Bev,  Does the solder solidify during the night (is the pot turned off?)?
We experienced this a few years ago (when we did thru-hole).  We used to
solder only a couple of hours on one shift.  The heaters were turned off
after soldering and turned on again via a timer early in the morning.  We
found that occasionally the molten solder would "burp" during the heating
stage.  We attributed it to molten solder on the bottom and solid solder on
top, kind of like a volcano.  When the pressure built up, whamo!  We just
covered the pot with a heat resistant blanket at night.

Hope this helps.

Jim M.


        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Bev Christian [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent:   Tuesday, September 26, 2000 1:52 PM
        To:     [log in to unmask]
        Subject:        [TN] Burping Wave Solder Bath

        Technetters,
        Have you ever heard of this?  About once every three weeks, always
at night
        (no evening shift on this machine), our wave solder machine burps
out molten
        solder.  I am concerned for my staff, if this were to happen during
the day.
        The machine is very old but it is not running hot and is drossed
regularly.
        However, the tank has not been emptied in at least the last seven
months.
        The solder is run-of-the-mill 63/37.  Any suggestions would be
appreciated.

        regards,
        Bev Christian
        XLTEK

        ##############################################################
        TechNet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV
1.8d
        ##############################################################
        To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with
following text in
        the body:
        To subscribe:   SUBSCRIBE TECHNET <your full name>
        To unsubscribe:   SIGNOFF TECHNET
        ##############################################################
        Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for
additional
        information.
        If you need assistance - contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or
        847-509-9700 ext.5315
        ##############################################################

##############################################################
TechNet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d
##############################################################
To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the body:
To subscribe:   SUBSCRIBE TECHNET <your full name>
To unsubscribe:   SIGNOFF TECHNET
##############################################################
Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional
information.
If you need assistance - contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or
847-509-9700 ext.5315
##############################################################