Contact Time
In the PCB assembly industry, the term “contact time” refers to that time period during which the area to be soldered is in intimate contact with the liquid solder. The term is being used in the area of hand soldering (manual soldering), selective soldering and wave soldering. The contact time is dependent on the temperature of the liquid solder and on the thermal capacity of the solder joint. The danger of thermal damages to either the board or the components rises with any prolongation of the contact time.