June 2014

Newsletters

June 2014

Inspiring Bike Rider

Dear Electronics Colleague:

A few weekends ago I was truly inspired by some fellow bicycle riders in a local "Ride 2 Recovery" series of rides. The purpose of the ride was to honor veterans and help raise funds to get them in to "non-traditional" bicycles. One of the men led us for the first 14 miles and had but one arm to power his vehicle. However , the most impressive part was his attitude. He was an upbeat, optimistic can-do guy. I was reminded that we wake up every morning and decide based on our attitude what the outlook of our day is going to be. Let us all be positive and possess an attitude of gratitude and be positive role models for those whom we meet.

Don't forget to order your free Soldering Geek bumper sticker.

Signature

Bob Wettermann

President, BEST Inc.

See our new mascot-the Soldergeek below!

Fine Wire Laser Stripping

BEST can provide ultra fine wire precision stripping or precision window pane services. Our laser technicians can guide you through the process parameters and generate samples.

Call Laura Ripoli at (847)797-9250 or email her at lripoli@solder.net to see how we can be of assistance on your wire stripping project.

PCB Pad Repair-Epoxy method is proven to be superior

One of the questions that companies large and small have asked us is, "How good is the epoxy that you use?" or "How does your dry film stand up to to the other company's dry film?" There are several studies that BEST has been a part of to compare the pull strength of a repaired pad, using either method to test the original strength of the adhesive bond. In addition BEST has run side-side comparisons of the adhesive strength of the BEST dry film versus that of the competitor. These are referenced below.

The bottom line is both methods are referenced in the IPC-7721 "Repair of Printed Circuit Boards" specification. As a service BEST defaults to the epoxy method which yields the best results.

One of the studies comparing the pull strength can be found here, and another here.

Call Katy Radcliff at 01-847-797-9250 for more details.

PCBVac(TM) for Remnant Coating Material Removal

BEST has developed one of those tools that you'll have to have on your PCB rework and repair work bench-the new PCBVac(TM).

This is a handheld tool which can vacuum off solids such as the coating being scraped off of PCB boards. In addition, cleaning solutions or other liquids can be removed.

The PCBVac(TM) system is very simple. It connects to your workbench air system for its vacuum power. An ON/OFF switch and a muffled venturi will provide a powerful but quiet resource for the vacuum. Teflon tips can be cut to size just like a tip from a caulk tube for differing air flows and sizes of the vacuum source.

New Teaching Video Explains the Differences between the Class I, II and III Electronic Assemblies

Differences between Class 2 and CLass 3 Electronic Assemblies

Check out the videos on our YouTube channel -Solderinggeek. This video teaches you about the different classes of electronic assemblies. By knowing this specification you will know what the expectations are in terms of acceptability of the attributes of the assembly.

Find this video and more on the BEST YouTube channel

Disappearing Lines for the World Cup?

Square vs Round Apertures ?

While many customers rely on BEST to advice them on the best geometries for printing, one question that comes up frequently is, "Does the shape of the aperture matter?"

In an article from Indium Corp'sChris Anglin and Ed Briggs
this question is examined in greater detail. The printing resultsbetween circular and square apertures with the same areas are consistently close. However the authors point out that a slight variation as less variation is achieved with square apertures. The downside is square aperture volume tends to be about 25% less than their circular aperture counterparts. Circular apertures are observed to provide greater transfer efficiency than square aperture for similar aperture volume.

At BEST our default is the square aperture, but if a client desires to have a set of their own stencil design rules around (no pun intended) round apertures-we will follow them!

See more on our metal stencil products here.

Trivia Contest-June'14