On 11/3/15 4:53 PM, John Reilly wrote:
What are the advantages/disadvantages of using silver solder? I never
have gotten a clear understanding when silver solder is appropriate.
Are you talking the no-lead tin/silver/copper alloys used for RoHS
soldering, or "silver solder" as in "hard solder" for brazing?
Soldering is "join two metal things with a different metal of lower
melting point", to distinguish from, say, welding, "join two metal
things with more of the same metal"
Then there's usually a distinction between "soft solder" (historically
using a tin/lead alloy with low melting point, although indium and
bismuth are also used to lower the melting point) and "hard soldering"
or "brazing" where the filler metal has a much higher MP (but still
lower than the two things being joined).
In general "soft solder" isn't "structural": it's to make an electrical
connection or to form a seal, but not to provide strength. In fact, the
softness of the solder is used in joints where there might be
displacement (e.g. vacuum seals might be done with a soft solder) and
something else takes the mechanical loads. One does have to be careful
about work hardening under loads.
Brazing, though, is usually used for something where a secure mechanical
connection is needed. There's a variety of silver containing alloys
that have low-ish melting points (compared to steel and copper and
brass) that also have decent mechanical properties, particularly under
mechanical load/vibration. They also "stick well" to a lot of metals:
one reason for brazing is when you want to join dissimilar metals
together: You want to attach a copper widget to a steel structural
member, and silver solder is your friend.
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