Welcome! This guide was designed to help the process engineer determine the cause and solution for the most common defects. Because the wave solder process is complex and many variables interact to produce the results, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause and solution. This guide will provide the user with several cause and solutions that could affect the process and result in the selected defect. Refer to the Wavesolder Machine and Process section for more information on how machine parameters affect the process and nominal parameter values. The board and component quality, type of solder mask, flux chemistry, component orientation and lead length are some of the non-machine variables that will affect the process and must also be considered.