A Winning Scenario for Cleaned Circuit Assemblies

By Mike Konrad, Aqueous Technologies Corporation
Much can be learned from 28 years involvement in the electronics assembly cleaning industry. This almost three-decade period can be separated into three distinct periods. Prior to 1989, virtually all assemblies were cleaned after soldering. During the period from 1989 through 2005, ...

Defining Requirements For Kelvin Testers

By Gerhard Gschwendtberger Business Unit Manager Contactors, Multitest Elektronische Systeme GmbH, Rosenheim, Germany
Kelvin contactors can provide precise resistance measurements in high-volume production environments. Kelvin test is not new, but still benefits analog and mixed-signal circuit production test through accurate resistance measurements and compensation of unwanted parasitic circuit elements ...

Dispensing Systems Can Pay for Themselves

By David Upton, Director of Marketing, FRC-Fluid Research Corp.
Adhesives and sealants based on epoxy, silicone, and urethane typically require precise formulations to be effective, and establishing the proper mix and dispensing process for those materials is critical to success. In fact, suppliers of those materials routinely sell their formulations ...

Vacating Voids in QFN Packages

By Raimund Faber, General Manager Sales & Marketing, SMT Wertheim, Wertheim, Germany
Surface-mount components rely on tiny housings such as QFN packages for their electrical and mechanical health and well-being. QFN, or quad-flat-no-lead housings, are leadless packages used throughout applications calling for surface-mount-technology (SMT) devices. With electrical contacts ...

Meter Mix Dispensing Reduces Production Time and Cost

By David Upton, Director of Marketing, FRC-Fluid Research Corporation, Tustin, CA
Precisely applying today's epoxy, silicone and urethane-based adhesives and sealants require the proper meter mix and dispensing process. Material manufacturers are constantly selling their formulations based on the benefits that they provide, and rely on their customers to properly ...

Process Improvements in Fluid Dispensing

By Dan Ashley, Nordson ASYMTEK, Carlsbad, CA
Jetting is the fluid dispensing process where fluid is rapidly ejected through a nozzle and uses the fluid momentum to break free from the nozzle. Jet dispensing has been available in the electronics manufacturing industry since 1993 when jetting technology was first introduced by Nordson ...

The Reality of Design for Assembly

By Noah Fenley, ACD, Richardson, TX
Understanding the concept behind design for assembly (DFA) is the key to a successful assembly. Unfortunately, this often includes an ongoing struggle to balance assembly, fabrication and layout ? these elements must work together in order for the process to run smoothly. It also is ...

Using Dry Cabinets in High-Mix/Low-Volume Assembly

By Edward S. Wheeler, Director of Manufacturing Engineering, Trenton Technology Inc., Utica, NY
High-volume assembly provides numerous benefits to users: good process repeatability, large stocks of parts neatly dry packed and ready for use, and everything set up in tape-and-reel or matrix trays directly from the factory. In addition, when using high-volume assembly, the assemblers ...

Finding the Middle Path in PCB Cleaning

By Tom Forsythe, Vice President, Kyzen, Nashville, TN
One fundamental realization that often escapes people is that as things become smaller, the things inside them also become smaller and closer together. This last fact — the closer together part — is what can be challenging for electronics assemblers. It significantly impacts placement ...

Debunking Urban Legends about PCB Cleaning

By Mike Konrad, President and CEO, Aqueous Technologies Corporation, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Within the cleaning sectors of the electronics assembly industry lays a strange mixture of science, tribal knowledge, contradictions and urban legends. As the electronics assembly industry again embraces cleaning as a mainstream process, it may be prudent to review the "conventional ...