Novel UV cured slicone

DYMAX Cure-Point™ 9440-A/B is a silicone which cures to depth in seconds upon exposure to UV/visible light to provide protection to electronic components and circuitry. It is a UV/visible light-curable silicone potting and sealing material designed for applications where fast cure, enhanced thermal performance and room-temperature shadowed-area cure are required. Cure-Point 9440-A/B has a pot life of greater than 90 days at room temperature after mixing.

This product is designed to withstand long exposure to temperatures ranging from below -40°C to above 200°C while retaining fast-cure processing benefits associated with UV-curable materials. This makes it superior to RTV silicones and heat-cure silicones which require longer cure times or elevated temperatures to cure. Cure-Point 9440-A/B excels in applications where oil or chemical exposure are present. It also features a fast, tack-free cure with negligible shrinkage.

Clear, flowable RTV silicone coating

ACC AS1722 is a clear, low viscosity room temperature cure silicone which can be used to seal, bond and coat sensitive electronic components. It has excellent adhesion to most substrates including plastics and will not cause corrosion of sensitive metals such as copper. It is supplied in convenient 310ml cartridges.

ACC AS1722 is a specially formulated neutral cure silicone sealant designed for use with electronic assemblies. An alkoxy 1-part room temperature vulcanising (RTV) silicone sealant, the system produces a sealant with excellent adhesion to most common substrates.

Key Features

• High clarity


• Contains UV trace for inspection


• Adhesion to many substrates

Typical Applications

• Assembly of electrical and electronic equipment


• Sealing of corrosion sensitive devices


• Shallow encapsulation of small circuits and connectors

The most powerful "green" cleaners on the market

We are very pleased to announce our new range of ecologically-friendly RENEW products from sales partner Techspray.

The innovative Techspray RENEW line takes advantage of current green technology, and still maintains the cleaning strength Techspray products are known for. Techspray’s goal was to create eco-friendly products that surpass what is currently available on the market by taking advantage of our decades of experience in solvent cleaning. Initial feedback from customers indicates they’ve hit the mark!

The benefits of RENEW products are many, including:
• Low Ecological Impact - low VOCs and no global warming impact
• Sustainable and Biodegradable - uses materials such as corn-based ethanol, seed oils, soy-based oils, and citrus-based oils
• Recycled/Recyclable Packaging
• Regulatory Compliant - meets European REACH and WEEE requirements

Two innovative products in particular are designed specifically for industrial applications: ECO-SHINE™ Glass and Surface Cleaner and ECO-SHOWER™ Cleaner and Degreaser. Both are effective, safe, and eco-friendly, and feature the following advantages:
• Non-flammable
• Biodegradable
• Low VOC, zero GWP
• Non-ozone depleting

ECO-SHINE™ Glass and Surface Cleaner cleans glass, stainless steel, chrome, mirrors, tile, plastic, ceramic, and enamel. It vigorously removes fingerprints, light oils and other soils, all while leaving behind a streak-free finish.

ECO-SHOWER™ Cleaner and Degreaser uses naturally-based ingredients like citrus and soy oils to soak in and quickly cut through oil and grease. ECO-SHOWER Cleaner and Degreaser can be used full strength for heavy grease or diluted with water for general cleaning. It is ideally used for cleaning tools, parts, shop equipment, motors, and industrial working surfaces, and leaves behind a high-gloss finish, perfect for use with stainless steel.

The Techspray lab has worked vigorously to give our customers ecologically sustainable alternatives that will suit their needs.

PC016 Soldering Kit conforms to J-STD-001D specifications

The Practical Components PC016 Mixed Technology Kit is an effective and economical way to train and evaluate students and employees. This kit contains a variety of standard surface mount and through-hole components with tracks to simulate real world situations. Each kit comes individually boxed with all components bagged and labeled for easy identification. It conforms to the IPC J-STD-001D standard for soldering, world-recognised as the sole industry-consensus standard covering soldering materials and processes.

Both tin-lead and lead-free kits are available. The PCB016 board is 3" x 4", .062" thick. IS-410 board material. HASL and immersion silver finish is available.

Get tough - making electronics rugged

We are getting tough with electronic components that need to be made more rugged – to be more resistant to shock, vibration and rough handling. This “toughening-up” process involves edge bonding or underfill of components with the recently introduced DYMAX 9422-SC or DYMAX 9-20790 room temperature, fast, light cure adhesives.

