Top Side Hole Filling

As the complexity of PCB assemblies continues to increase, many electronics assemblers are seeking a solution in a wave soldering system. The types of complexities encountered may include the following:

  • Need to increase topside hole fill on difficult-to-solder PCBs;
  • Multiple heavy ground planes with poor thermal relief;
  • High-mass multilayer PCBs;
  • Thick pallets;
  • Selective pallets;
  • OSP finishes on PCBs that have been double-sided reflowed;
  • Increased throughput in lead-free applications.

Electrovert has developed solutions to lead-free soldering issues in demanding production environments:

UltraFill™ Nozzle technology (patented)

  • Improves soldering results with lead-free alloys;
  • Nozzle placement increases wave contact time;
  • Increases hole fill and top-side fillets;
  • Reduced bridges or solder shorts via Lambda wave exit characteristics;
  • Easy switching between air and nitrogen environments

DwellMax™ Plus (patented):

  • Wide chip wave designed for difficult to solder assemblies;
  • Includes nitrogen tunnel over solder pot;
  • Nozzle design increases production throughput capability;
  • Nozzle design reduces defects and improves topside hole fill at faster conveyor speeds;
  • Significant cost savings through reduced dross and longer intervals between maintenance.

FloLift™ Technology:

  • Increases upward force of wave as the PCB is traveling over the wave;
  • Improves topside hole fill;
  • Software and recipe controlled.

Nitrogen Tunnel (Short and Full Tunnel)

  • Available with UltraFill nozzle;
  • Nitrogen tunnel standard with DwellMax Plus;
  • Significant cost savings through reduced dross and longer intervals between maintenance;
  • Improved wetting in nitrogen tunnel;
  • Available with an optional Oxygen analyzer;
  • Available as a field upgrade (check with the factory with serial # for configuration and compatibility verification).

Other Advantages of Electrovert Wave Soldering:

  • All new wave systems come with a lifetime warranty on the solder pot casting (applies to original owner).
  • Multiple preheat configurations available (all preheat types field upgradable)
  • Multiple fluxing configurations (ServoSpray™, ServoJet™, OA ServoJet™, ServoSonic™ and Foam Fluxer).

Wave Soldering Machines:
Electra Wave Solder VectraElite Wave Solder VectraES Wave Solder

Award-winning wave soldering technologies have long met the demanding throughput and process control challenges of applications such as lead-free wave soldering.

As board assemblies become increasingly complex and difficult to solder, board manufacturers are looking for wave solder machines that can provide closed-loop process control and automatic features.

Of the many flux products developed for soldering applications, most electronics assemblers prefer to use no-clean, low solids formulations, in part because they eliminate the post-reflow cleaning or defluxing process step.

In the demanding environment of lead-free soldering, it is important to understand the different characteristics of lead-free materials. Wetting times for lead-free alloys are slower than those of tin/lead, and flow characteristic are more viscous.

As PCB designs become more complex, thicker, and denser, through-hole soldering is becoming more difficult. The introduction of lead-free alloys compounds these problems because lead-free alloys don’t wet as well as lead-bearing alloys, and deeper holes (due to PCB thickness) make thorough hole-filling less certain in many cases.

Even though most SMT soldering is achieved through reflow, some assemblies require that some of the Surface Mounted Devices (SMDs) on a board, such as chip components, must be wave soldered.