A reflow oven is an electronic heating device or machine which is used for reflow soldering of surface mount electronic components to printed circuit boards. Reflow ovens are large machines that are used to assemble printed circuit boards. These machines are capable of soldering small and large areas according to the requirement of work.
Reflow ovens are available in a variety of sizes and types. Prices of commercial reflow ovens are starting from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. A reflow oven is a great invention that reduces excessive time consumption involved in manually soldering electronic components to the printed circuit board and increases durability.
What is the reflow technique in the reflow oven?
In this technique, solder paste is applied over copper plates and melted with the help of heat to assemble electrical components present on the board. A typical reflow soldering process in reflow ovens comprises four zones:
- The preheat zone: in this stage, the entire assembly is heated at a controlled temperature between(1 to 4) Centigrade. This heating stage is very critical to avoid thermal shock.
- The soak zone: in this stage, the temperature is sustained at a steady level for up to two minutes between 150 to 170 Centigrade
- The reflow zone: in this stage assembly heats to a temperature higher than the solder melting points for 30 to 60 seconds to ensure reflow for every soldered lead.
- The cooling zone: in this stage, the temperature is lowered at a controlled rate between(1 to 4) Centigrade to ensure evenly formed solid solder interconnections between components and the board.
Types of reflow ovens
Different types of reflow ovens are in use; here we discuss some common types of them.
Infrared convection oven:
This is the most common type of reflow oven. These reflow ovens transfer heat to the component and solder through radiation of heat from heating elements. The fan is used for air circulation to improve heat transfer efficiency.
Vapor phase reflow oven:
These ovens use thermal energy in the form of layers of vapors to achieve soldering. A liquid perfluoropolyether is boiled and creates a layer of vapor in which the PCB is immersed. Vapor phase reflow ovens are more expensive and highly efficient reflow ovens compared to other reflow ovens.
Bench Top reflow Oven
A benchtop reflow oven is also called a desktop reflow oven. These reflow ovens are ideal for low-volume production areas with minimum or limited space. Each reflow oven uses hot air convection for best solder reflow results. These programmable stations can mimic the solder profiles of large-sized reflow ovens.
Specifications of reflow ovens:
Reflow ovens have a variety of features according to their intended use, considering the following criteria are helpful when choosing reflow ovens:
- Maximum temperature rating
- Entrance clearance
- Computer software and pc interface
- Serviceability
- Conveyor design
- Thermal performance
- Speed of conveyor
- Process gas
- Reflow oven type
- Power supply
Homemade reflow ovens such as toasters or microwave ovens use infrared rays as the heat source. A drawback of this method is the inability to set up a proper profile to establish cooling methods. These reflow ovens satisfy smaller jobs and are inadequate for larger projects.
Plasma clean
Plasma clean removes smoke and odors and improves indoor air quality and environmental quality through the introduction of chemical functional groups. Plasma clean treatment remains maximum for 48 hours. The treated surfaces remain after treatment dry and clean after. It also depends on how the treatment is performed and the martial stored in place.
Usages of plasma clean
- Cleaning the surface of the remnant of mineral oil
- Preparing the surface for polyolefin or thermoset
- Eliminate the need for chemical flowing
- Removing surface rust
- Removing organic taint
- Prepare the surface for glass products
Benefits of plasma clean
Plasma cleaning is the ideal alternative method of cleaning the internal environmental atmosphere as compared to other conventional pre-treatment cleaning methods such as grinding or chemical washing treatment. Plasma clean technology has many benefits and advantages as given below:
Fast and reliable cleaning
Plasma clean operates at a low cost with the highest quality of cleaning. Plasma is a fast way of cleaning and is widely used in the circuit industry. Without affecting other properties of the material , it removes harmful contaminants. Plasma clean is an economical way to save and clean material securely and uniformly.
Plasma clean is a fast and useful method
The plasma clean process can easily remove any organic or non-organic materials present on the particular surface with observation. This interferes with the use of argon plasma caused by oxygen.
Economical and friendly environment
Plasma clean is very environmentally friendly while many methods use harmful compounds that are often expensive and dangerous for those who work near it. But plasma clean eliminates any dangerous compounds that can be generated using a chemical bath.
Sustainable
Plasma clean uses a Nano-scale polymer layer that is applied over the entire surface of an object. Due to this surface layer, it is more sustainable and reliable than other cleaning methods.
High compatibility
Plasma clean is a highly compatible method and is applied on a huge variety of complex surfaces. Micro channels and micro-scale porosity methods were used to clean surfaces which are highly compatible techniques.
Used of every type of Materials
Plasma clean can be applied to all types of surfaces. Plasma cleaning can be used to remove all kinds of organic contaminants present on a surface by physical ablation. Argon plasma is used in plasma cleaning.
Easy to apply
The plasma clean process is not as harsh as other traditional methods used for surface treatment. It means you will be able to clean the surface within no time and in an easy way without losing any important traits.
Trident is a reliable and trusted place for buying any kind of electronic material. If you are interested in buying a reflow oven and plasma clean firstly you have to visit Trident to get your desired components.
