Setting up an SMT line at home!

[@zdenkostanec1622]

Hi Stephen good work, just a friendly pointer, get some ESD table mats, ground the machines and desks to protect the components during the assembly process, after assembly put PCBAs in ESD bags with a small silica gel bag, it will go a long way and it does not cost much. Best regards

[@xxportalxx.]

Yeaaaah some chips, especially unprotected fets, can die instantly with just a little static. These days tho it's actually surprising how resistant most chipsets are to esd damage, I'd like to see a test comparing how it effects their performance tho, just in case it seems like they're protected but still accruing damage

[@zdenkostanec1622]

@@xxportalxx. ESD of several kV can damage ICs and other components in such a way that components can Pass some simple In-circuit test (ICT) or functional test but it can Fail on full functional tests when the system is performing on Full Power where the system is consuming a greater amount of current, ESD damages components on micro levels making materials weaker. It is better if ESD damages the component to kill it completely, in that case, PCBAs will not pass a simple functional test rather than get a partially damaged component that can later fail in some deeply integrated system. It is important to keep components, assembly line, and later complete PCBAs ESD safe, ideally complete EPA (ESD Protected Area).

[@xxportalxx.]

@@zdenkostanec1622 you're right ofc, but that is a bit beyond the at home maker community's capabilities most times, it would be nice to have someone compile a guide of sorts on the most probable effects on common component types and how to best avoid them in a private shop

[@ericlotze7724]

Makes sense! Is humidity/temperature an issue? Granted I don’t think a ISO 1 Class Cleanroom is needed, but is low humidity/ highly stable temperature needed?

[@zdenkostanec1622]

@@ericlotze7724 Hi, glad you asked, yes it is important but in this case I think it is overkill. For example, someone will think that a full dry environment is a good option, but unfortunately it is not as ESD builds up much faster in these kinds of environments, another thing to keep in mind is MSL of the components as there are many kinds of them, to keep it under control professional EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Services) keep temperature and humidity in balance to keep components and complete assembly process safe. To fight all of the potential problems there are "Dry Storages" to keep components safe too, and if needed there are special chambers to "Bake" the components before the SMT process, this "Baking" process can sometimes take even 30days or more to "Safely" remove moisture from the components, if you would Bake the component too fast due to sudden rise of the temperature in SMT process Moisture becomes Steam that can damage/crack the component so it is important to "Bake" the component slowly to give it time to evaporate/escape from the internals of the component.

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Thanks for the shoutout mate! I hope that fan you attached directly to the back of the oven is a high temp rated metal fan, or it's going melt after a few reflows :) Most fans are not rated for more than about 80-120deg C and degrade quickly from heat abuse. Maybe at least put an insulating material between the fan and the metal? Some form of high temp rubber.

[@stephen_hawes]

Of course, thanks for an awesome reflow solution! That fan is actually from the heater assembly in a Form 3 3D printer, so it's rated for high temp!

[@goldfingerdash]

I have the NeoDen FP2636 Frameless Solder Paste Printer which works pretty well. The biggest downside is that the stencil has to be 360x260mm or smaller. JLCPCB default stencil size is 380x280. You can fit these by trimming the stencil corners or by modifying the printer. JLCPCB does let you customize the stencil size smaller if needed. So, consider what size stencils you will be using. Secondly, think about your workflow. If your PCB panel is large and double sided, you have to switch out the stencil or move the PCB mounting position on the printer. You could end up wanting two machines to save time on double sided boards.

[@TheSuperloki2010]

Hi Stephen, just wanna show appreciation to you for all your work, dedication, and passionate joy you give us through your videos. You probably heard it somewhere else, but for me you are to electronics what Josef Prusa is to 3D printing. Keep on the great, passionate work you're blessing us with !

[@donnyofdoom1873]

This is all so cool. Loving the whole series and your energy in general. Can't wait to see all this work flourish.

[@joe7272]

This mans singlehandedly stepping some of the most important elements of mass production into the open source world.

[@samsmith9764]

Dunno if someone else has mentioned this but instead of a third arm section for the support arm, have a small second arm come up fro the head itself. It probably wouldnt need to be a large as the first iteration of the short arm you showed here, maybe 3/4 the height. this would mean most of the slack is taken up as shown in the video, but the new arm takes up just enough of the slack near the head to stop it from dragging at the shortest point

[@Oysteims]

"eC-stencil-mate" from EURO-Circuits is the way to go for small-scale production. It's by far the best stencil holder that I have used for such a low price (relatively speaking). It has a pair of dowel pins that make alignment super easy, but you obviously have to spend some extra up-front time adding the dowel pinholes to the paste layer of your board. You can get thermally stable solder paste, which doesn't require refrigeration. The only reason to refrigerate solder paste is if you use it infrequently, and want it to last for years. You also have to let the solder paste sit for hours to heat up to room temperature every time you want to use it if it is refrigerated. Just get thermally stable solder paste and replace it every 12 months. Crossing my fingers this will turn into a huge success, would love to own an affordable "3D printer style" pick and place one day.

