In case you missed it

Hand Soldering

"A Study of Soldering Tip Life on Lead-Free Alloys"

Authors: Juthathip Fangkangwanwong, Jareerat Jintana, Jarinee Ketui and Teng Hoon Ng; fjuthath@celestica.com.

Abstract: Soldering tips operating with Pb-free alloys show less durability than those operating with conventional SnPb solder. This is exacerbated by the higher temperature, higher tin content (tin readily erodes iron plating) and more aggressive flux in Pb-free soldering. Since the implementation of the RoHS directive, many companies have adopted SAC 405. Hence, for this study, SAC 405 solder wire was chosen as the natural rework solder for the investigation on the durability performance of solder tips from various suppliers. One of the known concerns of SAC 405 is the higher copper dissolution rate, which sometimes causes increased defect rates, especially in multiple PTH reworks. Another concern is the relative higher price of the alloy because of the silver content. In this paper, an alternative Sn-Cu Ni is proposed to determine the effect of alloy on solder tip life when compared with SAC 405 base alloy. (SMTA Pan Pacific Symposium, January 2008)

Jetting

"Enhanced Stability of Electrohydrodynamic Jets through Gas Ionization"

Authors: Sibel Korkut, Dudley A. Saville and Ilhan A. Aksay

Abstract: A new technique for printing extraordinarily thin lines quickly over wide areas could lead to larger, less expensive and more versatile electronic displays, as well as new medical devices, sensors and other technologies. Theoretical predictions of the nonaxisymmetric instability growth rate of an electrohydrodynamic jet based on the measured total current overestimate experimental values. The authors show that this apparent discrepancy is the result of gas ionization in the surrounding gas and its effect on the surface charge density of the jet. As a result of gas ionization, a sudden drop in the instability growth rate occurs below a critical electrode separation, yielding highly stable jets that can be used for nano- to microscale printing. (Physical Review Letters, Jan. 25, 2008)

Solder Reliability

"Methodology to Characterize Pad Cratering under BGA Pads in Printed Circuit Boards"

Authors: Mudasir Ahmad, David Senk, and Jennifer Burlingame; mudasir.ahmad@cisco.com.

Abstract: The conversion to Pb-free BGAs has raised several new assembly and reliability issues. One reliability concern becoming more prevalent is the increased propensity of pad cratering. In general, Pb-free solder joints are stiffer than SnPb solder joints, and some Pb-free compatible PCB dielectric materials are more brittle than conventional SnPb-compatible PCB materials. These two factors, coupled with the higher peak reflow temperatures for Pb-free assembly, could transfer more strain to the PCB dielectric structure, causing a cohesive failure underneath the BGA corner pads. The likelihood of pad cratering occurring in any given assembly depends on several factors, including BGA package size, construction and surface finish, PCB pad size, and material and surface finish. Standard assembly-level bend, shock and drop tests can be used to determine if the entire assembly can survive a given strain and strain-rate range without failures. However, with these standard assembly-level tests, it is difficult to determine if the failures occurred as a result of an unusually weak PCB dielectric/PCB pad size or a stiffer BGA package.

In this study, an easy-to-implement test method is presented, along with results comparing known good and known bad PCBs. Different dielectric materials and pad sizes were evaluated to develop a comparative metric that can be used to rank-order different material/pad size combinations. The results were generated over different temperatures, to study the effect of temperature on dielectric mechanical strength characteristics. Finite element analysis was performed to better understand the factors impacting variation in results. (SMTA Pan Pacific Symposium, January 2008)

"Analyzing and Predicting Electrochemical Migration Failures On Field Failure Returns"

Author: Renee J. Michalkiewicz; rmichalkiewicz@tracelabs.com.

Abstract: This paper outlines options available to analyze a specific lot of failed assemblies and steps that can be taken to prevent ECM failures on future lots. J-STD-001 is used as a guideline in preparing a customized test procedure. Exact procedures that may be used to assess working assemblies for ECM potential are outlined. Case studies are included. As a general procedure, monitoring points connected to the area of concern are isolated, often by removing components or cutting other traces, while wires are soldered. The assemblies are placed in a temperature/humidity chamber and a bias is applied across the suspect location. The resistance between these isolated points is monitored for sudden or slow drops indicative of leakage current development or dendritic growth. If ECM development is observed on these assemblies from the same lot, the entire lot should be considered at risk. (SMTA Pan Pacific Symposium, January 2008)

CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY provides abstracts of papers from recent industry conferences and company white papers. With the amount of information increasing, our goal is to provide an added opportunity for readers to keep abreast of technology and business trends.

Repair

"Impression of PCB Pad Web-site Gown Strategies on Pad Array Harm"

Authors: Laurence A. Harvilchuck, Brian Roggeman, Raiyo F. Aspandiar, James M. Wade and Gaurav Godbole harvilch@uic.com.

Abstract: The thermal profile knowledgeable by the pad array can have a profound effect on latent PCB injury, for example the presence or absence of pad cratering. In this training, pad array damage is evaluated as a functionality of assembly preheating, pad internet page dress approach, and utilized desoldering temperature to offer insight when making a choice on concerning basic wick-and-iron solder removal and the further innovative vacuum-assisted solder scavenging techniques. Huge-resolution 16-channel thermal profiles were obtained of both the wick-and-iron and vacuum scavenging operations across a single 34 mm square pad array of variable pitch on a .060" thick Pb-complimentary ATX motherboard, revealing the nature of the thermal profile at the pad surface and by using the board segment to the cores. The shortcomings of existing restore thermometry methods are also documented in the context of the impression of thermocouple placement on profile accuracy. Process variations inherent in the generally manual wick-and-iron solder removal systems are easily obvious in the thermal profiles knowledgeable by the pad array, while noticeably decreased in the thermal profile generated by the vacuum scavenger. Wick-and-iron scavenging operations can subject the pad array to ramp rates approaching 200[degrees]C/sec. for the duration of the short excursion over solder liquidus, when vacuum scavenging of the similar site exhibited a optimum ramp pace almost a total get of magnitude much less, but of considerably better occasions above liquidus. The impact of the thermal profile on the pad array was characterized by bump pull, pad exhaustion and dye-and-pry approaches. Final results from the existing examine showed no solder mask hurt in the vicinity of the pad array resulted from any of the scavenging processes. Hurt to innerlayer circuit board structures (for each IPC-A-610) beneath the pad array was also absent in all scenarios underneath analyze. Use of substrate preheating through solder scavenging has a definite influence on lessening the substrate harm that can result from the repair of lead-absolutely free laminates. For both the wick-and-iron and vacuum systems, increased applied desoldering temperatures resulted in weaker pad adhesion than the corresponding solder elimination operations at reduced utilized desoldering temperatures. Additional pad tiredness testing of the exact same samples indicated this transform in pad adhesion strength may very well be connected to a switch in the ductility of the laminate right beneath the pad. The laminate option also can have a major impact. (SMTA Pan Pac Microelectronics Symposium, February 2009)

Solder-It SolderPro 150 heat tool

Solder-It offers its multi-functional, cordless SolderPro 150 heat tool with automatic ignition and soldering iron and torch functionality. Features include:

* The soldering iron is equivalent to a power range of 30 watts to 125 watts.

* The torch can produce blue flames of up to 2,400 degrees F.

* Patented, refillable Liquid Energy Cell filter system eliminates clogging.

* Can hold enough fuel for up to 120 minutes of use.

* Also available with an accessories kit.

The review

Joe Marconi, owner of Osceola Garage in Baldwin Place, N.Y., tested the SolderPro 150 for PTEN.

