Category: Uncategorised
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A common flux in soldering is zinc chloride solution. It is supposedly quite effective, though its corrosiveness makes it unsuitable for electronics. I tried using it as a tip cleaner for soldering irons that had oxidized to the point where they couldn’t be tinned with rosin-core solder. Zinc chloride (ZnCl2) is easy to make by yourself by dissolving zinc (Zn) in a jar of muriatic acid (HCl, 10M). The reaction was very vigorous for the first few minutes; the glass jar got noticeably warm, and steam came out of the jar. After a few hours I could still …
