At 02:17 PM 2/6/2013, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
>What is a wave tank please ?

The dominant production method for soldering PC boards with
through-hole components is called wave soldering, because it employs
a long slot-shaped fountain of molten solder that somewhat resembles
an ocean wave if viewed from the side.  PC boards travel on a
conveyer system over a flux applicator, a preheater, and the solder
wave; after which they pass through a de-fluxing cycle and then may
have leads trimmed on the solder side of the board.  The height of
the wave is adjusted so the boards kiss the top of it but it doesn't
lap over onto the upper side.

The solder fountain holds a considerable amount of solder, perhaps a
couple hundred pounds? which constantly circulate up through the
"wave" and back into the heating tank when the machine is operating.

Now that most electronic components are surface mounted, wave
soldering has lost its dominance though it's still used.

Good description with some photos here:
http://www.ami.ac.uk/courses/topics/0225_wave/index.html

Yrs,
d