Reading time ( words)
Posted by Adam Murling on Monday, November 24, 2014
This is an account of my trip to Indium's Chicago facility. If you didn't get a chance to read my previous post, the link is right here. Both flights were flawless which made me happy as this was my first time flying by myself. I was a little nervous but was relieved when the weather was nice both days. Other than having to de-ice the plane leaving Syracuse, everything was great. I learned a lot working out of Indium Corporation's Chicago facility. I learned about the day-to-day activities - along with the activities of the extraordinary people. I worked on the manufacturing floor and met some very interesting individuals. They showed me how to make flux, extrude both flux-cored and solid wire, cast ingots, and refine the wire down to specific lengths for final sale. The most interesting aspect, to me, was making the flux. I experienced both large and small batch operations. I have always enjoyed chemistry and it was nice to look at something from that perspective. Also, I worked with a wave soldering machine for the first time. It was pretty interesting; a lot different than stencil printing, and reflowing. There are so many different variables, such as: flux deposition, wave height, conveyor speed, preheat temperature, and wave temperature. I would consider it an art to run one of these machines. Each one has its own personality and quirks that makes it unique. The way the metal flowed was amazing in its own right. Profiling a wave solder machine can be more difficult than a traditional reflow oven. If you want to read more on wave solder flux, please read Eric Bastow's, blog. This particular post is about an inappropriate method that is sometimes used in wave solder flux evaluation. A diagram of the basic mechanisms of a wave solder machine is pictured below (source).
I am very grateful for this opportunity to travel to Chicago and learn so much about our products, processes, and people. I can not wait to do it again. Also, I was able to try my first slice of the famous Chicago deep dish pizza. I understand why they call it a pizza "pie". I'm going to say that I still think New York pizza is better. Now that I m back home, I feel safer saying that. ‘Til Next Time, - Adam
Share
Suggested Items
02/08/2023 |
Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPO
Nolan Johnson talks with Senior Product Manager Chris Nash of Indium Corporation, who discusses Durafuse LT, a novel solder paste mixed alloy system with highly versatile characteristics that enable energy savings, high-reliability, low-temperature, step soldering, and assemblies with large temperature gradients. It also provides superior drop shock performance to conventional low-temperature solders, outclassing BiSn or BiSnAg alloys, and performing better than SAC305 with optimum process setup.
01/11/2023 |
Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007
Clemens Jargon, senior vice president of High Flex at Mycronic, shares his thoughts about the company’s performance in 2022 (it was a strong year), plans for the new year (turnkey solutions), and what visitors to the Mycronic booth at the show can expect to see in the company’s state-of-the-art Iris™ 3D AOI vision technology.
12/28/2022 |
Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007
In this Q&A, Rob Rowland, director of engineering at Axiom Electronics, discusses his new IPC APEX EXPO Professional Development course, “Reflow Profiling Simplified,” on how to create a standardized methodology to accurately generate new reflow soldering profiles. Rob explains, “In this class, I’ll explain how I approached this work to help others develop similar methodologies for creating their own reflow soldering profiles. My presentation also includes the basic reflow profile recipes I have been using for the past 20 years.”
