Solderability

Solderability

Different metals have different affinity to a particular solder. The following table describes the general solderability of different base materials.

Solderability	Base Metal	Remarks
Excellent	Tin Cadmium Gold Silver Palladium Rhodium	Noble metals dissolve easily in solders, resulting in brittle joints
Good	Copper Bronze Brass Lead Nickel-Silver Beryllium-Copper	High thermal conductivity of these metals requires high heat input during soldering. Oxidizes quickly so proper flux must be used
Fair	Carbon Steels Low-Alloy Steels Zinc Nickel	Solder joints become brittle in sulfur-rich environments. Avoid higher temperatures in the presence of lubricants (which contain sulfur).
Poor	Aluminum Aluminum-Bronze	Tough oxides on the surface prevent wetting (formation of the inter-metallic layers). Solders have to be specially selected to avoid galvanic corrosion problems.
Poor	High-Alloy Steels Stainless Steels	Too much chromium oxide the surface needs to be cleaned with an aggressive flux.
Very Difficult	Cast Iron Chromium Titanium Tantalum Magnesium	Require pre-plating with a solderable metal.