> Is the Farnell Part number - 149-968

I just noticed that RS Components sell the same thing for NZ$36
compared to Farnell's NZ$51. Both only do a 2% silver in syringe
and I'm paying about NZ$28 for the other type from an industry
supplier. The one that RS/Farnell sell looks to have a better shelf
life and open time too.

> What oven brand do you use?

I use a DeLongi Turbo Convection (1kW).

> Does this method work on double sided SM components?

I haven't tried this but I think Alex G mentioned that he was doing
this with just the solder tension keeping the parts on.

Although the paste I use is no-clean, I still clean my boards
because the low residue solder for the through-hole parts still looks
messy. The SMT stuff comes out good enough not to need
cleaning.
I use an aqueous cleaner called Safewash, several tap-water
washes and a final rinse in SafeRinse. If I've made a real mess of
the board (like after replacing a chip or two manually) I give it a
quick squirt with a solvent based cleaner to get the worst of it off
first. It's so much nicer doing a run of boards with a cleaner that
doesn't need ventilation and can go down the sink afterwards.

The other thing that makes a difference to the look of the final
boards is a paste dispenser. Having the same amount of solder on
each pin, or each end of a resistor, looks much better.
Although I bought one because I had a good sized run to do in a
hurry, there's not much to them and it would be easy to make.
You'd probably want to buy the plumbing bits, but the rest is a
footswitch to a monostable to an air solenoid valve. There's also
another solenoid to vent the pressure from the line after the first
valve closes and that's it. I put an adjustable regulator onto a scuba
bottle for a nice quiet air supply (I use about 50psi at the syringe)
and a fill will last about 3-4 days of continual use.

The economics work out too. I get a higher yield than if I send a
small run out to another hand assembly contractor. By the time the
costs start to swing back the other way, the volumes are getting
close enough to go to an automated assembly house.

Steve.

======================================================
Steve Baldwin                Electronic Product Design
TLA Microsystems Ltd         Microcontroller Specialists
PO Box 15-680, New Lynn      http://www.tla.co.nz
Auckland, New Zealand        ph  +64 9 820-2221
email: steveb@tla.co.nz      fax +64 9 820-1929
======================================================

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