Hi Folks, I’ve been contacted by a physicist friend from a nearby
university, asking of I can silver solder (re-solder, actually) a
thin strip of platinum onto a contact post in some sort of high-tech
laboratory measuring device.
The platinum strip is actually a very slender foil 30 microns thick
by 1/2 mm wide; he compares it to a Christmas tree icicle. One end is
still attached to its contact; the other has broken loose (“I did
something I shouldn’t have,” is how he put it.)
The device has something to do with temperature measurement or
temperature control. Parts of it get up to 700 degrees Celsius, but
the contact itself has a heat sink which keeps its temperature to the
200-300 degree range. I haven’t seen it and have no idea whether it’s
even physically possible to get in there with a small tip torch flame
without doing damage; I’ll look at it on Saturday.
Never having worked with platinum before, my question is can it be
silver soldered at all? Will the silver solder adhere?
The second question is, I plan to use my acetylene torch. Not
oxy-acetylene but only acetylene, with the smallest tip I have. But
I’m told that the acetylene flame is rich in unburnt carbon; and I do
remember reading that carbon in platinum is harmful in some way. What
does it do to the platinum? Am I putting the platinum foil strip im
jeopardy by going at it with the acetylene torch?
Any informed advice and speculation will be greatly appreciated -
Cheers & thanks,
Hans Durstling
Moncton, Canada