As far as remaining concerns, the Heller reflow oven and MPM stencil printer I really am clueless about. I assume I can find manuals and stuff, the oven itself shouldn't be terribly complicated. Even so I haven't looked into available service nearby. I am just crossing my fingers on these, they will be demonstrated working prior to shipment but then it's on me to get those up and running.
To start, Macrofab wants to charge $60k for these boards for assembly alone. And that will be the case on every. single. batch. China is "cheaper" if your time is free and you have the expertise to do it. Many people allude to this magical CM that can take the files and pump out 1k boards for $1 each without any back and forth. Please find them for me!
Just found out the machines also come with the off-line programming tool as well as a feeder calibration rig. Music to my ears!
Anyone here with experience using one of these? I've read good things about them, one is available here for $1k. Apparently it works but won't save programs. I'm OK with that if it's a good oven, would be great for running small boards or leaded boards that I don't want in the big oven.
Now I'm looking for a dip-solder machine, apparently Manncorp no longer offers those models despite being listed on the website. That pretty much just leaves China as far as I know. Not a big issue with that, unless anyone has suggestions.
jmelson: I'm pretty adept at reading the fine print, after a few startup experiences. Nobody is touching anything unless the insurance covers it. Once the machines have been safely transported, powered up, and checked out with the approval of a service tech, then I will sign off.
Interesting development on the through-hole front...has anyone used a Bismuth containing solder paste such as this: http://alphaassembly.com/Products/Solder-Paste/CVP-520
Seems like a great option for through hole. I just read an article in the Printed Circuit Design & Fab magazine about Bismuth solder and how it fell out of favor when leaded solder was commonplace for some reason (I think it was material compatibility with lead) but now is coming back into favor. I'd of course love to do a second pass with this paste but that may be difficult with a populated board, so I'd need to solder all the parts with it.
Chip Quik paste seems to work great most of the time but it's been less consistent for me than Kester. 2)
Anyone have stories to share regarding preferred solder paste? I feel OK about ChipQuik, Kester I've had pretty good luck with. I seem to hear unanimous good things about Alpha, and Loctite seems well regarded as well.
Henkel GC10 is supposed to be a very good LF paste with very long life - I think there is a thread here somewhere about it
Henkel GC10 is supposed to be a very good LF paste with very long life - I think there is a thread here somewhere about it
I just switched to GC10 - AMAZING! I was using one of the Kesters before.
Every metric of the GC10 is better - very long stencil life, temp stable, very easy to print fine pitch (type 4 paste), excellent finished joints, very low residue.
Anyone have stories to share regarding preferred solder paste? I feel OK about ChipQuik, Kester I've had pretty good luck with. I seem to hear unanimous good things about Alpha, and Loctite seems well regarded as well.
Henkel GC10 is supposed to be a very good LF paste with very long life - I think there is a thread here somewhere about it
I just switched to GC10 - AMAZING! I was using one of the Kesters before.
Every metric of the GC10 is better - very long stencil life, temp stable, very easy to print fine pitch (type 4 paste), excellent finished joints, very low residue.Who did you buy it from? It is probably just about time to refresh my lead-free paste.
Jon
DigiKey -
OK, what threw me off is it shows as being Loctite brand, not Henkel. I guess Loctite is their US distributor.
Henkel GC10 is supposed to be a very good LF paste with very long life - I think there is a thread here somewhere about it
Interesting, I'll admit I was biased as it's often cheaper than Kester or Chip Quik. I'll definitely have to pick some up!
Sounds pretty awesome.
I really have to wonder why there is so much variability. Is it all down to the flux? I would think the metallurgy is pretty much identical but who knows, maybe that extra 0.01% purity makes a tangible impact on the result.
The flux should be different because this stuff does not need to refridgerated.
For the rest only the size of the balls is a differentiator. Some paste can not pass 0,3mm syringes.
I thought that was the difference between stencil paste (bigger balls) and syringe paste (smaller balls)?