Hello Techies - We are bringing electronic assembly back into our company
within the next quarter. I will have responsibility for the wave soldering
and cleaning process, and I've never done it before. I LOVE a good
challenge! Background information and our equipment are listed at the end of
the post.

I have saved most of the soldering/cleaning posts since I got on TechNet (~7
months) but I still have a few questions. I know my questions are general,
but I would appreciate your candid responses. Feel free to e-mail me
directly. Thanks for your time and expertise!

1) Is there a seminar/class sponsored by IPC (or anybody for that matter)
that can get me up to speed on what I'll be dealing with? I feel I have a
basic understanding but "I don't know what I don't know".

2) We use SPC extensively here. We were planning to chart solder defects as
the wave soldering result. Is this a good choice? Should we do more than
one? What should we track for cleaning?

3) The old process documentation is dated and very heavy-handed. We want to
start fresh. Are there processes or examples for generating good process
documentation?

4) No capital (yet) available for new/upgraded equipment. What is a good
strategy to maximize our old equipment?

BACKGROUND:
I've been with the company for 17 months. Electronic assembly was farmed out
about five years ago. A changing management and business philosophy now
wants it back in-house.
Our product is single-sided, through hole, with post-wave hand soldering for
wires and such. Board density about 70-80%. Mostly analog, some discrete
digital and one microcontroller-based product. Initial quantity will be
1K-2K boards per year. Manually sprayed-on acrylic conformal coating. Used
in a aircraft prop speed controller mounted inside the cockpit.
My background is in design, then production support engineering.

EQUIPMENT:
Electrovert Microline 250
 - adjustable foam fluxer air pressure, conveyor speed, preheaters, solder
temp, and wave height. Has air knife.
Unitdesign ABC-2001 "dishwasher"
Omega Meter 600R
JetClean Agitator

MATERIALS:
Kester Sn63Pb37 bar solder
Kester 197, rosin soldering flux, type RMA
Unitdesign Aquaclean SAO-10A
Isopropohol alcohol
DI water

Regards,
Dave Hipp
Woodward Aircraft Engine Systems
Electrical Production Engineering

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