In particular the DYMAX 9422-SC is a component reinforcement and staking material engineered to hold critical components, such as Ball Grid Arrays (BGA) and Video Graphic Arrays (VGA), for secondary processes or for long-term reliability. These light-curable adhesives dispense and cure in seconds to provide the optimal balance of production efficiency and technical performance. This will be of interest to anyone confronted with the need to ensure that critical components on printed circuit boards remain in place and with electrical integrity throughout the manufacturing, assembly qualification and service environment for the duration of a product lifecycle. Light curing adhesives dispense and cure in seconds to provide the optimal balance of production efficiency and technical performance with bead shape designed to wet both the board surface and the component edge without seeping into shadowed areas. This material is highly thixotropic for zero movement prior to cure - 9422-SC is halogen and silicone free and RoHS compliant.

The use of BGA edge bonding adhesives or underfills can eliminate leadless component interconnect cracking due to CTE mismatches. Typical applications include mobile phones, PDAs, laptop computers, gaming consoles, GPS computers and digital music players.

DYMAX 9422-SC features See-Cure technology (going from blue when uncured to colourless when cured) and features fast dispense and cure, easy re-work, simple visual inspection and covering in seconds with improved bond strength for die and pry testing.

Light weight, low density epoxy potting compound is RF transparent

In some applications the weight of potting electronics to protect mechanically or environmentally can be a very significant part of the overall weight of installed equipment – sometimes this can be a problem. We have come up with some very advanced light-weight epoxy potting technology which brings the density right down to 0.6. IRS 2012 Light Weight Low Density Epoxy Potting Compound is an exciting development for weight critical applications, e.g. in aerospace or autosport, and is potentially of great significance for mainstream automotive systems and even railway systems where it is increasingly recognized that weight saving leads to fuel savings and a reduced carbon footprint.

IRS 2012 is not only very light on account of its advanced fillers, but is also very RF transmissive and is effectively transparent to radio signals, with excellent electrical properties, low cure shrinkage, good chemical resistance and good mechanical properties – highly suitable in fact for potting of aerials and related equipment.

The black two-part IRS 2012 is available in twin pack sachets which may be mixed and transferred to a syringe for precision application if required.

A new electronics assembly network

A mention for an old friend, Jeff Ferry, and his colleagues at Circuitmart.

Circuitmart features industry experts, consultants and entrepreneurs discussing the latest in technology and innovations in electronics manufacturing, and other associated areas. Many of the programs are video-based.

Have a look at their website, and try a subscription to the newsletter.

Solder paste conditioning

If you store your solder paste in the fridge, then you need a process for getting it onto the production line and ready to use - which means it must be at room temperature and correctly mixed. The THINKY SR-500 Solder Paste Mixer and Conditioning Machine makes this process quick and foolproof.

• It is quick, with a controlled temperature ramp-up within 10 minutes - this might takes two hours normally


• It mixes the paste to full homogeneity, without excessive heating and without air inclusion


• It avoids the problem of condensation and water absorption by the paste during warming from cold

Poor paste mixing, air bubbles and moisture can all cause solder joint failures like voids and shorts. Let us know if you would like to talk more about the THINKY SR-500.

	The mixing in of air bubbles can be seen, and the solder powder is not dispersed uniformly.
	No air bubbles are seen, and the solder powder is dispersed uniformly.

Tack-free in 3 minutes

Conformal coating of electronic assemblies is an often vital protection measure in industries such as automotive, aviation, consumer electronics, domestic appliances and industrial meters and controls – and it is one much under consideration at the present time. There is always great pressure on cycle time for pcb assembly and the cure time of traditional conformal coatings is frequently seen as a bottleneck. Turbo-Coat dries tack-free in 3 minutes and we are delighted therefore that Techspray have again managed to be one step ahead of the pack. Their Turbo-Coat quick dry product is just what is needed to significantly improve efficiency in this area.

Turbo-Coat dries tack-free in 3 minutes, allowing manufacturers to handle boards in 1/3 the time of the most commonly used acrylic coatings. Full cure can be achieved as quickly as 10 minutes with elevated temperatures. Turbo-Coat can be either sprayed or brushed, or boards can be dipped directly into the coating for a thicker layer of protection in a single pass. Because of its low viscosity (averaging 20 cps), Turbo-Coat can generally be used in an automated spray system without the risk of cob-webbing. Turbo-Coat greatly facilitates fast easy production, re-work and repair by its easy workability, and by the inclusion of a UV indicator to speed up black light QC inspection.

