2016 promises tocontinue in the samevein, with new productlaunches from several ofour suppliers. i-Pulse isintroducing the new S10and S20 SMT mountersthat will accept boardsizes of up to 1825 x635mm and will pacecomponents of up to 120x 90mm, with 3Dplacement capability andintegrated dispenseheads. Look out for moredetails as the year

progresses.We are also now promoting Yamaha’s

range of screen printers and AOIsystems, and there will be newdevelopments from TWS and Fritsch.More will be revealed at our TechnologyWeek in April.

ASSEMBLY - SOLDERING – INSPECTION

Call us on:024 7621 0270February 2016 • Issue 53

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Cabinet protects Page 2 • New ipulse line at Tenkay Pages 3 & 4 • Chemigraphic invests Pages 5 & 6First off Inspection Pages 7 & 8 • Ersa’s best selling reflow Pages 9 & 10

Intelligent Fume Extraction Page 11 • Order book Page 12

2015 was a busy year in theworld of electronic productionequipment. We saw record

sales of some key items of equipmentsuch as SMT placement, selectivesoldering and vapour phasesoldering.

HD-INSPECTION • CONFORMAL COATING MACHINES

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The protection of componentsand assemblies from the effectsof moisture ingress is a major

concern nowadays for electronicassemblers. Moisture absorbedduring storage can be a source ofmany soldering and qualityproblems.

Basingstoke basedMay & Scofield hasbeen supplyingelectronic controls forthe automotive,defence and railindustries for over 20years. Their productsare used in vehiclesecurity systems,ECU’s, powermanagementsystems and manyother vehiclerelated systems.

One key aspectof theirmanufacturingprocess is to ensure thattheir components and completedassemblies are kept in a Low Humidityenvironment. Many of the componentsused are moisture sensitive, soprotecting them during storage is anessential requirement. In 2014, theypurchased an ‘X-Treme XTC 510’ drystorage cabinet from Blundell

Production Equipment. Manging Director, Gary James says;

“We went through a selection processwhich included capacity, price andservice. We had already purchased

equipment from Blundell andwere very satisfied with

their technicalknowledge, serviceand their cabinetsseemed to tick all ofthe boxes for us. Thelarge capacity ofthese cabinets wasa particularattraction as wehave a largeamount of stockthat needs to bekept in a controlledenvironment”

“The cabinet hasfully met ourexpectations and isfully utilised. We usea vacuum sealer(also purchased

from Blundell) to further protectdevices that have to be removed fromthe cabinet from time to time.” Thiscombination gives us a great deal ofconfidence that our components arebeing given maximum protection” Garyconcludes.

SMT PLACEMENT • BGA REWORK STATIONS

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This year’s Blundell TechnologyWeek and mini-exhibition willbe held from 7 th – 9 th June at

Blundells’ Coventry headquarters. As always, the full product range will

be on display and there will be anopportunity to discuss productionprocesses and application issues with

our engineers and technicians.A free buffet lunch is provided and

the event is spread over 3 days to givecustomers plenty of choice of when toattend.

We suggest you make a diary notenow. More details will be sent outnearer the time.

VAPOUR PHASE SOLDERING • FIRST ARTICLE INSPECTION

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The future is looking bright forLancing based contractmanufacturer Tenkay

Electronics since they upgradedtheir SMT line to include the latest i-Pulse technology from Blundell

Mr Kawasaki, European Sales Manager for Yamaha Motor Co i-Pulse SalesGroup, made a special trip to Tenkay’s new i-Pulse M20 in place and working

and to give them his personal thanks for the order.

From left to right: Peter Matthews, Quality and Technical Manager – Tenkay, Mr Kawasaki, Yamaha Motors and Robert Doick, Operations Manager - Tenkay.

Production Equipment. They were already i-Pulse users,

having owned an i-Pulse M4 SMTplacement machine since 2007 and ithas performed extremely well forthem. But they needed to move to the

WAVE SOLDERING • SELECTIVE SOLDERING

next level after an increase in workloadand component mix left them short ofcapacity on the line.

They found their answer at lastyear’s Southern Manufacturingexhibition in the form of a new state-of-the-art I-Pulse M20 machine fromUK distributor Blundell ProductionEquipment.

Soon afterwards an order wasplaced with Blundell and since theinstallation in theautumn of 2015,the new M20 hasgreatly enhancedTenkay’sproductionthroughput andcomponenthandlingcapability.

The M20’s high8mm tape feedercount of 144 hasexpanded their on-machinecomponent stockand enabledhandling of morecomplex PCB assemblies. The i-PulseM20’s unique large board handlingrange and flexibility means that Tenkaycan now assemble printed circuitboards of up to 1480 x 510mmaccurately and efficiently. Their M20has 6 placement heads and is rated at23,000 components per hour (IPCrating) which is a big improvement ontheir previous capacity.

