Sales of Cookson EAM’s high reliability Alpha Vaculoy SACX now account for 46% of its lead-free bar sales in Europe.
 
“Since its introduction in early 2004, sales of SACX have grown steadily, and over the last six months we have experienced growth as our customers are looking for the high performance, reliability and value they find only in SACX," said Gerry Campbell, global product manager. "The recent increases in the prices of tin and silver have forced our customers to look at lower cost alternatives to reduce the cost burden of moving to Pb-free processes. SACX costs 30% less per kg…without compromising process yield or reliability."
 
Its fast wetting speed and improved solderability reportedly outperforms all Sn/Cu-based alloys. Is said to provide excellent drainage and minimize bridging defects. Creates strong, mechanically sound joints with long-term reliability. Minimizes dross generation, resulting in low process maintenance and reduced product waste. Its process window supports the use of a range of flux technologies.
 

No. 926 is an electrically-heated, 250°F shelf oven from Grieve, currently used for aging electrical components.  12kW installed in Nichrome wire elements provide heat to the load.  Workspace measures 68 x 30 x 66”.  A 1000 CFM, 1 HP recirculating blower provides horizontal airflow.
 
Shelf oven features 4” insulated walls, aluminized steel interior and exterior, plus a 20 x 56” double-pane Lexan window in each of the unit’s two doors.
 
Includes a disposable fresh air filter, digital indicating temperature controller, manual reset excess temperature controller with separate contactors, recirculating blow airflow safety switch and a remote control panel.
 
The Grieve Corp., www.grievecorp.com

SSM4A rework machine is suitable for power semiconductors,  bobbins, sensors, transformers and other components. Is ergonomically designed, fast and productive, even for semi-skilled operators.
Retrofits for existing SSM 4-, SSM 9- and PCBRM machines are available. Can be equipped with a nitrogen option.
 
Zevac AG, zevac.ch

Max-Kleen Heavy-Duty Degreasers are industrial degreasers formulated to tackle demanding cleaning jobs. The degreasers provide fast, easy removal of grease, tar, asphalt, oil and grime in industrial degreasing operations, including manufacture and maintenance of armatures, compressors, electrical motors and equipment, bearings, gear drives, brakes, springs and flywheels.
 
Xtreme degreaser is the most aggressive cleaner in the line. It is non-flammable, non-corrosive and non-conductive. It evaporates quickly, leaving behind no residue.
 
Lectro-Solv degreaser is best for electrical degreasing applications. Is non-flammable, non-corrosive and non-conductive. It has a dielectric breakdown of 30,000 volts.
 
Citrus degreaser dissolves oxidized grease, oil, wax tar and sludge. Contains no chlorinated solvents, and has a flash point above 100^o F. Has an orange odor.
 

Kester will provide lead-free resources, technologies and products during Nepcon China this week.
 
The company will feature numerous products from its Lead-Free Solutions (products and services) portfolio to help companies beat the July 1, 2006 RoHS Directive deadline. Featured products are EnviroMark 907 lead-free no-clean paste and its low-cost Ultrapure K100 lead-free bar solder alloy, along with  technical services to help manufacturers assemble lead-free. 
 
EM907 reportedly exceeds customers’ expectations for high-yield Pb-free manufacturing, and was designed for the higher thermal demands of assembling with higher melting temperature Pb-free alloys. Featuring a long stencil life, the solder paste is said to offer Pb-free joints that closely resemble those achieved with Sn/Pb solder paste.
 
K100 is a near-eutectic tin/copper alloy with controlled metallic dopants to control the grain structure within the solder joint. This improves joint reliability and virtually eliminates common defects such as icicling and bridging. The improved grain structure also results in completely filled and shinier solder joints than traditional lead-free alloy alternatives.
 
 
Kester, kester.com
Nepcon China booth 2E48http://www.kester.com

DEK will exhibit its latest product and process innovations from stand 7-205 at the SMT/Hybrid/Packaging exhibition in Germany.
 
DEK will demonstrate a range of solutions designed to boost productivity and performance in the modern manufacturing environment. On-stand exhibits will include Europa, Horizon 01i and 03i high accuracy mass imaging platforms in conjunction with a range of process enabling technologies.
 
The booth will host a demonstration of Europa with Rapid Transit Conveyor (RTC), a combination capable of reducing core cycle time to just 4 sec. Delivering speed regardless of other process variables, RTC high speed board transport option improves operator control for optimized print productivity. The company will also feature HawkEye, an automatic high speed print verification technology. It analyzes streamed 2-D board images in real-time to generate pass/fail indications at the line beat rate to deliver instant isolation of faulty boards.
 
