My Wave Is Getting Fixed...

Hey Ya'll,

My wave solder is getting fixed (...and the crowd goes wild!). Soltec flew in a gentleman named Jorge (not george, it's hor-hay) and he's taking care of me now. Turns out that the problem had to do with the sprocket bearings down at the entrance end of the machine, they had gotten flux in there over the months (they're pretty close to the foam stone)...and as you know, flux ain't too hot a lubricant.

Gonna change the drive sprockets too....they got "pointy teeth" from the added drag of the flux lubricated bearings at the other end of the machine. I'm gonna get me some plastic inserts to cover the openings where the bearings are because I can see how easy it is to get flux in there when your flux density is on the thick side...you know, when it's like shaving cream that has the big air pockets that "bloop" up and send drops of flux flying all over the place.

I'm gonna air a little dirty laundry of my own here, in the hope that someone else reads this in the future, and will prevent getting themselves in the same predicament that I did. I've kinda' prided myself in being creative and resourceful, someone who can take what's given him and make do with it. This time it blew up in my face. Let me say this first;

"YOU'VE PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR YOUR EQUIPMENT, YOU'VE GOT TO TAKE CARE OF IT ON A REGULAR BASIS!"

"Hell Steve, that ain't rocket science, we all know that..." some of you maybe musing now. But you'd be suprised how many places buy a few machines, hire some operators, and then run them for 24/7. When a machine breaks down everybody is scratching their heads like what the heck happened? Duhhh!! GET A CLUE!

What cracks me up is that a person will go and spend $80,000 for a Lexus or similar car, and baby that thing like you wouldn't believe. Oil is changed like clockwork every 2,000 miles, nothing but hand car washes, don't even think about lighting a cigarette up in it, and a cover for it in the trunk so it can be covered if they're ever caught outside without shelter for the vehicle. What's really ironic is that the same people will go out and spend $100,000, $200,000, or $500,000 or more for a piece of production equipment, but when you try to take the same sort of care and make recommendations of how the machines should be cared for, it's either; "There isn't enough time", or it's "Too expensive"...and here we are... So, what's it costing now?

I think I did this to myself. Tried to do anything and everything with a piece of bubble gum and some baling wire because I've always known that in start-ups you had to be frugal. No problem with that, I can make do on a shoestring for a little while, but I can't do it forever...something has to give, and unfortunately our poor ol' wave solder bearings did...something that I overlooked trying to do the 10,000 other things that I try to do every day.

I know I'm hangin' it out here with this email...but I don't know any other way to be other than up front. I think there's a really good lesson here for people looking at what I'm going through...if anybody wants to take it. I know that there's a lot of you that have been/are in this same sort of situation...this is nothing new, and the results from this kind of situation are nothing new either. Ya' gots ta' take care of your machines dammit!

-Steve Gregory-

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| Hey Ya'll, | | My wave solder is getting fixed (...and the crowd goes wild!). Soltec flew in a gentleman named Jorge (not george, it's hor-hay) and he's taking care of me now. Turns out that the problem had to do with the sprocket bearings down at the entrance end of the machine, they had gotten flux in there over the months (they're pretty close to the foam stone)...and as you know, flux ain't too hot a lubricant. | | Gonna change the drive sprockets too....they got "pointy teeth" from the added drag of the flux lubricated bearings at the other end of the machine. I'm gonna get me some plastic inserts to cover the openings where the bearings are because I can see how easy it is to get flux in there when your flux density is on the thick side...you know, when it's like shaving cream that has the big air pockets that "bloop" up and send drops of flux flying all over the place. | | I'm gonna air a little dirty laundry of my own here, in the hope that someone else reads this in the future, and will prevent getting themselves in the same predicament that I did. I've kinda' prided myself in being creative and resourceful, someone who can take what's given him and make do with it. This time it blew up in my face. Let me say this first; | | "YOU'VE PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR YOUR EQUIPMENT, YOU'VE GOT TO TAKE CARE OF IT ON A REGULAR BASIS!" | | "Hell Steve, that ain't rocket science, we all know that..." some of you maybe musing now. But you'd be suprised how many places buy a few machines, hire some operators, and then run them for 24/7. When a machine breaks down everybody is scratching their heads like what the heck happened? Duhhh!! GET A CLUE! | | What cracks me up is that a person will go and spend $80,000 for a Lexus or similar car, and baby that thing like you wouldn't believe. Oil is changed like clockwork every 2,000 miles, nothing but hand car washes, don't even think about lighting a cigarette up in it, and a cover for it in the trunk so it can be covered if they're ever caught outside without shelter for the vehicle. What's really ironic is that the same people will go out and spend $100,000, $200,000, or $500,000 or more for a piece of production equipment, but when you try to take the same sort of care and make recommendations of how the machines should be cared for, it's either; "There isn't enough time", or it's "Too expensive"...and here we are... So, what's it costing now? | | I think I did this to myself. Tried to do anything and everything with a piece of bubble gum and some baling wire because I've always known that in start-ups you had to be frugal. No problem with that, I can make do on a shoestring for a little while, but I can't do it forever...something has to give, and unfortunately our poor ol' wave solder bearings did...something that I overlooked trying to do the 10,000 other things that I try to do every day. | | I know I'm hangin' it out here with this email...but I don't know any other way to be other than up front. I think there's a really good lesson here for people looking at what I'm going through...if anybody wants to take it. I know that there's a lot of you that have been/are in this same sort of situation...this is nothing new, and the results from this kind of situation are nothing new either. Ya' gots ta' take care of your machines dammit! | | -Steve Gregory- | Well put! Question: If you added up the cost of all the rework, scrap , RMA paper work, testing debug time, lost customer confidence and the like created by poor or frugal Preventative Maintenance, would it be greater than the service call + parts? The quality of PM's and conditions of equipment have a direct corelation to the quality of the product cranking out the end of the line. Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you. Regards, Dean

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Thanks Steve.

