EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
TCA’s 1000 XS CIRCUIT
WASHING SYSTEM
IS QUICKLY EXCEEDING
EXPECTATIONS.
An automated vertical transfer rack saponified wash / DI steam / water rinse / convection oven bake-out system in a 9’ x 4’ footprint
The Challenge
DSI designs, manufactures, sells and supports small (1.1 cc) implanted RF transmitters / transceivers for animals. They were experiencing an unacceptable failure rate on some circuits and identified the cause to be contamination on the circuit. Researching available industry standard circuit washing systems, DSI found none to be applicable to the small circuit size and lower production volumes. A detailed design concept was sent to several location machine automation design companies and DSI selected TCA as their partner on this project.
The Solution
Working in partnership with TCA, a flexible, automated, circuit washing system became a reality. The new system includes:
- Easy access tank drains and automatic controlled tank refill
- Built-in high purity DI Water Sprayer for optimal efficient wash down
- Ability for operators to load circuits into fixture and place onto input conveyor
- Fixtures / parts travel through the system in a vertical orientation
- Fixture is transferred to main conveyor (large range in conveyor speed is available to maximize throughput vs circuit wash and dry time – typical overall cycle time range from 40 minutes to 90 minutes)
Results
- C3 results indicate superior cleanliness as compared to standard high-volume in-line circuit board wash systems utilized by DSI suppliers. (DSI testing was performed on a variety of the most challenging configuration circuits. Rosin and No-clean flux was flooded over the test area and baked at 65C for one hour minimum to represent an extreme worst-case scenerio and then washed. Supplier parts were compared as received.)
- The system was quickly optimized for main conveyor speed, saponifier concentration, nozzle quantities and configurations, temperatures and oven dry time.
- Small (9’ x 4’) footprint and lower power consumption