The Lead-Free display will feature a range of high quality consumables, ProFlow and VectorGuard. VectorGuard Gold and Silver electro-formed and laser-cut nickel stencil technologies are designed to accommodate changing paste properties through enhanced aperture release and paste volume repeatability.  ProFlow enclosed print head technology can extend the high accuracy mass imaging process window for improved throughput, yield and efficiency.
 
DEK, dek.com

Koy Young will introduce its KY8030 Solder Paste Inspection (SPI) system for the Chinese market during Nepcon Shanghai this week. Adding to the company’s portfolio of 3-D SPI equipment, this small footprint system offers a low cost of ownership. A dedicated Chinese GUI allows fast set-up and intuitive operation.
 
President and CEO Dr.Kwangill Koh said in a press release, “Test and Inspection is very cost sensitive, but vital for new process introduction. With the Chinese RoHS legislation, we believe that it will be inevitable for customers to use 3-D SPI during the Pb-free process introduction”.
 
3-D SPI Equipment delivers accuracy and repeatability for measurement of true paste height, area and volume at line speed. Strong SPC package contributes to better productivity and enhances the product by ensuring consistent solder paste volume.
 
Koh Young Technology, kohyoung.com

Prism Coating Systems are designed for precision application of conformal coatings.  It features patented nozzle-free ultrasonic coating technology for more precise coating  than conventional spray nozzles.
 
USI will prove how its ultrasonic coating technology will improve your conformal coating process. Send in two populated uncoated boards with a drawing of keep-out areas. They will coat your boards using their technology and return them to you with a video of the process.
 
Ultrasonic Systems, ultraspray.com

EMA Design Automation has integrated Omnify software into the EMA EDM environment, increasing capabilities to make adherence to RoHS/WEEE compliance directives even easier. “Omnify is a proven technology for managing data,” said Manny Marcano, president and CEO of EMA. “Integrating it into our EDM solution provides five key capabilities that bolster our compliance by design philosophy, allowing companies of any size to have the power of a full EDM system.”
 
The capabilities include:

Configuration Management
Manages data and controls revision levels on the customer’s entire product.
 
Bill of Materials (BOM) Management
Manages all revisions and understands the lifecycle of a BOM. Since the BOM items link directly to active part data, customers can analyze and generate compliance reports from any level or from any version of their BOMs.
 
Document Management
Provides document versioning/vaulting on all documents associated to product or vendor records. Changes made to documents are performed under a user-defined and controlled process.
 
Change Management
Changes made to product data usually require validation by all affected parties. Provides a controlled change management process that allows users to define product and documentation changes and allow them to vote on suggested changes. Handles the automatic routing to users (via email) and updating of product records when there are changes to products (part replacements, AVL changes, part number changes, availability, etc.). These changes must be captured and performed in an automated fashion.
 
Enhanced Reporting
Customers can generate reports from any level of the product structure. Can automate the generation and packaging of these reports. Since EDM captures data during product development, these reports can be generated, products can be analyzed and adjustments can be made at design time.
 

DesignAdvance Systems announced the latest release of  CircuitSpace, its user-assisted PCB component placement software.
 
This version expands on the tool’s hierarchical approach to PCB design through enhanced auto-clustering and replication technologies. Can expedite the design process by expanding on its capabilities in the areas of template libraries, automatic bypass capacitor assignments, double-sided board placement and intelligent channel and/or port duplication.
 
“Having seen unsuccessful attempts, I was skeptical of any company claiming to have a product that automates component placement. My opinion on the subject changed since I started using CircuitSpace,” said Mark Dills, 20+ year veteran of the PCB business and a Senior PCB Designer with SofTEQ. “The auto-clustering and replication features alone can save hours, days, even weeks of time off of a design cycle.”
 
This release adds features to address the challenges associated with managing frequent board design modifications.
 
The tool guides users through the concurrent board design by:
    * Automatically identifying changes to a board design as they arrive through successive netlist imports
    * Producing addendum clusters for newly added parts
    * Assessing the impact of design changes on component placement and reporting part loss or gain and part type changes
    * Reporting on detailed changes from current board design, to quickly adapt to the new requirements and to facilitate feedback to the hardware engineer
 
DesignAdvance Systems, www.designadvance.com