[@JohnSmith-hn6kv]

I've been following your excellent project for about 9-12 months now, I'm really pleased that it's going well.

[@reg2590]

Love what you are doing and your enthusiasm - one point at 2:00 best not keep tools up above you. I like the mini fridge idea.

[@noel1637]

In the workshop here we have no need for a conveyor belt on the pnp's. I hope we will get a version of the index with dragchain at some point because that's the solution. Plus it's way better on the cosmetic side. (i might tinker something but better to have it as part of the main dev). For using pnp i am not after conveyor and solder pasting from pnp. However where we need solutions for the prod line is 1/ more automatic feeders on the machine 2/ automate the cleaning process. If my feedback can help visualising the demand.

[@brucehanson4147]

Can't wait to see a production run! For small refrigerated storage, I have a little 12v cooler next to the bench with a power supply hooked to a thermostat.

[@ElektrischInkorrekt]

Cable chains are really the best Thing for this. I've worked with 3 or 4 different SMT-Placement Systems and everyone uses cablechains to get the cables and the pressured Air for the nozzles. (Inside the head of the more expensive Machines is a Venturi jet, which produces the needed vacuum to suck the parts to the nozzle.)

[@ElektrischInkorrekt]

And for the toolchanger-platform are also different solutions available. The Siplace F4 uses Something, that looks like these vial holder. A Piece of Sheetmetal can be shifted against the nozzles to secure them inside the holder.

[@matthewsimmons6831]

Many years ago is work on an smt line that used DEK screenprinters for the solder paste and glue application. I echo the suggestion of investing in a printer which tools the board support. If you ever branch out to double sided products, you can arrange the support pins to avoid crushing the first side's components

[@SarahKchannel]

For solder paste fridge, just buy an peltier element and use a PVC pipe, with urethan spray foam insulation. reaches at ambient temperature down to 2-3C on a 12V power supply. Kind of like a car camping fridge, Then you could have it right on the desk just large enough for one tin of paste.

[@getgoodorstaybad6849]

Hey Stephen! I've really enjoyed watching your videos and have gone through the entire PNP series over the past month. One thing that came to my mind during this video was documenting your experience with Open PNP for others who purchase your pick and place machine. Something you said when you were talking about the ender 3 applies to this I think, something like, projects are great to help you learn but in the end you want something that is going to be used as a tool. I can imagine someone who is looking to purchase a PNP from you for mid-scale production would appreciate additional help/documentation with Open PNP, just based on what you've said here. I'm not sure what you've added for documentation already, and you're probably already thinking it, just an observation.

[@der.Schtefan]

Can't wait until it all works in one flow. Bravo. Really amazing

[@Clark-Mills]

2:28 Clark quickly grabs his recently purchased tubs of solder paste from his desk and pops it in the fridge; I'm just playing with building my own programmed toaster oven. Thanks for the education! ;)

[@ericwieland4018]

For keeping the umbilical upright try a helix spring. If it is not stiff enough apply some layers of heat shrink until it is. You can either get a fat one or three smaller ones in a triangle pattern.

[@fyremoon]

I was watching a video where Make was talking to Eben Upton from the Raspberry Pi Foundation and thought I'd share what they did with the Pi Zero, since they needed to mount the memory chip on top of the processor they used their pick and place machine to dip the legs, balls and pins in solder paste before placing them on the board. This removes the need for the solder mask as it becomes an extra step in the pick and place process.

[@ooooooo0]

You could add a large cnc to your ceiling with a arm to move product from one operation to another.

[@eastmanresearch3143]

Stephen, very impressive you were able to make all this work. Congrats!

[@hojirick]

So excited seeing all of your progress man. You're almost at 100 videos too!!

[@eastmanresearch3143]

Solder paste is super critical, you should get a cheap stencil printer w/ a swiper for a few grand. The quality and amount of time you'll save will be huge. I have no doubt if you have calibrated your pnp setup well you will get pretty good placement. For small parts like LGA-12/LGA-14 you'll suffer if you don't have a good solder paste stencil printer as the fine pitch on these may become a real problem. You could also get a real mini batch oven from essemtec used that will work on 240/208 for a few grand at 16 amps or just order a cheap drawer type. You really want a reflow curve so the flux activates properly and the solder flows as expected instead of just baking the whole thing in one spot.

