One of the most common metals is aluminum. It occurs not only at work, but also at home. And sometimes it becomes necessary to connect together some parts made of aluminum or its alloys. However, doing this without special equipment is not so easy. Therefore, you should consider options for how to solder aluminum with a soldering iron at home, and what you will need for this.
Aluminum is one of the difficult-to-solder metals
Surface preparation
Before you begin tinning, you must complete the following steps:
- degrease the surface using acetone, gasoline or any other solvent;
- remove the oxide film from the place where soldering will be performed. For cleaning, use sandpaper, an abrasive wheel or a brush with steel wire bristles. As an alternative, etching can be used, but this procedure is not so common due to its specificity.
It should be taken into account that it will not be possible to completely remove the oxide film, since a new formation will immediately appear in the cleaned area. Therefore, stripping is carried out not with the goal of completely removing the film, but to reduce its thickness in order to simplify the task of the flux.
Heating the soldering area
To solder small parts, you can use a soldering iron with a power of at least 100W. Massive items will require a more powerful heating tool.
Soldering iron 300 Watt
The best option for heating is to use a gas burner or blowtorch.
Simple gas burner
When using a burner as a heating tool, the following nuances should be taken into account:
- Do not overheat the base metal, as it may melt. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly monitor the temperature during the process. This can be done by touching the solder to the heated element. Melting the solder will let you know that the required temperature has been reached;
- Oxygen should not be used to enrich the gas mixture, since it promotes strong oxidation of the metal surface.
Preparation and execution of the process
Preparation of blanks
Before starting the process, the soldering areas must be cleaned of dirt, oxidation and other foreign deposits. This can be done mechanically using sandpaper or a wire brush. Then, using specialized chemical compounds, the material is cleaned of fatty deposits and oxide film. Acetone or solvent can be used as a cleaner.
Restoring parts by soldering
Soldering
The first step when soldering parts is to apply flux to the joints. Then, using a gas burner, the workpieces are heated to the required temperature. The degree of heating must be such that the filler wire can be melted to a liquid state.
Solder is applied to the heated parts. It should completely melt and spread, filling all the irregularities and pores on the surfaces. If necessary, several stitches are applied. After the solder has spread, the parts should be allowed to cool completely. The cooled connection is suitable for use.
Soldering an aluminum pipe with a gas torch
So, soldering is one of the ways to connect aluminum parts. With proper preparation of the surfaces of the workpieces and compliance with technological requirements, this method allows you to obtain a high-strength seam using a minimum amount of equipment. Thus, the soldering process can be carried out without difficulty at home.
Soldering instructions
The process of soldering aluminum parts does not have its own distinctive features; it is carried out in the same way as with steel or copper.
The algorithm of actions is as follows:
- the soldering area is degreased and cleaned;
- the parts are fixed in the desired position;
- the connection area heats up;
- touch the solder rod (containing active flux) to the joint. If flux-free solder is used, then flux is applied to destroy the oxide film, after which a solid piece of solder is rubbed over the soldering area.
A brush with steel wire bristles is also used to break down the aluminum oxide film. This simple tool is used to rub molten solder over an aluminum surface.
Soldering aluminum - complete video instructions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESFInizLE9U
What to do if you don’t have the necessary materials?
When it is not possible to prepare all the materials necessary for soldering, you can use an alternative method that uses tin or tin-lead solder. As for the flux, it is replaced by rosin. To prevent the formation of a new aluminum oxide film in place of the old one, stripping is carried out under a layer of molten rosin.
The soldering iron, in addition to its direct purpose, will be used as a tool that destroys the oxide film. To do this, a special scraper is put on its sting. You can increase the effectiveness of the process by adding metal filings to the rosin.
The process is carried out as follows:
- use a heated tinned soldering iron to melt the rosin at the soldering site;
- When the rosin completely covers the surface, they begin to rub it with a soldering iron tip. As a result, metal filings and stings destroy the aluminum oxide film. Since the layer of molten rosin does not allow air to penetrate to the aluminum surface, an oxide film does not form on it. As the film is destroyed, tinning of the part will occur;
- When the tinning process is completed, the parts are joined and heated until the melting temperature of the solder is reached.
It must be warned that the process of soldering aluminum without special materials is a rather troublesome process with no guarantee of successful completion. Therefore, it is better not to waste your time and energy on such work, especially since the quality and reliability of such a connection will be questionable.
It is much easier to buy active flux and high-temperature solder, with which soldering aluminum even at home will not cause difficulties.
Source: www.asutpp.ru
How to seal a hole in an aluminum can?
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Aluminum cannot be soldered; it can be welded with argon and it must be special for this. tuned. Advice: take a drill slightly larger than the diameter of the rotten hole and make a hole for the required bolt. Then take a bolt, 2 washers and 2 gaskets and tighten it with a nut - you can also rivet it - your can is not a moonshine still? And if there is a food product in it, then the gaskets should not just be rubber.
There is a lot of advice - but without experience it is unlikely that you will succeed, only if you turn to a specialist. Failing that, insert a bolt with a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the hole into the hole, with a gasket and a washer. It is better to take the material of the screw from a material that is not susceptible to corrosion: stainless steel, titanium, duralumin, fluoroplastic.
Now there is so-called “cold welding”: aluminum is soldered. In addition, there are fluxes for soldering it. Previously, zinc chloride was used as a flux, and pastes that did not allow aluminum to come into contact with air: it oxidizes instantly. They still peck him. Search the Internet (there are a lot of things) and ask at hardware stores.
Feraoth › Blog › Soldering aluminum at home using a battery
Soldering aluminum is very difficult, because... it instantly oxidizes upon contact with the atmosphere, even if it has just been cleaned. For soldering there are powerful acid fluxes, like the proven F-64A (radio engineering stores), but they are not available everywhere.
I came across a trick in a Soviet textbook to get around these difficulties. A solution of copper sulfate is taken (sold in fertilizers in the form of a blue powder), and then a few drops of the solution are applied to the cleaned and degreased aluminum. Carefully (so as not to touch the aluminum) a copper wire is dipped into the solution, to which the “+” of the voltage source is connected. The aluminum part is connected, accordingly, to the “-” of this source. The current passes through the vitriol solution and precipitates copper from it. The exposure time depends on the current and voltage (it can be a 1.5V AA battery or a 12V battery).
In my case it was a 12V battery and I didn’t even bother with the solution - I just dropped tap water on a few crumbs of vitriol
