I do think I will wake up many nights and think "holy shit I could have saved $100k and achieved almost the same thing." But...we'll see! MPH Can you tell more about your line and your experiences?
I've got two Yamaha YV100-ii machines. I was able to get them at auction when a company went into receivership in Australia. They were really cheap. Was a 'as-is/where-is' purchase. But we lucked in, and both machines where in good order. I've replaced nozzles and some sensor.. For reflow i'm using vapour phase, which is slow but awesome. I got a decent air-compressor, to run them.. I was able to lease basically a concrete shell.. Painted / sealed the walls and ceiling, and painted the floor with ESD paint. Air lines /power are in conduit just screwd up to the wall. Storage is simple but effectivel $100 shelving units from the local hardware warehouse.
Have installed a Aircon unit, because it gets too cold.. No air filtration, yet, but its pretty clean.. I have a manual stencil printer (cheap unit) and got a $3500 semi automatic unit from Torch in china.. The manual is great for short runs, its quicker to setup for one.. the auto is good for longer runs, it takes longer to setup but requires less work each time.. think the cut over woudl be about 20 panels.
I've been aquriing more feeders ( ex china, clones ) as need for projects.. and i seem to buy bits and peices of tools.. But baiscally it seems that the rule is not to buy anything untill you absoltely need it. Its amazing what you can do with out it. Bought ESD mats for our workbenches, and cut it to shape. made my own bonding points.
>I've been also thinking about PCB cleaning. Right now I do it in a very tedious manual way, with a lab hotplate, flux remover, and then an IPA rinse. Takes about forever.
Big bonus with the vapour phase is that the boards come out really clean.. the flux ends up in the bottom of the tank!
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>Curious what others do for PCB cleaning of larger batches. PCB washing systems are loony tunes expensive.
Im comign to the conclusion that there is a LOT of Myth and BS spun about PCBAssembly and what you need and must have. With some good thinking you really can get away with out all the 'flash' gear. My stencil cleaner cost me about $300. i bought some Ultraonic transducers on aliexpress, and had a tank made from stainless steel for example. Its really not that tricky.
Last step is to find a couch to cram in there so I can hang out with girlfriend and my little dog, cancelling out the benefit of all that expensive air filtration. :p
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