CAB Maintenance Tips

Best Practices for Wet Flux Systems

Mr. Manos Eliades, Technical Service Manager – NAFTA, Solvay Fluorides LLC, presented an in-depth talk on NOCOLOK® flux for the SECO/WARWICK CAB Brazing Seminar held in May, 2007.   He reported that the most common flux application method for is spraying an aqueous suspension (wet fluxing) because the chemical and physical flux properties achieved the best results.  Solvay estimates that 80% of CAB Brazing operations use wet fluxing methods.  He offered these tips for best practices in managing wet fluxing systems:

• For reliable start-ups, drain and flush the pumps, piping and the entire system
• Keep conveyor wet (with flux slurry or water) to provide lubrication and prevent flux agglomeration.  Experience shows that dried flux on moving steel parts dramatically reduces service life
• Filters installed on the return part of the loop should be doubled:  one is the “working” filter and one is the by-pass filter and can be removed for cleaning
• It is useful to have two entire spray manifolds with nozzles (one spare).  In case of nozzle blockage, the manifold can be easily replaced thereby minimizing downtime.
• Spray nozzles should be “quick release” to allow rapid exchange.
• The fluxing booth chamber must be washed down periodically (once per shift) to prevent flux agglomeration and drying on chamber walls.

For more information on NOCOLOK flux, visit http://www.solvay-fluor.com/chemicals/NOCOLOK_Flux.  NOCOLOK® Flux is a registered trademark
of Solvay Fluor GmbH.    

The latest design, materials and equipment specifications should be obtained from the company before any reliance is placed on the enclosed since changes may occur due to product improvement.