What is Wave Solder?

Wave soldering is a bulk soldering process used for manufacturing printed circuit boards (PCBs) with through-hole components. A wave of molten solder is pumped across a bath, and the PCB is passed over this wave, allowing the solder to adhere to and electrically connect the component leads to the board. It is a relatively fast and economical method for soldering a large number of connections simultaneously, particularly for boards where surface-mount technology (SMT) is not extensively used.