"The SolderPro 150 is an effective way to solder in light-duty applications. We do a lot of wiring repair at our shop and using a large solder iron is sometimes overkill for a particular job.

"The SolderPro 150 is great for those small jobs. The kit includes all the accessories to perform a professional wiring repair. If your shop performs electrical and wiring harness work, consider the SolderPro 150."

Circle 58 on inquiry card or click "e-inquiry" at www.pten.com

Processes for SnCuNi solder paste

The SnCuNi alloy (SCN) has been used in wave soldering applications because of its applicability in achieving acceptable soldering results and its lower rates of reaction with copper (used in PCBs and components) and iron (used as a based material in wave soldering equipment). The lack of precious metals like silver makes it less expensive, and the cosmetic appearance of the final joints is similar to that of SnPb joints; but these benefits are offset by its higher melting point temperature of 227[degrees]C in reflow applications. The higher melting point may necessitate reflow profiles with higher peak temperatures and/or longer time above liquidus (TAL) than that of SAC 305 to obtain complete and homogenous mixing of the paste deposits with the component lead/bump. Concerns such as possible damage of heat-sensitive components and joint reliability arise.

A study was carried out to develop reflow processes for SCN solder paste using SAC 305 and SCN-bumped BGA-CSP components. Assembly characterization was performed using cross-sectional analysis, vibration testing and thermal cycling. The objective was to characterize the performance of pure SCN joints and compare them with pure SAC 305 solder joints and mixed SCN paste/SAC 305 sphere solder joints. This was accomplished by designing reflow soldering profiles that reached the same peak temperatures and TAL (above 217[degrees]C) optimized for typical SAC 305 assemblies.

The test vehicle was a 0.062" thick, four-layer FR-4 PWB with Cu-OSP surface finish and non-solder mask-defined pads. Each board was populated with 16 256 I/O BGA-CSP components. The design of experiments included different peak temperatures (238[degrees]C and 248[degrees]C) and TAL (50 and 75 sec.). The corresponded TAL above 227[degrees]C was 30 and 50 sec., respectively. Levels for each factor were based on the current SAC 305 process window and recommendations from the SCN solder paste supplier. All boards were reflowed in air, and a small batch of pure SCN joints were reflowed in nitrogen (

An x-ray automatic program was used to inspect voiding. All solder joints from 12 boards with 16 components each were tested. The percentage of the single largest and overall voiding per solder ball was recorded. Results showed pure SCN shows fewer and smaller voids than the other two metal systems. However, the overall sizes of voids were insignificant. The overall sizes were on average less than 3.5% for the SAC and mixed systems and less than 1.2% for SCN systems. The size of these voids passed IPC-A-610D, which sets acceptance criteria for Class 1, 2 and 3 at a maximum 25% of the ball x-ray image area.

Good solder joint formation and collapse was observed on SCN and mixed assemblies when reflowed at 238[degrees]C and TAL of 75 sec. Microstructure analysis showed the main difference between these two systems was the presence of [Ag.sub.3]Sn intermetallic in the mixed joints. Another difference was the thickness of the intermetallic between the PCB and joint. A 60% thicker intermetallic was observed in the mixed system. This might be an indication that the nickel content inhibits the growth of CuSn intermetallic. (1)

Vibration testing was performed on 12 boards reflowed in air. The goal was to excite the first resonance (bending movement) at relatively low amplitude to induce high cycle fatigue failures. The boards were mounted with standoffs at the four corners to an electrodynamic shaker. Failure data were divided into four groups depending on component location on the board because they experienced different stress levels. Figure 1 shows a schematic of the board with its groups. Two failure modes were observed: pad cratering (groups 1 and 2) and solder fatigue (groups 3 and 4).

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Results showed SAC, SCN, and mixed assemblies performed similarly in each group. The lowest cycles to fail were observed in groups 1 and 2, followed by groups 3 and 4. Further testing is planned to compare alloys in drop testing where the strain rate and stress levels are much higher.

Thermal cycling was performed with temperature ranges from 0[degrees] to 100[degrees]C, with a dwell time of 10 minutes and ramp rate of 10[degrees]C/s. The test was stopped at 1,686 cycles, when more than 50% failures were observed for each board. Table 1 shows the characteristic life (N63) and early failures (N01) for each case. It can be observed that SAC systems had on average better characteristic life followed by SCN (150 fewer cycles) and mixed (191 fewer cycles) systems. The data favor 238[degrees]C peak temperature, and there was not a significant difference between TAL.

Early failures, which correspond to 1% of the failure data, showed a different trend. In this case, SAC systems had higher numbers of cycles-to-failed, followed by mixed (90 fewer cycles) and SCN (204 fewer cycles) systems. An improvement in early failures was observed when nitrogen was used in SCN joints, resulting in similar behavior to SAC systems.

SCN shows promise as a replacement for SAC alloys for some reflow applications. SCN shows comparable performance in mechanical and thermal testing to SAC systems. Thermal cycling results suggest that the appropriate process window for the SCN system should have a peak temperature of 238[degrees]C and TAL of 50 sec. Thus, a typical SAC profile can be used to assemble pure SCN. At this temperature, heat-sensitive material suitable for Pb-free applications can be used without any problem. The use of a single alloy in wave and reflow processes will benefit the end-user by reducing complexity and cost.

Mixed assemblies, which are mainly SAC alloy (ratio sphere/paste = 3.18), were affected by the content of silver and nickel, which results in a decrease in the characteristic life when compared to pure SAC, but were comparable to SCN assemblies. In general, all three systems performed similarly within an appropriate process window, but more experiments are needed to support this conclusion.

Reference

(1.) F. Song, J. Lo, J. Lam, T. Jiang and S.W.R. Lee, "A Comprehensive Parallel Study on the Board Level Reliability of SAC, SACX, and SCN Solders," Electronic Components and Technology Conference, May 2008.

Ursula Marquez de Tion is a process and research engineer at Vitronics Soltec, based in the Unovis SMT Lab (vitronics-soltec.com); umarquez@vsww.com.

Author: Ursula Marquez de Tion

Cool Resources

PICKUP Independence

If you can place a pair of eyeglasses back collectively with a mini screwdriver, you can conveniently alter your pickups. The Liberator, after set up in your guitar by a certified tech, allows you to swap out your pickups devoid of a soldering iron-the shade-coded pickup leads are solidly clamped in destination with mini screws.

www.SeymourDuncan.com

FROM JOE TO PRO

Acoustica constructed the original Mixcraft, now in its 5th edition, as an cheap, but higher-top quality preference for the entry-degree engineer. Now, they have launched Mixcraft Pro 5, which gives the aspiring engineer even a good deal more characteristics. It features limitless audio, MIDI, and aux send tracks, supports up to 32-bit/192-kHz recording and playback, and further than three,300 loops and sound results. The computer software also has a built-in video clip editor, a host of virtual instruments and plug-ins, and automation for every single instrument and result parameter.

Pro sound at www.Acoustica.com

Added DRUMS IN THE Dwelling, Please

If you are seeking for more sound from your drums in bigger venues, CAD Audio presents reasonable drum mike alternatives. The Stage 4 options an current D12 kick drum microphone with prolonged reduced conclusion response, two D29 dynamic mikes, and D19 snare mikes featuring integrated clips for fairly simple, unobtrusive mounting. The Stage seven adds an extra tom mike, as well as two C9 pencil condenser for overhead, high hat, or cymbals. The Tour seven functions upgraded TSM411 tom and GXL1200 overhead condenser mikes. All a few kits feature a useful vinyl carrying circumstance.