Turbo-Coat acrylic conformal coating does not contain chemicals listed under SVHC (Substances of Very High Concern), defined by REACH. Not only is Turbo-Coat fully RoHS compliant it is also free from many of the typically hazardous solvents contained in other conformal coatings – such as MEK, toluene and xylene - making handling and ventilation easier to manage. We are constantly seeking safer, faster product solutions and this one certainly seems to fit the bill.

Turbo-Coat acrylic conformal coating fully complies with IPC-CC-830 and MIL-I-46048C standards. Turbo-Coat has achieved a V-0 rated tested under the UL94 flammability standard.

New Techspray information for 2009

We have started to integrate into our website some new catalogue sheets from sales partner Techspray. There are seven of them, which you can download here:

• Conformal Coatings & Temporary Solder Masks


• Duster & Freeze Sprays


• ESD & Anti-Static Products


• Cutters & Brushes


• Precision Cleaners & Defluxers


• Rework & Desoldering Braid


• Wipes & Swabs

Latest dummy catalogue available on-line

The new Practical Components catalogue is available on-line. It is full of the latest technology in dummy electronic components and mechanical samples as well as the "old standbys". Look at our Pack on Package offerings starting on page 5 or the FusionQuad® on page 4, or check out our Pac Tech Flip Chips on page 26 or the Cleanliness and Residue Evaluation Test Kit on page 86.

The Practical Components catalogue is designed to help engineers quickly find the key products needed to qualify their technology, train and grow their business. This new catalogue will be of special interest to anyone involved in pcb assembly, training, soldering and surface mount technology.

In an effort to make the catalogue more green and carbon neutral, our sales partners have created a new virtual catalogue with a page flip format. As a user you benefit by being able to view on-line or off, save the complete catalogue to disk, send the complete catalogue or as little as a single page to a colleague, add your own sticky notes and add bookmarks as well as print.

According to Practical President Kevin Laphen:

Our new free virtual catalogue is organised by package type/category with each product accompanied by drawings, description, part number with both lead-free and tin-lead availability and formulations and daisy chain patterns.

More seminar news

We will be talking about UV Technology for Encapsulation at a seminar on Tuesday next week, March 10, at the Williams F1 Centre, Grove, Oxfordshire.

It is under the aegis of the UK Display and Lighting Knowledge Transfer Network. The network has been set up by the Technology Strategy Board as a means of encouraging networking and knowledge transfer opportunities within the displays, plastic electronics and lighting industry. One of the events arranged for 2009 is a one day seminar on Integrating Plastic Electronics which addresses the issues related to turning plastic electronics technology into products.

Wire tacking - no mess - no fuss - all good!

Wire tacking for pcb track replacement or circuit modification is a long standing feature of both original equipment manufacture and refurbishment. However, the production people at Allgood Technology Ltd were not happy about the smell of acetone based accelerator fluid they need with their cyanoacrylate adhesive and urgently sought an alternative, finally settling on Flextac Tape Dots.

The Flextac system encompasses a range of sizes in pre-cut self-adhesive material which are quickly and easily applied with minimal wastage. The Dots themselves are clear and so blend into the appearance of the board unlike “instant” gels which can discolour or “bloom”. Explained Peter Allgood:

We were spurred to find another technique by the unpleasantness and perception of toxicity associated with the fumes and found the Flextac Tape Dot system with a demo video on the internet. The guys at Intertronics sent us a free sample pack which immediately solved all our problems.

The job itself centred around a motherboard for coin counting machines which needed a length of modification wire (30 gauge wire wrap) with five tacks over its length. The job arrived at a particularly busy time so the simplicity and speed of use offered by Flextac Tape Dots was much appreciated. The team at Allgood Technology Ltd were able to rapidly evaluate the Dots from their free samples and concluded that not only were they a quicker solution but the appearance was also enhanced, at the same time any slight misalignment can easily be rectified by unpeeling and replacing.

Delighted with the outcome, Peter commented:

For us the dots were a complete solution in a box. We got rid of some nuisance problems while we improved our process and the quality of our end result.

 

Conformal coating latest

First level defence of electronic assemblies is often a post-assembly dielectric coaing used to protect against moisture, bio-hazards and low level mechanical problems. Our sales partner DYMAX Corp have trialled their new Dual-Cure 9481 Conformal Coating, showing significant improvements over previously available products.

