Oxidation can negatively impact the conductivity and cause the solder joint to fail. To avoid this, use a rosin flux on the ...

The flux serves as a temporary adhesive to hold components onto the board until the paste is heated; after heating, a stronger physical bond is formed. Pastes are typically made of tin/lead alloys.

transferring the heat from the iron’s tip to different points along the wire, then, as a barrier that helps solder not escape too far away from the pins. Copious amounts of flux likely desired ...

There are some very, very talented people out there, and they all work in the medium of wire, heat, and flux. At this year’s DEF CON, we opened the floodgates to competitive soldering.

First, the wire is fed into the machine so it can be cut and shaped. Then, it is stripped at the tip and coated with flux, a cleaning agent that makes soldering and welding of metals a little easier.