sant, When I worked in contract manufacturing, I used Air Vac or SRT systems which are rather large units. They are great for larger boards and BGA's. In my OEM life, I prefer smaller desk top units, which are more adapted to small boards with small components, and tight clearances. My world now includes many small leadless devices like QFN's, LLP's and Direct FET packages. My preference is for a complete IR system, both top and bottom. This allows me to create profiles that target the specific component I need to rework, without disturbing the surrounding components, a common problem with air convection systems. Sure there are many tricks to overcome these challenges, but I am looking for a repeatable process that can be properly documented, without negative long term reliability issues, which I can trust out on the mfg floor.
Cost is probably a big concern. Plan on spending a min of $30K. I recommend bringing in the reps for a 1 week trial of their machines and see for yourself.
Good luck.
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