Application:
Kitchen and bath faucets manufactured by Wolverine Brass of Conway, S.C.

The soldering story:
A number of different brazing processes are used in the production of the faucets made by Wolverine Brass. One instance is the manufacture of the spout assembly. In this process, three brass components are joined together to form the faucet spout. An aerator adapter and a hub are each joined to a spout tube. Using a 12 station indexing table with two assemblies per station, the components are joined in an efficient, fully automated process. A Handy & Harman 45% silver brazing alloy in both a paste and wire form joins the brass parts to produce the final assembly. With the three components in place, the aerators are striped with paste and attached to the spout tube. At the same time, an automatic wire feed positions the brazing filler metal wire between the hub and the spout tube. A Handy B1 flux is applied and, using gas manifold heat, the assembly is brazed. Following the brazing process, the assembled spouts are air cooled and a series of water tanks are used for cleaning. In total, the entire process requires less than 23 seconds.

Brazing produces strong, leaktight and corrosion resistant joints in a cost-efficient manner. In this type of product, where appearance is critical, the process produces virtually invisible joints.