[@kentswan3230]

I love it when a tech company eats its own dog food

[@Sodabowski]

Phewww ! Talk about progress! 👏

[@SarahKchannel]

and why are you not making a PCB negative to fit the board into it. Just a PCB that is the frame around the main PCB with holes for indexing and so fort... cost a few bucks and is easier and more precise then the used PCB route.

[@TheWebstaff]

You should have a few lanyard self return pull cords on hand for cable retention.

[@ericlotze7724]

*Steven Hawes Halloween Special:* _The Rep-Rappening_

[@avejst]

great walkthrough of the process 👍 thanks for sharing your experience with all of us 👍😀

[@robertadsett5273]

If you have height then suspend the cable from a support that either retracts or provides enough spring force to support the cable. With enough height you don’t even need retractable support since the length of the supporting cable is nearly the same throughout the travel.

[@ingmarm8858]

oh cool nice zappy plastic strip feeders lol. Perhaps you need some conductive / static dissipative filament for those raw IC feeders?

[@FilipeFontenele]

Fiber cables used to set internet in your house have a iron core to avoid them go 90 degree angle and break, you can use them for cable management , you zip tie the fiber optic cable to your cnc cabling and it will flex and get back to the position just fine

[@JonathanBuford]

You are going to have issues with different color components getting too hot with that oven and you probably won't have enough power to ramp it quickly up. Two changes I would recommend: insulation and modifying the heating. Insulation needs to be high temp stuff, like automotive, and the heating should be indirect instead of shining the element directly on the boards. The bottom can be shielded with a solid aluminum plate instead of the rack, and this helps to even out hot spots from underneath. The top should have something to prevent it from shining directly on components, preventing dark ones from becoming smoking messes. In general, I would worry about eveness of heating on a board, which can lead to uneven solder traditions with dry joints or other bad results. Also unevenly heated boards can warp more, leading to component stresses.

[@JonathanKayne]

Hey Stephen, just wanted to give you another idea for the cable harness. You could possibly use a piece of 2.85mm nylon filament just like how the prusa mk3 does it

[@jamess6352]

and also line the reflow oven with thermal tape to help seal it up and regulate the temperature during the reflow profiles.

[@rodrigovda]

This is freaking amazing!!

[@M8KES]

The best jig for stencil printing is from eurocircuits. It's self aligning and a setup is done in less than 3 minutes But it's very expensive and the stencil need some holes and holes on the PCB

[@ericgorder1]

Thanks for this post! I am impressed and motivated to try it out! At least I have the right operating system installed on my laptop! Thanks for the video and keep up the good work!

[@ericblenner-hassett3945]

4:06 bowden Tube.... mount it to each end, cable tie to it every ( roughly) 5CM... Hard part is how to point the tube straight up at each end, decent bow in the middle..

[@ivanhuzjak9644]

For stencil holders I would recommend LPKF protoprint s rp. We use it at work it is pain in the ass to align but once aligned it is a nice jig to use.

[@luke.perkin.inventor]

Does the fan on the oven not need a diffuser? Just a plate in front so the cold air goes sideways? Or mount it as an extractor and the gaps around the door would diffuse nicely?

[@thetrcg]

Would like to see cable chains at 90 degrees above every thin not laying flat or along the sides of the frame might work too, seems to be a lot more reliable than an arm

[@dgoddard]

*and maybe some beer... nice

[@Lux158]

Your shelf looks nice, but you might hang the top shelf a few points lower.. so you could access the Suff that moves to the back :D

[@UNVIRUSLETALE]

There are some dragchains with more degrees of freedom than regular ones from igus

[@jackphilp7057]

Quick suggestion for the stencils that you'll find on nicer industry stencils is some way to drop the board straight down (or lift the stencil straight up). This prevents the solder paste from becoming smeared or dragged on one side as you lift the stencil away.

[@divya_]

How did you get the cable harnesses made? Is there a popular vendor?

[@IanScottJohnston]

Looking forward to buying an INDEX.....can't come soon enough for me!

[@cavourII]

I'm not aware of the temperature the oven will get, but I imagine it will be more than 200ºC, is that correct? If so, is the cooler resisting well throughout your tests? Got curious about that, but great video, man

[@aevum258]

nice work guys

[@robertsumner615]

Fascinating! Board production studio with SMT toaster oven, if I got that correctly :-)

[@alexcarter8082]

How goes part sourcing with the chip shortage? I can't find any of my usual MCU's

[@tejassankpal5574]

For smd components try esp32 camera which will automatically recognized text on the smd and smartly placed on the pcb board

[@Super6502]

You should take a look at Loctite GC 10 or GC 3W solder paste. It doesn't need a fridge for storage and have a much longer stencil life than many competitors.

