Applications of Solder Fortification with Preforms

Although many have predicted the demise of through-hole components, they are alive and well with tens of billions assembled each year. In many cases these components are assembled by wave soldering. However, in many mixed product technology (i.e. SMT and through-hole on the same board) products, it makes sense to consider assembling the through-hole components with the pin-in-paste (PIP) process. PIP has been successfully used for several decades now; however in many cases it is not possible to print enough solder paste to obtain an acceptable solder joint. In addition to this “solder starved” condition, the large quantity of solder paste used to form the though-hole joint results in excess residual flux. This residual flux can lead to difficulties in in-circuit testing and potential surface insulation resistance concerns.