Nigel-

    EMC Global Technologies claims to use a material that is much more resistant to delamination than the
porous black material which is commonly used (cannot remember brand name).  Their proprietary material's
resistance to delamination was one of their main selling points.  They would be happy to discuss these
issues with you.  E-mail me for their phone #.

Ryan Jennens
Phoenix Engineering Design, Inc.


Burtt, Nigel wrote:

> We have a problem with obectionable fumes coming off our wavesoldering
> pallets as they leave the soldering machine cabinet. We operate a
> machine with a spray-fluxer and use no-clean fluxes. The machine and
> fixed extraction are regularly maintained and meet or exceed the defined
> minimum process specifications. No-one from the machine manufacturer,
> the flux suppliers or pallet manufacturers have been able to suggest a
> way around this problem. It appears to be a result of a build-up of flux
> residues on the undersides of the pallets, coupled with a gradual
> softening and leaching of the bonding agent of the pallet material which
> in turn makes the pallets more porous and thus retain more flux residue.
>
> So far we have tackled the problem in a variety of ways without
> eliminating it:
>
> (1) we have added a fan to the machine which helps to draw the fumes
> from the underside of the pallets back into the machine cabinet
>
> (2) we clean the fixtures regularly using a dedicated domestic
> dishwasher
>
> (3) we replace high usage pallets more frequently and treat aging
> pallets with a PTFE dry-film lubricant
>
> (4) we swapped to a different pallet supplier who apply a special
> surface coating
>
> (5) we continue to trial different fluxes
>
> We would be happy to share our experience with others who have seen this
> problem
>
> Nigel Burtt
> Production Engineering Manager
> D - European HQ
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Tel: 01793 842132
> Fax: 01793 842101
>
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