Selective Solder Equipment

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I have recently purchased an ACE Kiss 101A Selective Solder ... - Mar 10, 2010 by Jura

We have one and it's awesome. No problems & training and in... - Mar 10, 2010 by SWAG

Can you give a few more details about what solder you are us... - Mar 11, 2010 by Selsold1

I am using AIM Electropure SN63/Pb37 Solder, & AIM NC266-3 F... - Mar 11, 2010 by Jura

The AIM flux is for the process and not for the tip tinning.... - Mar 23, 2010 by Selsold1

ACE sent an engineer from the Factory, and now the process i... - May 20, 2010 by Jura

Process Flux is AIM 275. Tip tinning flux is Superior 75. ... - May 20, 2010 by Jura

Jura

#61332

Selective Solder Equipment | 10 March, 2010

I have recently purchased an ACE Kiss 101A Selective Solder System 4 weeks ago. I am having a terrible experience. The nozzle will not stay wet, and the flux-er pattern continues to shift erratically; all leading to very poor quality process. ACE has had a representative at my site for 10 days. They have actually shipped a Kiss 102 replacement system which I received 2 days ago, and still the trainer can not get it to work. Just wondering if anyone else has had similar problems, or better yet has found any cures?

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SWAG

#61340

Selective Solder Equipment | 10 March, 2010

We have one and it's awesome. No problems & training and install was great. The only problem we have had in a couple years is inconsistent nozzle fountain (lasted a day or two until we figured it out). It was our fault - an operator had mixed hand operation flux with the Superior 75 flux we were instructed to used with the nozzles and the pot and nozzle became contaminated over time. Once we switched back to pure Superior 75, the junk in the pot purged its way out and we're back in business.

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Selsold1

#61348

Selective Solder Equipment | 11 March, 2010

Can you give a few more details about what solder you are using and your tinning flux? Also, are you using a Nitrogen generator or a cryogenic?

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Jura

#61349

Selective Solder Equipment | 11 March, 2010

I am using AIM Electropure SN63/Pb37 Solder, & AIM NC266-3 Flux; just like what ACE recommends. I have both Ultra High Pure T-Tanks and a Cryogenic Dewar Tank for Nitrogen, and neither seems to have improved the problem. I place a piece of tempered glass in place of the pcb. I run the fluxer in the X direction only, I turn on the fluxer and spray a 10" line. With a 1/2" wide flux pattern, the line will shift back and forth 1/8". Even with the nozzle not moving, you can see the spray pattern dance or shift around. By the way it is not me that can not get it to work, the ACE trainer is at my site starting for the 12th day. He was here 8 days with the 101A, and starting his 4th day with the 102. Today we got in Alpha EF-2210 flux to see if that makes a difference. This is my first piece of soldering equipment, so everything like the chemicals, and nitrogen are brand new.

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Selsold1

#61445

Selective Solder Equipment | 23 March, 2010

The AIM flux is for the process and not for the tip tinning. The flux I was referring to is what is used to keep the tip wetted which was one of your original problems. Regarding the process, in my experience the AIM flux is not very active and therefor may be giving you problems depending on the board finish and products you are using. Are you using preheat? I expect the EF will work better for process. I expect the wetting problem on the tip is related to the Nitrogen (now not an issue), the tinning flux (still unknown), the flux applicator i.e. contamination (unknown) and the overall quality of the tip itself. If the flux is as recommended by the mfg, then I would ask them to replace the tip and then flux and tin the tip in an inerted area of the bath tip first before running in the bath. It will tin the tip initially and allow it to stay wetted longer. How far out of spec is the spray pattern of the fluxer according the mfg specs?

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Jura

#61891

Selective Solder Equipment | 20 May, 2010

ACE sent an engineer from the Factory, and now the process is running much better. We had lots of problems, but in the end ACE never gave up, stood behind their product, and kept supporting until we got the process to work. We are now able to consistently run quality boards. We replaced the fluxer body with one that ACE fine tuned and tested, which helped a great deal. We also discovered that the training was incorrect and that the nozzle needed to be much closer to the pcb.

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Jura

#61892

Selective Solder Equipment | 20 May, 2010

Process Flux is AIM 275. Tip tinning flux is Superior 75. We have gotten dual nozzles in the 6mm & 9mm sizes we run. We can get a nozzle to run about 8 hours. Every night we clean all used nozzles with a scouring pad, apply Superior 75 flux with a horse hair brush, and wet each nozzle in the solder wave tip of the machine. In the morning the nozzle works pretty good; by late afternoon we are applying Superior 75 flux every other pcb panel we run. This is a workable situation, but always looking for improvements. The boards look good, just a slight hassle with the nozzle. I do not have preheat. The fluxer body has been replaced and now works much better.

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