Hi Chris, I have seen a similar problem on our GEM machines. The solderpaste was blown away from the pad. The problem was solved when we adjusted the blow-off time. Jowan Iven -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Chris Murphy Sent: maandag 2 december 2002 21:22 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Solder paste disintegration Hi everyone, during trials with a new solder paste recently we noticed solder balls appearing around the placement machine interior - on the nozzles, conveyor rail, etc. Our current theory is that the paste is being blown off the pads after component placement when the nozzle stops the vacuum and blows a small burst of positive pressure air to ensure the component separates from the nozzle. The paste supplier says that he has never heard of this before, yet it happened across all of our placement machines (we use Phillips Gem series / Yamaha YV machines). Has anyone else seen this before? Maybe the flux is not viscous enough, and the balls are too small? We keep our machines in good condition, so I am pretty sure it is not related to the machines. Thanks for any replies. Regards, Chris Murphy, Production Engineering, Tait Electronics --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm for additional information, or 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 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 -----------------------------------------------------