Once I spent almost a week with a torch, chisel, hammer, and other "tools of ingnorance" removing accumulated solder that had finally ceased the conveyor of a wave solder machine. From then on, I pledged myself that for myself ( and everyone else in the plant) that, if I ever had the chance, I'd do adequate mainteance to make sure stuff like that never happened.

1 All machines will go down. 2 Preventative maintenance takes machines down on your terms, not some random event. 3 PM is cheap. You can do whatever you want to kep the machine running ... you'd don't HAVE do anything. You can even put it off, as long as you actually do get back to do it. 4 Machine down, no production, pissed customers, and field trips by factory techs are expensive.

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Hi Steve.

glad your equipment will be back on-line soon. Takes a load off, doesn't it?

I'd like to respond to the following comment:

| "YOU'VE PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR YOUR EQUIPMENT, YOU'VE GOT TO TAKE CARE OF IT ON A REGULAR BASIS!" | | What cracks me up is that a person will go and spend $80,000 for a Lexus or similar car, and baby that thing like you wouldn't believe. Oil is changed like clockwork every 2,000 miles, nothing but hand car washes, don't even think about lighting a cigarette up in it, and a cover for it in the trunk so it can be covered if they're ever caught outside without shelter for the vehicle. What's really ironic is that the same people will go out and spend $100,000, $200,000, or $500,000 or more for a piece of production equipment, but when you try to take the same sort of care and make recommendations of how the machines should be cared for, it's either; "There isn't enough time", or it's "Too expensive"...and here we are... So, what's it costing now?

I totally agree with you here, Steve. BUT.......when you spend 40, 60, or 80K for a premium car (or for that matter, 15K for a poor man's detroit locomotive), the OEM delivers WITH the car a manual which describes recommended PM intervals, based upon many varying potential conditions of use. These intervals are based upon the OEM's years of experience. And for less than 100 bucks, you can order a detailed manual which gives you every procedure for maintenance in the world for that vehicle. So, I pose this question: Why don't you get the same thing for a 300K or 500K SMT placement platform? Why on God's green earth doesn't an automated machine come with this info? Sure, some come with very generic, basic concepts of a PM program. But just for a rhetorical moment, compare in your mind what you get with a machine to what you get with a detroit or Japanese petrol drinker.......I've had heartburn about this for over 20 years.

Scott Cook scook@nettally.com

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> Hi Steve. > glad your equipment will be back on-line soon. Takes a load off, >doesn't it?

You said it brother! Now my next task is to get some people around here to let me do what I think is right in taking care of the machines...I think that'll be a bigger task than fixing the machine itself...it's a sure bet to be more frustrating!

> I totally agree with you here, Steve. >BUT.......when you spend 40, 60, or 80K for a premium car (or for that >matter, 15K for a poor man's detroit locomotive), the OEM delivers WITH >the car a manual which describes recommended PM intervals, based >upon many varying potential conditions of use. These intervals are >based upon the OEM's years of experience. And for less than 100 >bucks, you can order a detailed manual which gives you every >procedure for maintenance in the world for that vehicle. > So, I pose this question: Why don't you get the same thing for a 300K or >500K SMT placement platform? Why on God's green earth doesn't an >automated machine come with this info? Sure, some come with very >generic, basic concepts of a PM program. But just for a rhetorical >moment, compare in your mind what you get with a machine to what you >get with a detroit or Japanese petrol drinker.......I've had heartburn about >this for over 20 years.

>Scott Cook >scook@nettally.com

Again Scott, you said a mouthful! I tell you what, if I was the President of some of these equipment companies, I would be TOTALLY ASHAMED of the documentation that is provided with the machines! ABSOLUTELY EMBARRASSED!! I get more complete and thorough documentation with my $49.00 NASCAR computer game than I have with a $500,000 machine! It's outrageous! But it won't change unless we as users bitch about it. I don't think we've complained enough, or we have just thrown our hands up and said that's the way it is.

Most of us have learned the equipment through getting our lumps and bruises and making mistakes and learning from them...or we start working someplace and have a buddy show us what he knows. Occasionally, we'll find a service technician who is thoughtful enough to pass on some good stuff...that's another thing that ticks me off. I've had field service guys come in, and then I start to ask them a few questions, and it's like I'm trying to learn state secrets from them, or that if I have a little more knowledge I'm somehow threatening their jobs.

I've been on both sides of the fence, I was an Applications Engineer with Zevatech before I started here, and I can tell you that everybody I dealt with, I tried to change the status quo...my mind was your mind, anything you wanted to pick my brain about was open game...too bad that isn't how things are in the real world...

-Steve Gregory-

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Steve:

Basic, there are 5 P's

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

or

Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance if you like 6 P's

Wayne

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