VPR is appropriate for small run high mix. With a good machine, although not always perfect, it is hard to get it wrong. You might want to look at repair stations for odd ball stuff. They obviously are designed for one offs, but have repeatable documentable set ups. Regards Mike ü Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail-----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Chris Knudsen Sent: Friday, January 21, 2011 3:06 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Suppose for a moment... ...you work for a small, albeit successful OEM. You produce short-run, custom electronics. A 'production run' may be 10-50 units. _Everything_ is a prototype. Suppose you have this potentially irrational desire to solder all your pcb's in-house. Assuming: -- Dealing with component placement and paste/screening is not an issue. -- You tend to (sadly) avoid challenging chip packages. However, due to availability of the more colorful components, this becomes more difficult every year. -- The economics are "manageable". -- Inspection and QA are in place. -- Damn the torpedoes. **What type of low-volume soldering solutions would you recommend? I've tested one name-brand, IR convection, batch, reflow-oven and found unacceptable hot/cold spots (manufacturer will go unnamed). **Is Vapor-phase on this scale an option? **Typical hardware costs/concerns/safety issues? **Required infrastructure? Any suggestions from technet-nation would be most appreciated. Offline responses would be fine (especially if naming names). However, perhaps others may benefit from from your experience and recommendations. Best regards to all, Chris Knudsen New England Research, Inc. ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please contact helpdesk at x2960 or [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 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/ContentPage.aspx?Pageid=E-mail-Forums for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- ***This email, its content, and any files transmitted with it, are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may be legally privileged and/or confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by return and delete the material from any computer. Any review, retransmission, dissemination, or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. Messages sent via this medium may be subjected to delays, non-delivery, and unauthorized alteration. This email has been prepared using information believed by the author to be reliable and accurate, but Indium Corporation makes no warranty as to accuracy or completeness. Indium Corporation does not accept responsibility for changes made to this email after it was sent. Any opinions or recommendations expressed herein are solely those of the author. They may be subject to change without notice.*** ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please contact helpdesk at x2960 or [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 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/ContentPage.aspx?Pageid=E-mail-Forums for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------