersonal one. He's trying to work with morons. Trying at best.

Jim

Reply to
jim rozen

Hi Rich,

I can only tell you about experience, no degree to back me up...

I had access to 60/40, 63/37 and another rosin core that had a bit of silver in it (something like 2.5%). I tried all of them at various times trying to solder to unknown stainless material with no luck. Sometimes I could get a joint that looked pretty good, but the slightest tug would break it loose. I'm pretty good with soft solder too, ain't nothing I feel uncomfortable about trying.

It wasn't until just recently, prompted by some things I read in this group that I researched different solder and fluxes. I didn't come across any rosin core varieties that claim to work with stainless.

Harris has some good info on solder/flux that should work with stainless. See:

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Maybe their chart on recommended solders for stainless will help convince your boss...

Reply to
Leon Fisk

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