Monday, November 6, 2017

A Look Into Solder Reflow Ovens

By Gregory Cole


Due to the recent technological advancements experienced by the electronics industry over the past few years, ovens have now become a popular thing. This is because they offer a more effective way of soldering components of circuit boards. Thus, it is important to own solder reflow ovens.

There are basically three types of ovens and that is the infrared, convection, and vapor phase ovens. In the infrared and convection models, heat is generated from heaters to convey the heat through radiation. There are also a number of zones namely the heating and cooling zones that are used to regulate the temperature. Since some circuits require that the components do not come into contact with oxygen, because the resulting oxidation that may occur, nitrogen is injected at given periods of time in order to prevent this.

Two is the vapor phase oven. Here, the heat is sourced from thermal energy that is emitted by phase transition. Using this type has its own advantages like maximum temperature controls. This means that there is no overheating. The soldering is free from oxygen; thus, no need to inject nitrogen into the unit like in convection ones.

Two methods can be used to convey the printed circuit board, that is using the belt conveyor or pin conveyor. The belt is usually made from stainless steel since it is non-corrosive. In the edge conveyor, the board is held by its edges and passed through in a straight line. Both techniques are effective since they allow the free flow of air.

Since the oven has to be oxygen free, inert gas most likely nitrogen is injected into the system where it helps in expelling the oxygen. The reason why oxygen is expelled is because it may cause oxidation of some of the board components, which is not a good thing. However, this is mainly done in the infrared models.

There are basically two temperature regulating tactics. Using PC control is one of the methods used and usually entails connecting the oven to an external device that can either be a PC or laptop. This method is better, because it provides the user a better presentation of the data; thus, enabling them to view all the graphics on the board. The disadvantage, however, is that it is not cost effective since one will need to have either one of the mentioned devices. The other technique is on-board control. No external devices need to be connected here, meaning that it functions well. Apart from this, it is also a cheaper method as compared to PC control method.

A couple of things need consideration before making or acquiring the oven. For one, you can go over proposals from various vendors. You can also make use of the internet as a means of sourcing information from the various sites. It is also advised that you go over the different reviews and from here you can shortlist the preferred vendors. Once this has been done, you can move ahead and contact them. Here, you can either call them or visit them personally. You should make sure to inquire about everything as this information will help you make the right decision.

In conclusion, get to know the costs expected to be incurred. Each model of oven has come with its own expenses. It is, therefore, important to know the different prices as this will help you get affordable equipment.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment