To measure is to know. To guess is to miss.

Optimise your SMT-Reflow process and save on Rework and Repair

Quite often I see operators in companies producing electronics perform repair or rework on printed circuit board assemblies that wouldn’t have been necessary if the reflow soldering process would have been optimised.

The reflow soldering process can be monitored with a data logger. These data loggers register the time-temperature profile of the product. Through these measurements one learns to understand what happens inside the reflow-oven and can check the various settings of the oven and solder paste and make adjustments if necessary.

Most data loggers can register these parameters: preheat time and temperature, soak time and temperature, reflow time and temperature and peak temperature at the component.

In our training centre we use the data logger SuperMole-2 from ECD. With the accompanying software it is even possible after an initial measurement to “calculate” a prediction for the correct settings of the reflow oven.

Another advantage is that you can have the software perform process control based on the measurements. This is a mandatory element of the J-STD-001 for Class 2 and 3.
For more information on time-temperature profiles see IPC-7530A Guidelines for Temperature Profiling for Mass Soldering Processes (Reflow and Wave).