The M20’s wide range of optionsand available retro-fits will give Tenkaythe ability to update and adapt asfuture needs develop. As well as highaccuracy dispensing for solder pasteand other materials there are upgradesfor package on package (PoP)handling and 3D Hybrid assembly, sothe M20 is truly a future-proofplatform which will stand the test oftime.

Blundell engineers were on site atTenkay for several days and they werepraised by Tenkay’s production staff fortheir efficient setting up and trainingjob.

The company prides itself on theirquality manufacturing and customerservice, and anyone interested inTenkay’s assembly services can contactthem on 01903 855455.

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Following a rigorous evaluationprocess Chemigraphic havepurchased a Cepter 170

Aqueous Cleaning machine fromBlundell Production Equipment. It isthe first UK installation sinceBlundell took on the distribution ofCepter in late 2015.

Although Chemigraphic have beensuccessfully running a no-clean

DEFLUXING • MOISTURE CONTROL CABINETS • REFLOW OVENS

Stewart Gadd, Technical Director of Chemigraphic and Graham Hill, ProductionEngineering Manager inspect a PCB from the Cepter cleaner.

process for many years, they wererecently approached by a customerwho had specific requirements fortheir boards to be cleaned. As theyalways try to introduce new processesto match their customers’requirements they decided to invest innew PCB cleaning equipment.

Chemigraphic’s Technical DirectorStewart Gadd, says: “We started by

looking at what cleaning processwould suit the volumes required byour customer, and the nicheapplication meant low volumecleaning. So we were looking at batchcleaning with a chemical followed by awater wash. The price of the machinewas going to be important given thelow volumes and this left us looking attwomachines.We had aspecificationfrom ourcustomer,and wenarrowedthe choicedown to oneof twomachines.Both themachines wetried cleanedto therequiredstandard, sowe had todecide whichmachinesuited ourneeds. We preferredthe Cepter’s baskets,and also ease of use for ouroperators. Cost was also anissue and the Cepter from Blundelloffered us a very competitive price forthe solution we needed.”

“Although we knew we would bethe first user in the UK, we have our

own in house engineers and they feltthe machine was well built and verysimple to maintain. Also we have beendealing with Blundell for many yearsand are more than happy with thesupport and service levels we get.”

“The Kyzen cleaning medium wassupplied by Temple4, and they wereon site while we did all the on-site

trials, theyrequested details ofall the fluxes andsolder pastes wewanted to use, andthey selected anappropriatechemistry toensure bestremoval of our

fluxes. They

showedus how to

prepare and testthe chemical mixturecorrectly. It wasreassuring to haveboth parties on siteduring the trials andgood to see the

support and training wasof a high standard.”

Since 1972 Sussex based CEMChemigraphic have been providingtheir services for design, manufactureof printed circuit boards andmechanical assemblies to thecommunications, medical andinstrumentation industries.

PCB CLEANING • SOLDERING IRONS • FUME EXTRACTION

STENCIL CLEANING • SMT PROTOTYPING • PICK AND PLACE

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Aunique inspection aid isproviding JJS Manufacturingof Lutterworth, Leics, with

valuable benefits and has reducedtheir first-off inspection times by upto 80%.

The ‘Extra Eye’ first article inspectionsystem, purchased in 2013, has paid foritself many times over since it wasinstalled. Now that they have hadplenty of experience using it, theirPrincipal Production Engineer RichardBarratt told us that it’s an invaluabletool they use every day.

“At JJS we consider ‘first off’inspection to be very important as itensures a verified assembly is used forAOI program generation. The ‘Extra Eye’system uses a camera to capture theboard image, along with intelligentsoftware built into it which comparesthe customer’s Bill of Materials (BOM)with the internal parts list that is usedto build the board. CAD generateddrawings of boards can also be loadedinto the system to assist with thecomparison. The ‘Extra Eye’ comparesthe board to the drawing and has a fullreport function, and creates a ‘GoldenBoard’ which acts as a template for allsubsequent assemblies”.

“Before we had the ‘Extra Eye’ systemwe had to compare the first-off boardto a parts list manually, ticking off eachcomponent as we went. As acomparison one of our boards withover 1,200 components took 3 hours 30minutes to check but after installing the‘Extra Eye’ system inspecting the sameboard now takes just 30 minutes.”

Prior to material being loaded ontothe pick and place machines, JJS checksthat the material presented matchesthe customer’s requirements. AlthoughJJS have x 3 AOI machines, there iscurrently no software on them toperform this function. “We need tocheck that the first board built is correctto our customer’s data” says Richard.“Each works order has a unique kit ofparts to build that assembly. Before wehad the ‘Extra Eye’ system we used tohave to compare the first board to theparts list and tick off each componentindividually, a labour intensive manualtask that was prone to errors”.

