February, 2013 Continued from previous page
tions where it has always delivered unmatched benefits and where relia- bility is a necessity. However, reliabil- ity is more crucial today. The next time you open an Ipad at 33,000-ft. consider this: are the electronics con- trolling the aircraft made using the same “throw-away” mentality we ac- cept for our consumer electronics? How often does an Ipad flake out or simply not work? How many are re- turned for repair? And it’s simply ac- cepted that they will be repaired and the inconvenience has to be tolerated. The potential failure of aircraft
electronics at 33,000-ft. or in an airbag system when you need it can have catastrophic consequences. In extreme environments such as space flight it is simply not an option. An arbitrary failure cannot be allowed to occur as a result of a dry joint or a weak fillet that resulted from over exposure to high temperatures, longer time above liquidous, or both. Vapor phase eliminates both scenar- ios while operating in an oxygen-free environment without the need for a third-party gaseous injection such as nitrogen. Consequently fluxes are not burned out or stressed beyond their normal and stated operating parameters, ensuring the final joint’s intermetallic interface is sound, the fillet strong and well proportioned, and the overall reliability of the fin- ished product meets specifications. Space flight is not the only activity that relies significantly on the in- tegrity of electronics. Electronics rep- resent more than 50 percent of the value of a car in 2012. Driving to work may not be as dramatic as reaching the moon but it can be equally dangerous and the reliability of the electronics is essential.
Long Life Electronics The average age of a car in the
USA today is 11 years and this is not anticipated to decrease. It stands to reason that the anticipated life of the electronics in today’s cars must be greater than 10 years. Liability for failures many years from now is a re-
Back on Line Continued from page 21
BAE Plant
Campus in nearby Endicott, NY — a complex of buildings that had at one time housed the IBM Corporation’s main operations. All of BAE’s employ- ees were also moved to the new site within four days of the flood. The Huron’s owners were anxious to help, and reportedly showed “an amazing level of help and cooperation.” Since the September 8, 2011
flood, BAE Systems has made a full business recovery and today is in full operation in Endicott, NY. “Our golden rule in customer
support is to exceed expectations at all times, but especially when situa- tions like this arise. This is how I would want to be treated, so we strive to do the same for all our cus- tomers,” concluded Ebborn. Contact: Europlacer North
America, 5804 E. Breckenridge Blvd., Tampa, FL 33610 % 813-246-9500 fax: 813-246-9595 Web:
www.europlacer.com or BAE Systems, 1098 Clark St., Endicott, NY 13760 % 607-775-7272 r
See us at IPC/APEX Booth 1401
www.us-tech.com Vapor Phase: Today’s Premium SMT Technology.
al issue. Vapor phase presents the best insurance for long and reliable life for many mundane but critical electronics systems that we rely on every day. Reliability is just one of the reasons why Vapor phase thrives as an alternative to Convection. Twenty five years ago vapor
phase was the only available technol- ogy that could be used to produce those early low volumes of cell phones. It did a good job but vapor phase did not lend itself to the vast scale of production in the following years and this led to utilization of IR and the convection process. The irony is that many high value PCB produc- ers today are demanding re-adoption of the vapor phase process simply be-
cause of its high reliability. So the circle closes and we are back where we started, almost. Today’s vapor phase systems can be standalone or in-line and integrated to a flow line configuration. They are safe for the environment and the operators and the cost of ownership has been re- duced by high energy efficiency. When process analysis includes the product value or rework of reduced soldering failures, Vapor phase sys- tems are very cost-effective. From a production volume stand-
point there are clearly situations that convection is better suited to the man- ufacture of lower complexity products with lower product life expectations, but when the manufactured product
has a mission critical role to play va- por phase becomes an insurance policy against unexpected and unwanted failures in the field. For a manufactur- er who deals with low volumes and high levels of changeover, the vapor phase process affords them instant re- flow program changes making work scheduling a far simpler task. Today’s vapor phase is coming
back into vogue, especially for mis- sion-critical product applications, as well as the manufacturers who have a high mix/low volume customer base. Contact: A-Tek Systems Group,
1329 Sherman Drive, Longmont, CO 80501 % 970-532-5100 fax: 970-532- 5101 E-mail:
patty@atekllc.com Web:
www.atekllc.com r
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