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REFLOW SOLDERING
When reflow soldering a PCB printed with solder paste, there are a lot of factors to consider – equipment (oven), soldering materials, finish of the bare PCB, soldering profile, etc. All these factors play an important role to achieve the required soldering quality. One of the most essential factors is the equipment (oven).
The most commonly used reflow oven today is the forced convection type. Hot air is forced into the processing chamber through a high number of holes or nozzles and onto the PCBs passing on the conveyor system. The air then heats the PCBs. The benefit of this type of system is that the delta T measured on a PCB is quite low. Reflow soldering can be done in air environment but since 1995 it has become also common to apply nitrogen to minimize the oxidation inside the process chamber. The use of nitrogen in the reflow process can be a good help to reduce soldering defects.
HELLER INDUSTRIES, LEADER IN LEAD FREE REFLOW SOLDERINGABOUT HELLER
Heller Industries has specialised for several decades only in the manufacturing of reflow ovens. The production is based in New Jersey-USA, Seoul-Korea and Shanghai-China which allow to cover the demands all over the world. The Heller European operation is based in the UK which covers sales, application/service support and emergency spare parts supply.
Heller was the first company in the world to produce forced convection ovens as well as ovens with independent control of the top and bottom heating zones. The company co-operate for many years with the top US research organizations in the field of thermal management. For their achievements Heller received the Vision award in 2001, the award for innovation and best new product in 2002, the Frost & Sullivan market leadership award in 2003, 2005 and 2006, as well as many other recognitions. All Heller factories are ISO 9001 certified.
Main Specifications of key models
| Model Number |
Atmosphere |
Heated Zones |
Heated Length |
Total Length |
Cooling Zones |
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| 1707 |
Air or Nitrogen |
7 Top / 7 Bottom |
1830 mm |
3400 mm |
1 |
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| 1809 |
Air or Nitrogen |
9 Top / 9 Bottom |
2670 mm |
4650 mm |
2 |
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| 1912 |
Air or Nitrogen |
12 Top / 12 Bottom |
366 0mm |
5890 mm |
3 |
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Standard board width for all models - 506mm. Optional board width - 606mm
Flux Separation system, Centre Board Support, Battery Backup, Automatic lubrication of the Conveyor and Centre Board Support, SMEMA interface, CE specs as well as many other options are available on all models upon request.
Heller announces new range of reflow ovens
In addition to the well established ovens from the EXL series, Heller announced the new range of MK3 ovens. Three models are available – 1707 MK3, 1809 MK3 and 1912 MK3.
The main improvements in the MK3 ovens are:
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All MK3 ovens operating in N2 atmosphere are delivered with the Balanced Flow Modules (BFM). These modules have 2 main advantages - allow to have up to 80oC difference between 2 adjacent zones and reduce the N2 consumption by up to 40% due to the improved gas circulation. The MK3 ovens are available also as air only and retrofitable forN2 operation at a later date. |
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Each MK3 oven is delivered with the Low KVA option built in. The typical reduction in the electrical power consumption with this option is 30-40%. |
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All the other main characteristics of the MK3 and EXL ovens are identical, i.e. the number and the length of the heating and the cooling zones, the patented unique flux separation system, ±2oC tolerance across the PCB in all heating zones, air and water cooling with or without chiller, the variety of available options and the 3 years warranty on heaters and blowers.
The key features of the HELLER reflow ovens
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The most efficient heat transfer, from extra high-volume, high-velocity, heating modules, producing temperature gradients of less than 2°C across the conveyor trough the heating section of the oven |
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Instant-response heating modules that react in less than one second to temperature changes of less than 0.1°C to maintain profile integrity for heavy board loads |
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Open coil heating elements allow rapid profiling changes plus fast warm-up and cool-down |
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Forced convection in all zones using air or inert atmosphere |
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Optimal thermocouple location in the air stream for fast response and accurate zone temperature control |
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Carburettors or balanced flow modules allow to achieve 80-100°C ΔT between the last preheat and the peak zone in air or Nitrogen |
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Flux separation system removes up to 95% of flux from the atmosphere – this ensures processing boards in a flux-free environment. The flux separation system works in auto clean cycle and doesn’t require use of filters or cleaning chemicals |
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PC-driven PID closed-loop controller ensures fast and accurate monitoring of all oven parameters |
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Auto hood lift for effortless raising of the oven body above the conveyor |
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User-friendly Windows XPTM software, integrated KIC and ECD (MOLE) profiling softwares and ECD Oven Cpk Software |
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Computer-controlled automatic lubrication system for Conveyor and Centre Board Support |
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3 years warranty on all heater elements |
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3 years warranty on all blower motor assemblies |
Support
We are proud to advise that all Heller equipment is installed and serviced by fully trained Heller certified Amtest service engineers based throughout Central and Eastern Europe.
Training and application support particularly for the lead free soldering is available as well. Amtest holds its own stock of Heller spare parts in 3 locations – Celje (near Lubljana) in Slovenia, Brno in the Czech Republic and in Sofia, Bulgaria. The total value of Heller parts owned by Amtest is over 80 000 Euro.
The following Technical data sheets are available upon request. Please contact Amtest for information:
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1707EXL-Air |
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1707EXL-Nitrogen |
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1707MK3.5-Air |
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1707MK3.5-Nitrogen |
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1809EXL-Air |
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1809EXL-Nitrogen |
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1809MK3.5-Air |
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1809MK3.5-Nitrogen |
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1912EXL-Air |
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1912EXL-Nitrogen |
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1912MK3.5-Air |
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1912MK3.5-Nitrogen |
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Heller EXL Reflow Ovens short form catalogue |
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