Richard Barratt goes onto say: “Usingthe ‘Extra Eye’ system we now load inthe program which gives us a reference,a part number and a description that isgenerated from our internal BOM. Wethen load in our customer’s BOM and

DEFLUXING • MOISTURE CONTROL CABINETS • REFLOW OVENS

compare the two.” “First off inspection is an important

part of our process and helps avoidincorrect images being generated forour AOI machines. Previously, if boardshad been built using incorrect datathere was a possibility things couldhave been missed using the manualmethod. It also gives us the ability toload a drawing so that on screen yousee a scanned image together with adrawing to show the orientation.”

“For us the ‘Extra Eye’ first articleinspection system is invaluable. It givesus confidence that the work we arepassing to the AOI is correct which in

turn cuts down AOI faults and improvesoverall yield”.

“It’s a nice tool, simple but effective”concludes Richard. “We use it almostevery day and would be lost without it,as using it at the front of the linedetermines the quality of what’scoming off the other end. Without ‘ExtraEye’ developing AOI programmes andensuring new products are builtefficiently and without mistakes wouldbe more difficult”

JJS Manufacturing can be contactedon 01455 555500 or by visiting theirwebsite www.jjsmanufacturing.com

STENCIL CLEANING • SMT PROTOTYPING • PICK AND PLACE

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Ersa has long been associatedwith producing qualitysoldering equipment, and the

Hotflow 314e is the latest in a longline of high performing convectionreflow ovens to come out of the

Bavarianmanufacturer’s stable.

Ersa are representedby Blundell in the UK,

andwehavehad a verygood year withthe 314e with ordersfrom several high profile customersincluding Meridian Audio and Tynetec.

The 4.7 metre long oven has 2.6metres of heating and 735mm ofcooling divided into 14 zones,

producing repeatable textbook leadfree profiles. Standard features includeprogrammable conveyor chainlubrication, process data recorder andfull PC control with a touch screenmonitor.

The conveyor width adjustment canbe manual or program controlled anda centre support is available as anoption.

Overall, theHotflow 314e represents

robust, reliable German engineeringat a very competitive price.

For more information call us on 0247621 0270 or emailsales@blundell.co.uk

DEFLUXING • MOISTURE CONTROL CABINETS • REFLOW OVENS

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At Blundell we have beensuppliers of fume extractionfor many years. Modular

systems provide the mostflexibility in today’s factoryenvironments where lines areregularly reconfigured accordingto the product being built.Another noticeable trend is thatvolume extraction is more populartoday than tip extraction, a trendthat started with the introductionof lead free solder wires.

A new modular volume extractionunit from Ersa has some uniquefeatures. The Ersa Easy Arm isspecifically designed to interfacewith Ersa’s I-CON and VARIOsoldering tools and it only runs when

the soldering tool is inuse.

The Easy Arm system is ultra-quietduring operation withoutcompromising the extractionefficiency. Single and dual armversions are available. A three stagefiltering system meets therequirements for COSHH regulations,and the added intelligence of the EasyArm takes the responsibility forturning the unit on and off away fromthe operator. Filter life is extended andpower consumption reduced incomparison with systems that arerunning all the time regardless ofwhether they are needed or not.

Please contact our sales departmentfor more information or to arrangean onsite demonstration or trial.

www.blundell.co.uk Tel: 024 7621 0270Quinn Close, Seven Stars Industrial Estate, Coventry CV3 4LH

Recent Blundell orders andinstallations:

In December we installed a newiPulse M20 SMT placementmachine at Circad Design inIpswich. Circad are electronicsdesigners who also offer amanufacturing service. Measurement specialistRenishaw has installed afurther 2 XTC low humiditystorage cabinets at itsWoodchester plant. Martin-Woolman of WelwynGarden City has installed a TWSQuadra-evo pick and placemachine and an ‘Extra Eye’ PCBinspection system. Power generation specialists

STOCK CONTROL CABINETS • HAND SOLDER STATIONS

Deep Sea Electronics havetaken delivery of an ErsaVersaflow VF345 high speedselective soldering machine. Led-Pro Lighting havepurchased anIBL SLC 309vapour phase soldering system.Contract manufacturersCambertronics andUKCircuits have both recentlyinstalled iPulse M20 SMTplacement machines. We have installed a new PVADelta 6 conformal coatingmachine at TT Electronics IMSof Rogerstone, South Wales. Tynetec andMeridian Audiohave installed Ersa Hotflow314e convection reflow ovensin the last quarter.

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