[@michael_anton]

I too would recommend Loctite GC 10. I use it pretty much exclusively now, and it always seems to work well. It's a bit stickier than some other pastes, so that takes a bit of time to get used to.

[@filipcvetanovski2545]

absolutely love this series!

[@paulc0102]

For "spring steel" support try a length of regular measuring tape.

[@JonathanBuford]

Or music wire.

[@DustinWatts]

Really cool to see this all coming together! Welcome to the Reflow Master club btw :)

[@jamess6352]

You are using 3 of the $100 panel now on the Index?

[@GianfrancoAntonioli]

Would be nice to do an opensource peltier based micro-fridge for solder paste syringes and boxes

[@TheBarnett8]

What happened to the Index dispensing solder paste? Is that no longer in the plan, or is it just on the back burner while you test the minimum viable product?

[@espero_dev]

Nice I’m working on a lot of crap too I made my stencil holder out of some wood some metal and some computer hinges

[@nraynaud]

about E3D, for spring steel they use stainless steel zip ties (sourcing was a nightmare before I learned that)

[@Jandodev]

Cable harneses 🙌

[@derekkonigsberg2047]

They now make thermally stable solder paste. Any reason not to just use that, instead of having to deal with cold storage?

[@petermuller608]

There are a lot of comments with regards to ESD. This shop looks like having a concrete floor. Those are ideal from an ESD point of view

[@Minecraftmigapiku]

Where can I buy such staging plates?

[@spehropefhany]

Don't get that stencil printer with the flat base. Get one of the ones with tooling holes. Not only faster to set up but the play in the hinges and the adjustment knobs are an order of magnitude better.

[@stephen_hawes]

Good note, thanks for the advice! I'll look into those!

[@Corbald]

The makeup fridges tend to be more expensive than the 6-pack fridges, despite being the exact same thing.

[@ooooooo0]

Will you have pre-orders?

[@shoofle]

i'm sure you've got a lot of yaks to shave, but it would be cool to make an extra rack so you can have two levels of panels in the toaster at once! now i wanna do some toaster surgery. i was considering trying my hand at upgrading a soldering iron with a similar concept

[@randycarter2001]

I'm re-watching this video. That plastic fan will melt. You need a thermal isolation barrier to protect the fan from radiant heat.

[@RixtronixLAB]

Nice video, keep it up, thanks :)

[@H0B0J03]

Dude, keep the beard! You've got a Pedro Pascal thing going now!

[@GeorgeGraves]

Who did you get the custom cables from? (thanks!)

[@lucianchapar6751]

Many professional companies are available on Alibaba! That’s where we found our vendor!

[@MrZomhad]

Really fucking cool!

[@ZURAD]

Stephen! I made a mod for the Ender 3 that should make solder stencils SUPER EASY to make. I'd love to send you one if you wanted to play around with it.

[@Pixelcrafter_exe]

Why not using raspberry pis as computers?

[@devinmarx5032]

Could he run openPNP on a raspberry pi?

[@dergraph69]

And some beer

[@rkfael-pcbdesign5712]

Great 👍

[@gregorka9]

ITS HAPPENING!!!!

[@Lux158]

I still try to justify the purchase for an PNP.. not that I need it but I want one :D

[@RestorationRelaxation]

Wait this isn’t a Shin Megami Tensei video

[@jakobfindlay4136]

pcbway sponsored a project that replaces them im surprised

[@zaprodk]

The small "makeup" fridge will probably eat more electricity than a "proper" mini fridge, just FYI.

[@prasarnhutpattanasilp6615]

very awsome work but you have full vdo how your machine work ,i follow your work for a while but honestly me very dumb i still not understand how your machine work, your talkative present style very fun but sometime i really dont understand so pls kindly show how your machine work in one clip,thanks in advance.i like to have this machine in my shop.

[@simonbaxter8001]

You need to be more ESD aware! You'll be surprised how quick you can kill silicon devices through poor handling.

[@63bert]

Make a paste printer

[@thecrazyinsanity]

gregtech irl

[@randycarter2001]

To bad it doesn't work on a Raspberry Pi 4.

[@b.v.s]

Привет возьми меня в ученика)))

[@cdyoutoob]

Buy a mini/bar fridge, it can contain drinks and food. Store your paste and flux in a sealable container. The energy efficiency of a makeup cooler I would suspect is cr*p. Focus on functionality for purpose, environmental impact and not 'cuteness' please.