VAPOR PHASE OVEN
Ours equipment
For a long time our Company specialized in soldering processes using vapour phase ovens.
We knew right away the extraordinary potential of this technology.
This type of oven differs substantially from the traditional convection type because it does not use the forced circulation of hot air to transfer heat to the metals to be melted but uses the principle of condensation-evaporation of a liquid inside a closed chamber.
The transmission of heat is extremely efficient and the liquid used, the Galden, is a PFPE polymer that has the physical characteristic of evaporating at a fixed temperature.
This way both the issues of overcooking on the smaller components or not reaching the temperature peak where the absorption it’s stronger, are avoided.
This allows to obtain soldered joints of excellent quality with the utmost respect for the materials involved (PCB and components). It also greatly reduces the criticalities related to mass imbalances on the PCB or to the presence on the layout of very different sized components.
The soldering process happens in an optimal environment, naturally oxygen-free and, if desired, several vacuum steps can be added during reflow, those are exceptional, for example, to optimize the soldering of flat pack components which typically can show large areas of voids even when the process is well conducted.
Since this is a different technology from that of traditional air ovens, it is essential to have the experience and know-how to correctly set the process, equipment and suitable alloys.
Over the years, our company’s technologists have developed this expertise having been able to test the performance and criticalities of the vapor phase process on various highly critical prototypes mainly dedicated to the world of basic research, Science ad Aerospace.
It was therefore natural to transfer this experience to the entire production with exceptional results in terms of quality and reliability.
Productivity also remains excellent compared to traditional hot air processes, especially in small and medium series due to the extraordinary speed in characterizing the soldering profiles and also thanks to the possibility of processing many boards, even different ones, at the same time during the same reflow cycle without that the quality of the process suffers.
The vapor phase oven also lends itself very well to some particular rework operations thanks to its characteristics of thermal stability and thanks to its intrinsic ability to respect the basic materials.
With the help of specific equipment partly developed by our technicians and owners, we can carry out extremely delicate repair and rework operations with a very high percentage of success.
Also from the point of view of energy saving and respect for the environment, the vapor phase oven is confirmed as extremely interesting: it has a consumption of 6 times lower than the forced convection oven and produces practically zero emissions into the atmosphere.
The Galden, which is used inside the oven for heat transfer, is a non-toxic, non-flammable, zero ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential) PFPE polymer, inert and non-corrosive therefore safe for the environment and for handling by of the staff who take care of periodic maintenance.