Henkel Expands Temperature Stable Solder Portfolio

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

In early 2015, Henkel introduced the electronics market to the first-ever temperature stable solder paste, LOCTITE GC 10. Building on this success, the company has now developed a lead-free, halogen-free water washable solder paste that leverages this formulation know-how and has shown equally impressive results.

The new solder paste, LOCTITE GC 3W, is a market first for water washable materials.  With temperature stability similar to that of LOCTITE GC 10, the paste offers performance stability at 26.5°C for six months and at 40°C for one month.  In a formulation milestone, LOCTITE GC 3W combines the properties of high-activity flux performance and temperature stability – characteristics that have been mutually exclusive until now.

“We have taken many of the same temperature stability advantages used to develop LOCTITE GC 10 and integrated them into this new, water soluble formula,” explains Dr. Mark Currie, Henkel Global Product Manager for Solder Materials.  “As compared to conventional water washable solder pastes, LOCTITE GC 3W offers storage, processing and cleaning latitude not previously available.”

LOCTITE GC 3W’s temperature stability provides similar advantages to that of its no-clean counterpart, LOCTITE GC 10.  The new material boasts a stencil life of more than eight hours and abandon times greater than four hours.  This is in comparison to current water soluble paste materials that generally only provide abandon times of two hours or less.  In addition, while residues from most water washable materials must be cleaned within 24 hours, LOCTITE GC 3W dramatically expands the cleaning window and allows manufacturers the flexibility to clean the board seven days after board assembly.

Reflow performance of LOCTITE GC 3W is also superior to competitive pastes, providing improved solder joint reliability.  The material has shown excellent coalescence in air for even the most challenging 0201, 01005 and 0.3mm pitch components.  After three days at 80% relative humidity (RH), LOCTITE GC 3W exhibits absolutely no dewetting on a long soak, high temperature reflow profile and has minimal hot slump at 182°C.

“For applications such as aerospace and medical where cleaning is a requirement, LOCTITE GC 3W allows manufacturers to comply with manufacturing processes while enjoying the benefits of improved printing and reflow stability, easy residue removal over extended time periods and superior paste management,” says Currie in conclusion.  “In a nutshell, this paste delivers better performance with lower overall cost as compared to other water soluble materials.”

Henkel in North America

Henkel markets a wide range of well-known consumer and industrial brands in North America, including Dial® soaps, Purex® laundry detergents, Right Guard® antiperspirants, got2b® hair gels, and Loctite® adhesives. Visit www.henkelna.com for more information.

About Henkel

Henkel operates worldwide with leading brands and technologies in three business areas:

Laundry & Home Care, Beauty Care and Adhesive Technologies. Founded in 1876, Henkel holds globally leading market positions both in the consumer and industrial businesses with well-known brands such as Persil, Schwarzkopf and Loctite. Henkel employs about 50,000 people and reported sales of $21.8 billion and adjusted operating profit of $3.4 billion in fiscal 2014. Henkel’s preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX.