SMTAI 2014 - Technical Conference Participation
SMTA International (SMTAI) will be held in Rosemont, Illinois, September 30 through October 1, 2014. I am very excited about the show as I am e...
Solder
Stencil Coach™ Calculates Optimal Solder Paste Printing Aperture Parameters: Now Available Online
Folks, A while ago, I developed an Excel-based spreadsheet, StencilCoach™, that calculates optimal stencil aperture parameters for several commo...
Square with Radius Corners vs. Circular Apertures: SMT Optimization for Success Part 4:
In our continued investigation and quest to improve solder paste printing for fine-feature paste deposits, we also found that consistency (low standar...
Low Temperature Solders Slated to Leave Niche Status by 2017
Folks, It surprises many people that the foundation metal of almost all solder alloys is tin. Alloy elements such as lead, silver, copper, indi...
Low-Temperature Solders: Important, Valuable
New developments are happening almost daily in the electronics device world: phones that do much more than just convey voice, clothing that monitors a...
SMT Optimization for Success Part 3: Flux Chemistry
SMT Optimization for Success Part 3: Flux Chemistry In our continued discussion on optimizing the stencil printing process (see Part 1, Part 2), the t...
Stencil Printing for SMT Assembly Success Part 2: Print Metrics
(See Part 1) When discussing success in solder paste stencil printing for SMT assembly, one of the most important tools in an engineer‘s “...
The Effect of Reflow Profiling on the Electrical Reliability of No-Clean Solder Paste Residues
At APEX 2014, I presented a paper about the effect that reflow profiling has on the SIR (Surface Insulation Resistance) performance (electrical reliab...
Viscosity And The Printable Nature of Solder Paste
Let’s talk viscosity. Most of us are experienced with paint. Paint is a thick liquid that is applied to a surface and then, for the most p...
Stencil Printing for Success: Solder Paste Handling and Storage
SMT Optimization for Success in Printing Ultrafine Solder Paste Deposits The SMT industry widely accepts that ~60% of solder defects occur at the ste...
Alloy Density Calculator Generates Most Interest of All Blog Posts
Folks, In the nearly ten years that I have been blogging, I am continually surprised by the interest in a spreadsheet I created that calculates alloy ...
Hard Work, Experience, and Dedication
Overcoming the challenges we face in a production environment is accomplished in many ways. Ideas may be generated during a high-level brainstorming e...