Bang it up at www.CADAudio.com

Bruker Elemental Announces Q2 ION Ultra-Compact Best-in-Class Spark-OES Metals Analyzer with Unique Analytical Capabilities

BILLERICA, Mass. -- Bruker Elemental today announces the launch of the all-new Q2 ION™, an ultra-compact spark optical emission spectrometer (OES) for metals analysis. The Q2 ION is a true multi-matrix system for comprehensive incoming material inspection and quality assurance of metal alloys. Its primary applications and metal matrices include copper, aluminum and iron analysis at smaller foundries, inspection companies, metal recycling and metal fabricators.

The Q2 ION also offers RoHS compliance screening for solder producers and PCB manufacturers (solder checker). Moreover, the Q2 ION is a powerful instrument for advanced PMI applications with its best-in-class UV-element performance, including Nitrogen for duplex steels.

The small benchtop Q2 ION system incorporates numerous proprietary innovations. It was designed for simplified operation, minimized maintenance and short analysis times while achieving best-in-class analytical performance. The Q2 ION’s compact size and rapid start-up routine even allows the unit to be portable, making it complementary to Bruker Elemental handheld XRF systems.

High quality ultraviolet (UV) OES analysis in a compact system is an innovative feature that represents important progress for ultra-compact spark-OES systems. UV-OES enables Q2 ION customers to analyze metals for important additional elements, such as carbon, phosphorus, sulfur and even nitrogen for duplex steels. Other key features like high analytical stability through patented active ambient compensation, standard-less calibration, proprietary ClearSpectrum™ algorithms, low argon consumption and minimal maintenance give Q2 ION users additional confidence in its reliable analytical results at very low operating costs.

The addition of the Q2 ION expands Bruker Elemental’s range of metal analysis systems even further. Mr. Andreas Kunz, Sales Director for Bruker Elemental, commented: “We can now offer an even wider selection of metal analysis solutions to our customers. We believe the Q2 ION represents a breakthrough in best-in-class performance and analytical capabilities for an ultra-compact system with a very attractive price/performance ratio.”

For More Information:

For more information on Q2 ION, please visit www.bruker-elemental.com

For information about Bruker AXS - Elemental and Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ: BRKR), please visit www.bruker.com

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6196805&lang=en

Automated solder paste inspection: a new look at stencils: what has driven stencil verification to the brink of extinction?

With all the focus on stencil printing to reduce defects and improve profits, electronics assemblers continually invest in custom tooling, new and improved stencil manufacturing methods or materials, high-capability printers, super accurate inspection machines, fancy statistical software and expert training. Ironically, many of the same high-tech assemblers that pour money into ensuring the robustness of their print processes actually skip the simple step of stencil verification, upon receipt.

Why has stencil verification become optional and what drove it to the brink of extinction? Likely a combination of efficiency and economics. Basic stencil verification procedures use a negative image of the stencil pattern, a light source and a human to verify the presence of all desired apertures and measure a few of them. As aperture counts increase and sizes decrease, the efficacy of human inspection techniques becomes questionable, and coordinate measurement machines (CMMs) are needed to meet measurement speed and accuracy requirements.

Many assemblers have foisted responsibility for automated inspection and verification onto the stencil vendors, referring to them as "qualified" or "certified" suppliers. In essence, they have placed the fox in charge of the henhouse on a portion of their most critical SMT process. While this practice might look good on paper, it's rife with potential to backfire and ultimately costs the assembler more money than it saves.

The machines that laser-cut SMT stencils use gantries and motion controls similar to those in pick-and-place machines. Moving parts wear, and machines drift out of spec if they are not regularly maintained and calibrated. The opportunity to create apertures that are out of position, incompletely cut, or obstructed with slag happens every day. And while electro-formed foils might eliminate the stencil cutter as a variable, they introduce other factors: their size and positional accuracy are only as good as the artwork used to form them, which depends on the artwork's photoplotter - another machine full of moving parts. Additionally, the nature of the plating process subjects these foils to regular variations in thickness that introduce error into area ratio estimates.

What's the probability of getting a stencil with apertures out of spec? Assume the stencil vendor has the highly touted Six Sigma quality in his process. Most are in the sub 5-Sigma range, assuming Six Sigma makes for conservative estimates and easy math. Allowing for the 1.5[SIGMA], shift, the supplier creates 3.4 defects per million opportunities. Consider stencils with 10,000 apertures: 100 stencils represent 1,000,000 opportunities. Even at a Six Sigma level, between 3 and 4 of each 100 stencils will have a manufacturing defect. Think about how many stencils are regularly used in production. How many defects are out there right now, waiting to get installed in an assembly printing process?

While most stencil manufacturers carefully inspect each piece and verify the quality of their process, mistakes still happen (FIGURE 1). The ultimate responsibility to make absolutely certain that a stencil is 100% correct before going into production lies with the assembler. But without a CMM to accurately measure the apertures, how can the assembler know for sure? This is where the solder paste inspection (SPI) systems change the game, giving assemblers the tools they need make the final determination of stencil acceptability.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Ray Whittier of Vicor (vicr.com) demonstrates how he uses his white light SPI system to verify new stencils before putting them into production: The official ISO 9001 documented procedure involves printing two dummy boards and inspecting them with the SPI machine. If the machine passes the two prints, the data are exported for further analysis. If the machine fails either print, the stencil is inspected for manufacturing defects. If no obvious defects are found, the machine setups are checked and two more dummy prints are run. If the prints pass on the second try, the data are exported for analysis. If they fail on the second try, the process is stopped and the stencil is held for further review.

The process is flow-charted in FIGURE 2. The data analysis involves sampling volume readings from the more difficult to print devices, such as SOT883s, SOD882s and [mu]BGAs, as well as for two passive devices, usually 0201s and 0402s. For each component type, Cpks are calculated using control limits of [ or -]50% of theoretical volumes or slightly tighter. All Cpks must be greater than 1.33 for the stencil to be acceptable for production use. If any of the Cpks fall short of the 4-Sigma mark, the machine setups are checked and two more test prints are run. If they again fail to meet the mark, the stencil is held for further review. If the print quality is acceptable, the data are archived and the stencil placed into production.

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

It takes about 10 min. on the assembly line to get the data, and another 10 min. to crunch the numbers. In addition to being faster and easier than measuring apertures, the SPI method captures process outputs instead of inputs. Where industry used to be limited to measuring the size and position of the aperture and using it as an indicator of a stencil's performance, we can now measure what really matters: the characteristics of the individual deposits on the PWB. That's where the rubber meets the road, or, specifically, where the solder paste meets the board.

Au.: SPI systems can be used for a variety of other stencil-related tasks, including vendor qualification, aperture design guideline assessment, and foil material evaluation.

CHRYS SHEA is founder of Shea Engineering Services (sheaengineering.com); chrys@sheaengineering.com.

Author: Chrys Shea

A Technician's Toolkit: What's Inside the Bag

If you fix computers regularly (or you're the type that often fixes computers for friends and family), you've likely developed a collection of software and tools to help you fix things more efficiently. Since I ocasionally play technician myself, I thought I'd share with you some tools that make it easier to troubleshoot everyday PC problems.

