Increase uptime, reduce board reject rates and protect employees at
the same time
The dangers that rosin-based fluxes pose to the health and safety of
employees who are working in soldering applications have been well documented.
The combination of solder and flux produce a complex fume (colophony)
that can cause serious medical conditions such as occupational asthma.
Fume extraction equipment for hand soldering, wave soldering machines
and reflow ovens is often seen as a necessary capital expenditure on health
and safety grounds. What is not always considered is that a good fume
extraction system can actually increase uptime and reduce reject rates.
Good fume extraction equipment can prevent the build up of contaminants
within, for example, a reflow oven. These contaminants reduce the efficiency
of the oven, can be deposited on the boards and worse still, force production
to cease while the oven is cleaned. When you consider the cost of shutting
a reflow oven down for half a shift or more to clean it (potentially 1000's
€), the relatively low cost of a quality fume extraction system to
prevent this becomes very appealing.
Another common practice in PCB production is to link the oven to an external
venting system, yet this practice has its own problems. Atmospheric conditions
can create drafts in the system that can make the temperature profile
of the oven unstable; the result being, increased rejects and higher rework
costs. To avoid this an extraction system that purifies process air and
recirculates it back into the workplace should be used along with a closed
loop flow control system to maintain the correct extraction rate throughout
the life of the filter.
The Purex Powerflow™ fume extraction system incorporates a whole
host of features that actively increase uptime. For example, a unique
and patented concertina pre-filter is available that can last 10 times
longer than a normal pre-filter which, not only means that consumable
costs for the unit are low but also that the line can operate for much
longer between filter changes.
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