-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueBox Build
One trend is to add box build and final assembly to your product offering. In this issue, we explore the opportunities and risks of adding system assembly to your service portfolio.
IPC APEX EXPO 2024 Pre-show
This month’s issue devotes its pages to a comprehensive preview of the IPC APEX EXPO 2024 event. Whether your role is technical or business, if you're new-to-the-industry or seasoned veteran, you'll find value throughout this program.
Boost Your Sales
Every part of your business can be evaluated as a process, including your sales funnel. Optimizing your selling process requires a coordinated effort between marketing and sales. In this issue, industry experts in marketing and sales offer their best advice on how to boost your sales efforts.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
New Cleaning Products Are More Compatible, Cleanliness Tests More Accurate
March 8, 2010 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
— Zestron and Heraeus optimized cleaning processes for new lead-free and leaded solder pastes; Seika introduced a printer wiper roll cleaner that eliminates waste; Zestron added 5-liter refills for its Bath Analyzer; GEN3 Systems and Ascentech debut a line of cleanliness testers; and Kyzen developed a pH-neutral aqueous cleaning product.
Optimized Cleaning Processes for New Solder Pastes
Heraeus’s high-performance F377 no-clean, tin/lead solder paste and the new lead-free, halogen-free water-cleanable F543 were tested with ZESTRON’s VIGON A 201 and ATRON AC 205 in in-line, batch, and ultrasonic cleaning processes. In addition to characterizing the ability to clean the solder pastes’ flux residues on reflowed assemblies, the effort also examined each paste in its unreflowed state to identify the best methods of removal from stencils and misprinted circuit cards. These tests are another installment of a long-running cooperative program in which ZESTRON develops cleaning processes for Heraeus’s new soldering products in one of their state-of-the-art technical centers. The most recent effort was led by ZESTRON’s senior process engineer Ravi Parthasarathy at their Manassas, VA facility and was supported by Heraeus’s West Conshohocken, PA, R&D organization. Application bulletins for cleaning Heraeus’ newest solder paste formulation are now available. They contain recommended operating parameters for in-line, batch, ultrasonic, stencil and misprint cleaning. They also include suggested concentrations, temperatures, timing and rinse information as applicable for each process. Copies of the bulletins may be obtained by contacting Dawn Lehman at Heraeus Materials Technology, dawn.lehman@heraeus.com; or Sabine Braun at ZESTRON, s.braun@zestronusa.com.
Wiper Roll Cleaner
The Sawa Eco-Roll SC-ER360 enables reusing wiper rolls for printing machines. The SC-ER360 cleans wiper rolls in 20 minutes. It measures 900 × 850 × 1200 mm. Sawa Stencil Cleaners are widely used in the Japanese electronics industry to ensure high yields when screen printing solder paste onto PCBs. Normal cloth wipe cleaning of stencils cannot completely remove solder paste especially in fine-pitch applications because a small amount of solder balls have a tendency to adhere to the corners of the apertures. Sawa Stencil Cleaners are able to completely remove solder paste using ultrasonic vibration and can work with most solvents recommended by paste manufacturers. Seika Machinery, Inc. (SMI) is a subsidiary of Seika Corporation, Japan and member of the Mitsubishi Global Group, www.seikausa.com
5 Liter Refills for Bath Analyzer
Refills for the ZESTRON Bath Analyzer 10 and 20 are now available in 5-liter containers. Both products have been formulated to measure the concentration and indicate the alkalinity of baths containing ATRON, VIGON, and ZESTRON cleaning agents. Developed as an alternative to the refractive index method, the ZESTRON Bath Analyzer monitors chemical bath concentrations irrespective of dissolved organics (i.e., fluxes) and almost as accurately as gas chromatography at a lower cost. The ZESTRON Bath Analyzer is reportedly easy to use and time efficient. One case includes all the necessary tools to measure concentration and a simple color coding system indicates the bath’s alkalinity. Additionally, it can also serve as a calibration tool for refractive index measurements by controlling any deviation caused by flux loading. ZESTRON, www.zestron.com
Cleanliness Testing Systems
This line of ionic cleanliness test systems consists of systems with larger test capacity, innovative measurement software and hardware, and a new budget-sensitive cost structure. All the new systems deliver a measurement range of 0.01 – 30 µg/cm² (Auto-ranging) and measurement sensitivity of <0.25% of range. Additionally, all of the systems deliver a test measurement accuracy of better than 0.005 µS. As a result of GEN3's Curvefitting algorithms, test times are generally less than 5 minutes. These CM-Series testers use a solid gold measurement cell for accuracy and reduced maintenance, and a Ballistic Amplifier in the measurement circuitry for high accuracy and the elimination of polarization effects. The CM-66 also incorporates the VMC, which automatically calculates the surface area to be tested. GEN3 Systems and Ascentech, rallinson@snet.net.
pH-neutral Cleaning Chemistry
AQUANOX A4703 Neutral pH Aqueous Cleaning Chemistry is an aqueous cleaning solution designed with a pH-neutral formulation. AQUANOX A4703 is combined with Kyzen’s inhibition technology to provide superior material compatibility. Additionally, A4703 is effective at concentrations as low as 3%. This chemistry was developed for use in spray batch and spray in-line cleaning systems to remove OA, no-clean, and RMA pastes and fluxes, including difficult lead-free residues. AQUANOX A4703 is easily controlled by refractive index, manually or when using an automated process control system such as the Kyzen PCS. It is available in one, five, and 55 gallon containers. Kyzen Corporation, www.kyzen.com.
Join the PennWell SMT Group on LinkedIn
Become a Fan on SMT's Facebook Page
Post your electronics manufacturing, SMT-related material to the #SMT community on Twitter. Use the #SMT hashtag.