Have a good collection of software

Quality software will help you diagnose and fix many problems. If someone needs Windows reinstalled and you don't have the CD, then what? You may want to purchase a CD binder to hold all your software. Here's a sampling of what you'll find in my kit:

> Two boot CDs with diagnostics programs
> Linux live CDs including Ubuntu and Knoppix
> three versions of Microsoft Office (including 2003)
> Windows 95, 98SE, 2000, XP Home and Pro (plus a special corporate licensed version)
> Applicable service packs and patches for each version Windows on one CD
> two CDs with various benchmarks on them
> Visual Studio .NET
> Three utility CDs with antivirus/antispyware programs and commonly used applications like Adobe Reader
> Norton Ghost
> Partition Magic
> Many more random disks

Carry common cords

> USB cable - The most common peripheral interface
> Firewire cable
> Standard PC power cord
> Ethernet cable (might want to carry 2-3 of these)
> Wireless USB adapter - Helps avoid having to run 30 feet of ethernet cable just to get a machine online. Why use cabling if there's a wireless network in the area?

A way to move and store files

Some use a thumbdrive on a keychain, but I find that the size limit of flash memory is to constrictive when working on a PC. I carry a 160GB firewire/usb external hard drive as part of my kit. That way, if I need to backup someone's files or I just want to work on something from another computer, I have everything at my fingertips.

A few screwdrivers and things...

Every PC technician carries their trusted phillips head screwdriver at all times, right? The standard size fits most desktop screws, but you may want to get a mini-screwdriver kit to work on laptops. Three-prong screw grabbers (or tweezers) are great for when you drop a screw into or underneath the motherboard. Alternatively, you could just get a magnetized screwdriver and pick screws up with it. Carrying a small flashlight will help you see into the dark recesses of the case, and needle-nose pliers come in handy for hard drive jumpers. Lastly, have a notepad, post-it notes and a few pens and pencils in there.

Useful testers

> Power Supply Tester
> Network cable tester
> Motherboard tester (usually PCI, outputs BIOS codes)

Get a good bag

How are you going to carry all this around? In a good bag of course. I use a mid-sized briefcase, but any tough duffel will do.

These are the basics for day-to-day troubleshooting. For those performing more advanced diagnostic procedures, I might also recommend a soldering iron. You might also want to try carrying an iPod (or any music player) - but not for technical reasons. It provides an excellent source of entertainment while you're watching the progress bar creep.

Outside of the diagnostics, many technicians carry common spare parts such as:

> Wireless router
> CD-RW Drive
> Standard ATX Power Supply 300-500W
> Internal hard drives (40GB, 80GB, 120GB)
> Surge protector
> Speakers

Author: Alex Smith

Soldering iron tip care: pick the right tips, and don't overheat the joint

THE ABILITY TO efficiently manufacture a product has driven the electronics industry toward automated processes and streamlined production facilities. Despite this, the need for hand-soldering operations remains an integral part of most manufacturing processes. Whether it is the need to attach a large connector, conduct a field modification, or to rework a noncompliant item, hand-soldering operations require personnel with the proper skills to complete the job. The use of proper, well-maintained equipment is paramount to completing the task in a timely manner, while maintaining a high level of quality.

Proper maintenance of equipment is often the most overlooked problem in hand-soldering operations. A few easy and repeatable practices regarding soldering iron tip care can eliminate a wide variety of issues. Proper tip care will extend the life of the tip and cut down on the need to frequently replace oxidized or pitted tips that are no longer usable.

The goal of any high-quality soldered joint is the formation of a good intermetallic bond (FIGURE 1) between the solder alloy and connection contact area (e.g., the wire or component lead, and the land, pad, or terminal). The following practices will help ensure acceptable soldered connections and prolong the life of the equipment used in common hand-soldering operations:

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

* First, select a tip that is the proper size and geometry for the connection to be soldered. (Match the width of the tip to the diameter of the pad.) While this may seem like common sense, it is frequently the most overlooked practice. It is not uncommon that a technician will choose a tip that is too small and try to compensate for poor heat transfer by increasing the iron temperature. The problem then becomes twofold because the area is insufficient for adequate heat transfer, and oxidation increases with the higher tip temperature. Use the correct tip size and temperature to yield better results.

* Select the lowest tip temperature needed to facilitate solder reflow. The correct temperature depends on the type of solder alloy being used. Pb-free alloys have higher melting points than SnPb alloys, and often have a frosted or grainy appearance (in the final connection). A grainy appearance on a SnPb connection is a clear indication that the tip temperature is too high. If a connection is being made on a multilayer board with an internal ground plane, the ground plane acts as a heat sink. Auxiliary heating is needed to overcome the heat sink effects.

* "Idle the tip!" This term refers to the practice of coating the tip with a thin film of solder before returning it to its holder. This thin film of solder will be oxidized instead of the surface of the tip, dramatically extending the life of the tip.

* First, wipe the tip on a clean, slightly damp sponge to remove oxidation and excess solder. A coiled brass wire pad can also be used to remove excess solder.

* Use only sulfur-free sponges intended for electronics applications.

* Use deionized water to slightly wet the sponge. Never use tap water. (The addition of fluorides to drinking water may be beneficial to public health, but causes a multitude of problems in electronics assemblies.)

* Replace sponges at regular intervals when they become dirty. Replacement sponges are inexpensive, and this simple practice will help avoid introducing contaminants.

* When soldering, do not apply downward pressure on the joint being soldered. Simply rest the tip of the iron on the joint to help establish a heat bridge. (A small bead of solder on the tip will also aid in forming a heat bridge.) Downward pressure will not aid in solder reflow. It will, however, cause undesired mechanical stress on the connection area and may result in lifting the pad.

* The solder should be fed to the connection, not to the tip. Once a heat bridge is established, the connection will melt the solder and the solder wire should be moved around the connection to ensure adequate coverage.

* Finally, always turn off equipment when not in use, and never use tips for purposes other than intended. Breaks or cracks in the plating that result from improper tip use will drastically reduce its lifespan, or at the very least, interfere with its heat transfer capabilities.

ACI TECHNOLOGIES INC. (aciusa.org) is the National Center of Excellence in Electronics Manufacturing, specializing in manufacturing services, IPC standards and manufacturing training, failure analysis and other analytical services. This column appears monthly.

Lasers and High-Performance Cutting

When is a balloon not a balloon? When it�s a technical problem, a design challenge, and an inspiration for the development of new and more efficient cutting equipment.

EdgeWISE Tools founder Pat Momany � didn�t start out at the high-tech edge of the fabric cutting industry. Problems that need solving get his inventive juices flowing, and his penchant for saying, "Sure, we can do that," before figuring out how, add up to an enterprise that�s reinvented itself several times.

Now with that trademark inventiveness and can-do attitude, Seattle-based EdgeWISE is pushing the limits of fabric cutting, in a system custom-designed to cut out the huge scientific balloons NASA plans to send to the very edge of Earth�s atmosphere.

From boats to balloons

It started with boats. " I was in the printing business in 1985, and met a lady who was putting vinyl names and logos on the sides of boats," Momany relates. "Gerber had released a 15-inch vinyl text cutter, but she was doing graphics and logos in addition to letters. I wondered if we could somehow melt the vinyl to cut it. We started out with a soldering iron attached to an X-Y plotter." After working through many "thermal issues," midway through 1986 Momany, in partnership with another company that later went out of business, introduced a 36-inch thermal cutter to the sign industry.

The following year, "back when 286s were the hot computers," Momany reminisces, he and colleagues at GrafikEdge helped develop Amiable Technologies sign-cutting software, and came very close to perfecting a swivel knife cutter of the sort that�s now widely used in the cutting business. "I didn�t trust the software engineers," he recalls this near-hit ruefully.

