Soldering (see RoHS), has led to a change in formulation of both solders and fluxes. Water-soluble non-rosin-based fluxes have been increasingly used since the 1980s so that soldered boards can be cleaned with water or water-based cleaners. This eliminates hazardous solvents from the production environment, and from factory effluents. Those regulations have also reduced the use of lead based solders, and caused the melting temperatures of solders in use to increase by up to . "Hot-bar reflow" is a selective soldering process where two pre-fluxed, solder coated parts are heated with heating element (called a thermode) to a sufficient temperature to
Compression seal fitting or conductors from twisting and shearing. One or more insulators may also be included when electrical isolation is required. Soft sealant technology for compression seal fittings was developed in the 1950s by Conax Technologies. Since then, compression seal fittings have evolved to include multiple variations for different applications. Some applications include: Single-element compression seal fittings are used to seal a single element such as a temperature probe, tubewell, pipe, etc. Multiple-element compression seal fittings are used when multiple elements of the same or different diameters such as metal tubing, ceramic or rigid plastic tube or pipe, temperature probe, a tubewell,