Halide flux on soldering can tarnish the soldering tip!

[Katsogiannis]

Hello all.

New on this forum and i need anyone who has some experience on soldering and the type of flux used.
Recently i used some solder wire that contains a flux type of an activator called "Halide". My research show me that Halide is the most aggressive of the ingredients of a flux.
The amount of Halide is part responsible for the rate that a cored solder wire will flow. Due to the Halides aggressive nature certain international and independent specifications have guidelines to corrosion testing of fluxes.
Some countries (e.g. Japan, USA and Germany) believe that removing the Halide from within a flux (Nitro-Flo HF flux type) will eliminate any possible long term corrosion.
Certain national, international and military standards prohibit the use of Halides in fluxes and this is because often believe Halide activators to be more corrosive that other activators.
Can this also cause low performance and tarnish on the soldering tips and cartridges?
I am still running tests using different tips and also try to find out if tinning the tip for storage with Halide flux solder can corrode and damage the tip.
Any help would be much appreciated.

PS. I am using a Metcal MX soldering station.

Thanks in advance.

 

[shrtrnd]

That's a lot of information to try to answer.
It seems to me that an 'aggressive' flux, would also be aggressive with whatever it was used on.
I'd Google information on that particular flux, and see what others say about it.
(Or better yet, contact the manufacturer and ask for application information)
As far as the solder tip is concerned. It will ALL depend on the reactivity of the flux with whatever alloy
your solder tip is composed of.
WHY, did you chose this type of flux, and what exactly are you soldering with it?