In the late �80s, Momany began teaching himself about lasers, and in 1990 sold GrafikEdge and started EdgeWISE Tools to develop, sell and service cutting tools and systems. EdgeWISE debuted a roll feed laser (RFL�) system at the International Sign Association show in 1992, and received a US patent in November of 1993. For a few years EdgeWISE licensed the technology to another company, but when this route failed to produce the desired growth, EdgeWISE began designing and selling its own RFL product line.

According to company literature, RFL technology offers significant advantages over traditional flatbed systems that cut with blades:

• the RFL takes only one-third to one-half the floor space of a flatbed;
• lasers use minimum heat, for less material distortion;
• lasers provide a high degree of accuracy, consistency, control and flexibility;
• the extremely small cut width allows for detailed work and close nesting of components, minimizing waste;
• lasers decrease the risk of injury, com-pared to many mechanical cutting methods.

"We started focusing on designing and developing other laser tools, and were invited by Eastman Worldwide, an industrial fabric company, to exhibit in their booth at the 1997 Industrial Fabrics Association show in Nashville. That�s where I met Raven Industries� Ron Stevens, who was heading up the manufacturing end of NASA�s Ultra Long Duration Balloon Project," relates Momany.

The Single Direction Cutter (SDC) system was designed to provide precise beam delivery, material handling and motion control, developed to compensate for distortions due to material stretching.

The Ultra Long Duration Balloon Project (ULDB), profiled in our October 1999 issue, is NASA�s latest development in near-space scientific exploration. The project aims to develop balloon systems capable of supporting scientific observations above 99 percent of the Earth�s atmosphere, for durations of approximately 100 days. Innovations in materials and construction�the current design is 600 feet tall and pumpkin shaped, with lobes that increase its strength, and made of a one mil five-layer Mylar-polyethylene-polyester composite that provides a previously unavailable combination of gas barrier, tear resistance and strength�add up to a balloon that can take near-space extremes of temperature and sun exposure, and carry a couple thousand pounds of equipment.

"Ron and I discussed those 600-foot lobes, and I said, �Sure, we can do that,�" Momany says nonchalantly. "Our thinking has always been not-quite-mainstream, and that�s me. I�m a conceptualist; I have engineers to tell me what we can�t do." The enormity of the ultra long duration balloon poses huge manufacturing challenges. "The biggest problem was that NASA wanted the lobes to be cut to 600 feet plus or minus a quarter inch," Momany marvels. "These scientists are amazing. You get them in a room together and they have all these ideas, but they�re some-times not very realistic about manufacturing reality. We got them to agree to plus or minus three inches; that�s a .5 percent margin of error."

Momany knew immediately that their RFL system, which moves material backward and forward under stationary cutting heads, wouldn�t do the trick; moving the film that Connecticut-based Dimension Polyant had developed for NASA forward 600 feet and then back to cut one gore would inevitably distort the fabric beyond the required accuracy level. The obvious solution was to develop a system that would move the material in only one direction. Momany is quick to credit engineer Bill Stuart with figuring out how to devise the software controls for EdgeWISE�s Single Direction Cutting (SDC) system, which combines state-of-the-art laser beam delivery, material handling and motion control to calculate required material length and digitally compensate for the stretching that occurs during handling.

Most cutting systems, Momany says, are driven by Hewlett Packard Graphical Language (HPGL), whose limitations render it unable to handle ULDB-sized projects. "With HPGL, you lose accuracy over long lengths of material�you run out of math; you run out of decimal points," he elaborates. EdgeWISE engineers have developed a new data processing technology that can achieve accuracy out to 16 or more decimal places.

"And with HPGL, at 3,000 inches, the system would just stop, and you�d have to re-send the images�but it wouldn�t have any way of knowing where it had left off," Momany says, noting that 3,000 inches, or 250 feet, is less than one-half the length of a ULDB gore. "Our system can just keep on going."

As Momany explains the SDC�s advantages for the NASA application, he keeps bumping into his company�s own "cutting edge" issues: proprietary technologies, which he doesn�t dare explain in excessive detail. EdgeWISE is currently patenting the SDC system, with between 15 and 20 individual processes listed as claims on the application; this is one of four patent applications the company has going, and Momany expects to initiate another two sometime this year. (The tiny company, by the way, employs three full-time and two part-time workers, and uses five to seven contractors.)

As it turned out, EdgeWISE�s SDC system was able to come darn close to the original tolerance requirement, at +/- .3 inches; but, as NASA, Dimension Polyant and Raven Industries continue to tinker with the composition of the balloon fabric, new hurdles emerge. Simply cutting one lobe down the middle of the run of fabric results in 40 percent waste, so EdgeWISE designed the system to cut half lobes down each straight edge, to be sewn together afterward, cutting waste down to only 14 percent. This means the system must be able to detect the fabric edge, which was no problem with the earlier translucent material. The most recent version of fabric, however, is transparent, so edge detection becomes a bigger problem.

Performance and perforation

Momany suggests that the SDC system would be suitable for a variety of applications with simple cutting patterns requiring high volume throughput, such as automotive air bags. The RFL system is faster than a flatbed, and the SDC is faster yet, able to handle 350 or more linear feet of material per minute.

In addition to the advantage of taking up much less floor space than flatbed systems, the roll-feed SDC allows for faster throughput without increasing safety compliance issues or the need for training. "We try to make every machine using a Class One laser beam�as safe as your laser printer," Momany notes. By definition, Class One beams are totally enclosed. If, for example, the ULDB gores were to be cut with a laser moving over a flatbed, "to move 600 feet, it would have to be a Class Four beam�and everyone in the room would have to be laser-trained and wearing goggles," he explains.

Now, EdgeWISE is working on adapting laser cutting technology to perforation applications. "We can take 60-inch-wide material and perforate it with a quarter inch separating the holes in a row, and a quarter inch separating the rows, at 85 feet per minute�that�s a half-million holes a minute," Momany says, noting that one client, an aerospace company, uses the resulting perforated material to filter resin evenly onto parts that must be glued together.

"The limitation on most perforation operations is mechanical; it�s like they�re using a rotary pincushion, and the needles break all the time," Momany says. It�s not uncommon for needle breakage to occur several times a week, or even daily, resulting in four to eight hours of downtime each time. "The laser perforation could be used in manufacturing disposable diapers, band-aids, all kinds of geotextiles."

While in Momany�s view it�s EdgeWISE�s small size and flexibility that enables it to take on these kinds of problem-solving challenges, he also admits that the aerospace client was originally nervous about the reliability of such a tiny supplier. The ULDB Project provided a needed dose of credibility. "When you say you�re working with NASA, that tends to get people�s attention," he concludes.

www.ewt-inc.com

Reprinted with permission from Industrial Fabric Products Review April 2000. Copyright � 2000 by Industrial Fabrics Association International. Industrial Fabric Products Review

Author: Carolyn Griffith

AIM sets its targets: the world's unsung solder supplier is building a business for the ages

A few minutes before noon, the cafeteria starts to fill with dozens of workers, blue collar and white, some in business casual wear, others in their factory blues. The volume begins to rise, a cacophony of sounds and languages, English and French, spoken in an endless variety of flavors.

Within an hour, the room falls quiet again as the staff resumes its roles inside the vast manufacturing facility that doubles as the global headquarters of AIM.

The melting pot culture of AIM is probably the least well-known aspect of what might be the least well-known large solder supplier in the electronics industry today.

Founded in 1936 as American Iron and Metal, the company has its roots in metals recycling and reclaim. Now a subsidiary, AIM's solders business was formed 22 years ago, and was spun out in 2007. It maintains the same ownership as AIM, though each unit is a separate legal entity. Ricky Black, the 40-something grandson of the founder, heads AIM Metals and Alloys, which has manufacturing sites in Canada, China, the US, Mexico, Hong Kong, Spain, Italy and Australia.

The Montreal headquarters is situated on a massive campus that stretches more than two miles from front to back, where a set of rail sidings slides right up to the door. While Montreal is considered home to the company's extensive bar, wire and solder paste operations, AIM also maintains mixing and blending operations in the US and Hong Kong.

Heading up the technology side is Karl Seelig, a 30-year veteran of electronics materials. Seelig came aboard in 1988 to help launch the electronics solders business. His imprint on the company's solder product lines can be seen everywhere, from the formulations to the equipment used to make the powders.

The plant tour begins in the core wire area. There, workers start with 15mm or smaller wire, which is then reduced in diameter using an extrusion press (AIM has five on site). Core wire operations also take place in Mexico, China and Europe. (Because of the large volumes, AIM makes core wire in fewer places than other solder types.)

We pass the metal castings area, where three continuous casters labor in a humidity- and temperature-controlled room pressurized for fume extraction.

From there, we walk past several drums of butyl carbide to the lab where AIM makes its paste medium. Using dedicated mixers for water-soluble, cored wire and no-clean, operators weigh the bucket to get the precise weight; even a slight deviation could ruin a batch. The powder press is truly impressive: Molten metal pours into a dish; solder falls into the chamber, then onto a screen, then to the atomizer. It's a three-story process. An oxide "skin" forms; a thin skin is needed on every layer. Powder is exposed to atmosphere for about one hour, then vacuum packed with gas and labeled. Yields are about 70%, very high for electronics grade solders. Paste is made in a 45% RH dry room. Each lot is tested for corrosion, electromigration, thermal cycling and SIR, among others. "Everything has to be tested," Seelig notes. While AIM is a leading supplier of bar solder, many would be surprised at the volume of its paste business. Combined, the total revenues from the two segments easily place AIM among the five largest electronics solder suppliers in the world. "The ratio of bar to paste is lower than five years ago. The industry doesn't realize how much we do in paste. Maybe it goes with our understated personalities," deadpans Black.

AIM uses standard blenders with automatic controls designed to be programmed, but that cannot be adjusted by operators. All paste is made to order, and alloys and formulas tend to be the outgrowth of face-to-face discussions between Seelig and AIM's marketing staff with OEMs and EMS firms. Inventories are kept low, with a few emergency stocks of common types.

The liquid flux is made in an explosion-free room. All flux chemistry is designed and made in Montreal. (Chemistry is the main expense in R&D; the cost to develop an alloy is relatively low. Changing it, however, is a long, drawn-out process, Selig allows.) We also see a small SMT epoxy room with a mill for different pigments.

The ISO 9001 registered, ISO 17025 compliant Quality Assurance lab is bright and clean, with a new Thermo Fisher Quant x-ray and a Thermo Electron 3460 metals analyzer, among other gear. AIM performs arc-spark testing to check for all standard impurities, with tests run to IPC specifications and multiple others. More than 1,000 samples per month are analyzed. Montreal is one of three company labs; others are in China and Mexico.

Most customers look at particle distribution, so that's a standard item for the lab review. In-house software assesses some 45,000 particles, checking width, length, diameter and so on. Every tank is sampled multiple times; then a chemical analysis is performed to ensure the barrel is satisfactory. All electronics grade solder is made from virgin metal. Reclaimed material is reserved for industrial use only.

The applications lab features a DEK printer, Quad placement machine, Heller 1500 reflow oven, CRT CRX-1000 x-ray and Koh Young 3020T SPI. Tests are conducted using electroform, lasercut and nanostencils.

R&D is performed in Montreal, Rhode Island and China, while tech support centers are based in India, Singapore, Philippines, Mexico, North America, Europe and China. In Montreal, AIM maintains separate labs for various types of paste, cored wire and testing, and each chemist has their own specialty. (Similar labs are set up in Mexico and China.) AIM also provides adhesives, but they are not big sellers.

All paste is made to order. Inventories are kept low, with a few emergency stocks of common types. Prior to shipping, every package is scanned with an XRF to ensure it's the right formulation.

Supply Local, Supply Global

Over the past 10 years, supplying solder has been a tricky business. The RoHS Directive permanently rerouted the industry direction, causing a disruption in pricing that is felt to this day. Solder is, of course, one of the lower items on the bill of materials totem pole. Unlike most raw material prices, precious metals are in a sustained period of inflation. Despite this - because of it, in fact - solder vendors do not capitalize. Indeed, most find the higher metal prices make their market more treacherous: Customers sometimes balk at paying more; vendors pay cash for raw metal, and it may take 100 days or more to turn that metal into solder and get paid by a customer, so the higher raw metal prices increase the supplier's risk and cost of doing business; the cost to reclaim dross increases.

"Higher metals prices don't necessarily work in our favor," says Black. "Take SAC: The silver price is more than the tin," even though silver is a minor element by weight in the SAC formula. "We don't make our money on the metal, but on the things we do to it."

AIM not only does a lot of "things" to the metal, it does those things in a lot of places. Perhaps owing to its aforementioned understated approach, AIM is considerably larger than most in the industry realize. Its breadth is a byproduct of its supply strategy, which assumes even larger accounts want local service. "If we didn't supply locally, we wouldn't be able to supply globally. It's a consumable product; people run out," Black explains. "The way to do that is to have your own facilities."

With 12 sites up and running, AIM doesn't see an end yet in sight. Black says he's "almost convinced" more facilities will be erected, although he doesn't yet know where. "It also depends on what the market wants to consume," Seelig adds, pointing to the logistics of the supply chain. "We can't ship alcohol-based or water-based flux or bar solder via air freight."

The channel plays a large role in the company's success, Black says. "You need to have the distributors to make sales. Customer orders tend to ebb and flow, and they need quick deliveries. [Solder] freight is high relative to the value and margin of the product, so it forces you to have local stock." AIM prefers distributors that are hands-on and seen as adding value with technical expertise. In Europe, South America and Asia, it tends to use a single distributor per country.

Author: Mike Buetow

Stained Glass Soldering Irons Recalled by Cooper Equipment Due to Burn off Hazard

WASHINGTON, April six, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Client Product or service Security Commission, in cooperation with the firm named beneath, these days declared a voluntary recall of the adhering to buyer product. Individuals need to discontinue employing recalled solutions right away unless of course in any other case instructed. It is illegal to resell or try to resell a recalled client product.

(Brand: http://photographs.prnewswire.com/prnh/20030904/USCSCLOGO)

Name of merchandise: Soldering Irons

Models: About 69,000

Importer: Cooper Resources LLC of Apex, N.C.

Hazard: The electricity cord can break at the flex level where the cord attaches to the tackle, posing a burn off hazard to people.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has obtained three reports of the electric power cord breaking at the flex position, resulting in a few reports of minor burns.

Description: The recalled product or service is a one hundred watt, 120 volt stained glass soldering iron with "Weller" and the design selection W100PG, W100P3 or W100PGMX written on the light blue tackle. The product range is found under the Weller brand identify on the iron's cope with. Only selected date codes are included in the recall.

Sold at: Authorized distributors nationwide from August 2006 to Could possibly 2010 for around $fifty and $sixty.

Produced in: Mexico

Remedy: Customers ought to quickly discontinue employing this product or service and get hold of Cooper Instruments to deliver the item to the service for an inspection and a complimentary replacement soldering iron.

Shopper Make contact with: For extra content, make contact with Cooper Equipment at (800) 476-3030 between 8 a.m. and five p.m. ET Monday due to Friday or see the firm's web site at www.cooperhandtools.com.

CPSC is nevertheless interested in getting incident or injuries reviews that are either right associated to this product recall or involve a several hazard with the exact same product. Please tell us about it by browsing https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx. The U.S. Buyer Merchandise Safety Commission is charged with guarding the public from unreasonable challenges of damage or demise associated with the use of the countless numbers of shopper products and solutions below the agency's jurisdiction. Fatalities, accidents and residence harm from buyer merchandise incidents charge the nation even more than $800 billion annually. The CPSC is dedicated to guarding shoppers and households from programs that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. CPSC's give good results to make certain the safety of customer products and solutions - these kinds of as toys, cribs, electricity tools, cigarette lighters, and family chemical compounds - contributed to a major decline in the pace of deaths and accidents connected with customer items more than the earlier thirty several years.

Underneath federal law, it is illegal to try to market or re-promote this or any other recalled product.

To report a hazardous merchandise or a solution-associated injuries, phone CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772, teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or head over to www.cpsc.gov/speak.html. Customers can obtain this press release and recall tips at www.cpsc.gov. To join a totally free e-mail subscription checklist, make sure you go to www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Firm's Recall Hotline: (800) 476-3030 CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Make contact with: (301) 504-7908

Supply U.S. Purchaser Merchandise Security Commission

The Art Of Stained Glass

As with all forms of art, its beauty is defined by the sensations it arouses. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect in the art of stained glass is in its' versatility. It's durable, yet fragile, challenging, but yielding to the experienced hands of the artist. I discovered this form of art some seven years ago when my girlfriend and I decided to take a series of evening classes at a local stained glass retail store. We took six classes and I have been hooked ever since.

If you are in need of a way to take away the stresses of everyday life I would recommend stained glass as great way to download and at the same time get into a new hobby. It is a form of self-meditation. The steps you'll follow in arriving at your finished work of art will teach you self-discipline, and provide a great sense of artistic achievement. And if you're like me, you will not be able to get enough of it. That's when you'll want to expand out and begin doing projects for others.

But be careful, once word gets out that you're into stained glass, all of your relatives (you know the ones) will be the first to ask you to make them something. Actually, it's not so bad at first, because they make great test cases and you'll want to experiment.

Where to begin? I suggest a visit to your local stained glass retailer. While not all towns have one (here is a great business opportunity for you) a look into your telephone book should yield a location or two or you can perform an Internet search for local retailers. Start by inquiring into whether or not they run classes. Most retailers usually do because it's a source of increased revenues to them (they know that you'll probably be buying your supplies from them). Cost of classes will be relatively moderate for the same reasons. Check out your local County Colleges as well. My instructor also taught night classes there.

TIP: Bring a friend with you; it will add to the fun and you'll be able to compare notes.

The place you'll be taking the classes from will no doubt also provide you with the basic beginners kit, which will contain the tools needed to get you started. Expect to find a glass cutter; there a variety of types and you should choose the one that your most comfortable with. I have tried a variety myself but in the end settled for the basic non-oil filled type. A breaker, similar to pliers, is used to snap off the glass after being scored. A specially designed scissor is used to cut out your pattern, and of course a soldering iron is used to join the cut pieces of glass together. Expect to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $100.

There are other items that you'll need along the way, but they will be available to you during your classes, such as the grinder, which is used to grind down excess glass, not removed by the cutting process and to polish off the edges of the cut glass. This last part is important because of the foiling process that takes after the glass is ground down. Foiling is a process whereby the copper foil is placed around the edges of the ground glass. The foil is sticky on one side allowing it to adhere to the glass. The purpose of the copper foil is to provide a surface for the solder to stick too.

A word on foiling. Most of us are familiar with the traditional form of stained glass that we have encountered in churches which employ the use of a lead came between the glass pieces. Copper foiling is an alternative to the lead came and is no doubt the first place a new student to the art of stained glass will begin. Only after one has mastered the foil, should you proceed to the came. Besides, foiling is a much easier process, especially for the beginner. I still prefer this method over the came method.

There is a little more to the art of stained glass than what I have described thus far, but the fundamental steps outlined below will give you a basic outline on what to expect.

Plan your design; will it be for a window, skylight... the possibilities will astound you. Let your imagination take you,

Sketch out your design or use a bought pattern available through your retailer,

Cut out the individual pieces from your pattern using those special scissors I mentioned earlier,

Apply the cut pattern pieces to the glass to be cut,

Using the glasscutter, score and break (not in the literal sense) each piece

Grind off the excess glass

Foil each piece of glass

Solder the pieces together

Clean your work, and

Display your masterpiece!

You will soon come to discover your own favorite step in the art of stained glass. For some, it will be in the designing stages, that challenge of coming up with your own unique design. For myself, my love for the art lies in the cutting of the glass. There is a final moment of truth that comes after you have scored the glass with the glass cutter; this is the part where I hold my breath. As you force the glass to run (I'll explain that in another article), you'll begin to see the glass crack along the scored line as you hoped it would. With all things in the universe being wonderful, the glass breaks as you had intended. Occasionally it won't; that's the breaks! But don't worry, glass is relatively inexpensive and you'll get it the next time.

Author: Keith Londrie

How To Make An LED Candelabra

This candelabra is a great project combining 21st century crafts with art to produce a stunning, ivy covered tree structure, which is bound to get people talking. It is surprisingly easy to make, but you do need to do some electrical work and may have to do some soldering. The Funky LED candelabra would make a great technology project for school.

All you need to make the candelabra is...

8 wire coat hangers, a circular cake board, 10 LED Lights, card, silver spray paint, and electrical chocolate bock, cable ties, clear baubles, No Nails glue, bendable craft wire, electrical wire, soldering iron and solder (But not in all cases)

Cut and straighten out the coat hangers and re-model them to form 'C' shapes. Use two cable ties to hold the coat hangers together, forming a trunk.

Manipulate the branches to form appealing shapes. The LED lights will be at the tip of each branch, bear this in mind when you are shaping the tree and try to spread the lights evenly about so that the structure looks attractive from every angle.

At the base of the structure, the wire 'legs' are splayed out like the spokes of an umbrella. Make a small 90-degree turn at the end of each 'leg' to create a 'foot' (pointing down)

Each of the 'feet' needs inserting into a hole in the edge of the cake board. Use a hammer and a nail to make holes in the cake board. Tape the nail in a way and wriggle the nail about a bit before pulling it out, to enlarge the hole.

Fill the hole with no nails glue and push a foot into it. Hold it in place with selotape until the glue dries. Insert all of the wire feet into he cake board in this way.

Leave until the glue is completely dry and then remove all the pieces of selotape.

Using craft wire, make interesting twisty bits to decorate the candelabra�s branches. To make 'springs', wrap a length of wire around a pencil. To fix the wire in place, anchor it down by wrapping the end of the wire around the coat hangers forming the trunk. The wrapping around the trunk adds to the support of the structure when the cable ties are taken away.

Option 1 - There are a couple of options with the lights themselves. The '99p Store' sell 20 mini battery operated LED lights. You could use these lights as they are and have lights along the branches wherever the bulbs happen to be.

Option 2 - You could use these electrical parts from the 99p store lights to keep the costs down. This would also mean that you wouldn't need to solder, you could just twist wires together and wrap in insulation tape.

Option 3 - You could buy LED lights, resistor and a battery compartment separately, and solder the components together.

For the latter two options, you will need to apply 2 electrical wires for each bulb to the candelabra. The battery compartment will be hidden under the trunk of the tree. Leave 5cm surplus wire here for connecting to the battery compartment later. Twist the wire up and around the trunk and along the branches keeping your wires in pairs. This wire should create the effect of ivy growing up the structure. Again leave 5cm of wire at the end of the branch for connecting the LED light.

8 of the LED lights will be situated at the ends of each ranch and the remaining two should be nestled from where the branches sprout.

Attach an LED bulb to each of the pairs of wires. You can solder the connections or twist them together if you have dismantled LED lights from the '99p Store'. If you twist the wires together you will need to wrap the join in insulation tape.

Use a small amount of tape to stick each bulb into place o the wire structure.

Mask each bulb with newspaper and selotape and spray paint the structure with silver spray paint. Also spray the out side of the battery compartment. Use the spray paint in accordance with the instructions on the back of the tin. You may need to give your tree 2 coats of paint for a really good Finnish. Leave until completely dry and remove masking from the bulbs.

Pull the plastic hanging devices off each bauble, leaving a hole or a tunnel going into the baubles. Use a small amount of clear drying glue to stick each LED light inside the hole of the baubles.

To wire up the 10 LED lights to the battery compartment you need to put new working batteries into the battery compartment. LED lights will only wire up one way so you need to find out which wires go where from the pairs of wires at the base of the tree.

Strip a small portion of its plastic covering, from the two wires on the battery compartment, as if you were getting ready to join the wires. Mark one of the wires with a small piece of electrical tape.

Go through each pair of wires at the bottom of the candelabra in turn; stripping away and amount of plastic sheath and holding the bare wires against the two wires connected to the battery compartment. If a bulb doesn't come on, swap the wires over.

When the bulb comes on, mark the wire that joins to the wire marked with electrical tape. Eventually you will end up with 10 marked pieces of wire and 10 unmarked pieces of wire.

Take the marked ends of wire and twist them together in groups of 3 or 4 ends, and push the 3 groups into the first 3 spaces of an electrical chocolate block. Screw them in. Do a similar thing with the unmarked wires, pushing them into spaces 4,5 and 6 on the chocolate block on the same side as the marked wires. Screw them all in firmly.

Next cut two 4 cm pieces of wire, and strip both ends. Twist one end together with the marked wire from the battery compartment, and twist the other one to join the end of the first one. This gives you 3 twists of wire from the marked wire from the battery compartment. Push these three twists of wire into the chocolate block to join the marked wires from the structure, in spaces 1, 2 and 3. Repeat this procedure for the unmarked wires, pushing the twists into spaces 4, 5 and 6 to join the other unmarked wires. All the lights should now work.

Use glue to stick the battery compartment and the chocolate block to the cake board, directly under the trunk of the structure.

Cut out assorted sizes of ivy leaves from thin card. You will need 20 or 30 leaves in all. Use a needle to make a hole in each leaf where the stalk would be. Spray paint both sides of the ivy leaves silver and leave to dry.

Attack the leaves to the structure by threading the leaves individually on a short piece of craft wire, then bend the wire around the network of wires on the tree and twist the craft wire ends together to secure the leaf. Use the largest leaves at the bottom, gradually getting smaller further up the candelabra. Also, make sure that the bottom most leaves hide the battery compartment and chocolate block.

There you have made a stunning candelabra, which is bound to be a talking point wherever you place it.

Author: S. Roberts

Reducing Your Costs With DIY Solar Panel Kits

If you have been looking for alternative energy solutions but been dissuaded by the costs involved, looking into DIY solar kits can significantly reduce your costs. Although there are a number of kits available, there are a few items you need to attend to prior to venturing into the world of renewable energy resource kits.

Your first concern with any DIY solar kit would be its adequacy for your solar energy needs. You do not have to purchase a kit worthy of converting your entire home to solar energy if you are just experimenting. There is a broad range of kits out there, some including sample kits, so you can tailor your project to your own needs. Playing first with a sample kit will do two things for you: it will give you an idea of the amount of work you would need to do in order to take on a bigger venture; secondly it will give you a playing ground to make mistakes. You wouldn�t want to have to redo or repurchase a larger kit because you made a mistake in constructing it.

A different concern when finding the right kind of DIY solar kit is the amount of components contained within it. You want an all inclusive solar kit. If your kit is missing elements, this will cost you time to purchase the missing element, and time by having to stop or delay construction until the missing item is purchased. The elements of your kit should include: solder, soldering iron, flux, tabbing, solar cells, and instructions for housing your solar panel.

The company you are buying your DIY solar kit from is a primary concern also. If you are buying your kit from a store, are the people friendly there and willing to offer advice? Do they seem knowledgeable about the solar system you are considering constructing? If you are searching through online companies: Do they have a well laid out website with frequently asked questions? Are the instructions on their website clear when you are searching and purchasing (unclear instructions here might indicate additional difficulty you will have with instructions in your kit)? Do they offer resources for you if you have questions on the product, or might have questions when putting the product together? Putting a bit of research into the company you are purchasing this item from might save you a lot of grief later.

DIY solar kits are like any other kit, you save money because you save labour costs. The labour is going to be supplied by yourself (and maybe a couple of well meaning friends), so you need to know that you are probably going to take longer to construct your solar panel solutions. Plan for extra time, and if your need is essential, put extra money aside in case you need to hire a professional.

With all this in mind, creating something yourself will definitely boost your ego! So take it slow, find a kit that�s right for you and get started on your energy solutions today!

Author: Jakob Jelling

Property Done Solar Panels Save Huge Money

Over the last couple of a long time photo voltaic electrical power generators have end up being considerably more preferred due to our challenging cost-effective occasions. Countless numbers of photo voltaic energy techniques are becoming set up domestically every last day. Not only families decrease their power expenses but solar panels are also protected for the natural environment. Study on if you have an curiosity in producing your very own place created solar panels that would probably significantly lower back your energy payments month just after month.

Normally a all set to go solar cell fees up to some thousands and I'm confident not everyone desires to make like an investment. This is the cause why a bit more folks are choosing to build their individual photo voltaic cells suitable in their own yard.

Each and every panel consists of a assortment of photo voltaic cells that are wired up with copper in sequence. Even a 2 hundred watt photo voltaic electricity panel makes sufficient vitality to possibly charge a battery for additionally use or to be converted suitable into AC voltage for domestic use.

If you choose to begin making you unique residence produced photo voltaic panels you want to have all the essential components such as photovoltaic cells, copper wire, boards, glass and all the other wanted equipment as well as a soldering iron that heats up swift. You want take treatment as the markets are total of non-good quality solar cells, the most expenditure-powerful and optimum ones can be identified by going online. Generally you will not likely be spending even more than one hundred and fifty to two hundred bucks entirely. Contemplate that a solar panel typically expenses approximately $3000.

Dependent on the dimensions of your home and how a good deal electricity you will want, you could want to make further than 1 house manufactured photo voltaic panel.

No issue how a large amount of property prepared solar panels you ought to make, structure them on your private will substantially decrease the expenditures comparing to what you would pay for some pre-developed ones. And if you might be a bit fortunate you may possibly be in a position to get some of the supplies at a regional garage sale. You can help save a great deal more than eighty% on your electrical power expenditures each yr by generating your personal solar panels.

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Author: Thomas Oliver