Dual-Cure 9481 is a new coating which represents the latest leap in light/moisture cure technology. Dual-Cure 9481 is specifically formulated to ensure complete cure in coating applications where shadowed areas on high density circuit boards are a concern. Previously, areas shadowed from light were managed by selective coating - eliminating the need to cure in shadowed areas - or a secondary heat cure process. Users needed to balance the cost of selective dispensing equipment and time/energy costs of a secondary heat cure. With Dual-Cure 9481 Conformal Coating, shadowed areas cure over time with moisture, eliminating the need for that second process step or concerns of component life degradation due to temperature exposure. In addition, Dual-Cure 9481 fluoresces bright blue when exposed to UV light and is low viscosity, allowing it to be dispensed easily.

DYMAX has conducted extensive laboratory, as well as field testing of Dual-Cure 9481, which is now available from us. The results indicate substantial progress in addressing those challenges typically associated with conventional dual-cure materials. Dual-Cure 9481 is formulated to address high-volume production and field trials have resulted in very favourable response from a variety of pcb assemblers.

Historically, light-cured conformal coatings have been most successful in applications with no or minimal shadowing. Shadow areas, which can inhibit the access of light, have the potential to hold or trap the conformal coating and limit the full cure of the materials. In recent years, several companies have made attempts to commercialise conformal coatings which address the need for shadow curing with conventional moisture curing as a secondary cure mechanism. Most of these attempts have had limits related to the efficiency of the cure as well as the consistency of the final properties. Other challenges have included special packaging and handling requirements as well as objectionable odours – substantially now dealt with in DYMAX Dual-Cure 9481.

Free of charge

Such is the potential for damage from stray static-induced electricity that a vast industry has grown up providing electrostatic discharge (ESD) safe products to be used in sensitive environments. ESD-safe, anti-static shoes, pens, labels, bags... and just about anything else you can think of are on offer.

Sometimes, however, the exact thing that you need is not readily available in an ESD-safe version. And that's where Licron Crystal comes in.

Licron Crystal is a clear, sprayable coating which provides a permanent static dissipative surface. It can be applied to metals, plastics, glass and so on. This simple versatility means that anyone in charge of a static controlled area should have at least one can of Licron Crystal in their cupboard.

Here's a tip - free catalogue download!

Download the latest 28 page PLATO catalogue.

It details our range of quality tools for electronics assembly and repair, including solder pots suitable for lead-free solders and the industry's most popular lead cutters. And of course, replacement soldering iron tips.

Prize winning partner - traceability in electronics

We always like to celebrate when one of our Sales Partners is a winner - and so we did at the Productronica show in Munich last month, when Practical Components won a Global Technology Award in the category of Components for the Aegis Traceability and Control Validation Kit.

Aegis Industrial Software Corp, the leader in manufacturing information management systems, and Practical Components, the leading supplier of dummy components, have partnered to offer a traceability and control kit that validates manufacturing processes and provides detailed product and process traceability. The kit provides the physical materials and procedural guide to determine a factory’s traceability and control capability, and rates the results in a formalized matrix. These ratings demonstrate manufacturers’ capabilities, communicate these capabilities to customers or auditors, and provide a starting point for improving capabilities.

We would be pleased to send you a copy of Practical’s free catalog, which is organized by package type/category with each product accompanied by drawings, description, and part number with special attention to lead-free availability and formulations. You'll find details of the award-winning kit on page 52.

Latest brochure for electronics assembly adhesives

Download the complete DYMAX Electronics Adhesives, Coatings & Encapsulants Selector Guide (548Kb pdf).

Little news for dummies

We are now able to supply Practical Components dummy resistors in metric 0402 size for your process development and planning.

Just when you thought chip components of 0201 (.6mm x.3mm) were small, the next wave of miniaturization is upon us.

The smaller a piece of electronic equipment becomes and the more complex its functions, the more extensive are the integration of its circuits. This integration of capacitors and other components into chips stimulates and supports progress in the miniaturization of equipment. For example 200 to 300 chip capacitors are used in a single mobile phone.

These new components are approximately half the size of 0201's. Standard 0201's are .6mm x .3mm while the new metric 0402's are .4 x .2 mm. 0402 Metric components come standard on paper tape and reels 1,000 components. Reel quantity is based on engineering sample quantities. These SMD components, along with advances in mounting technology continue to push the development of more compact components with increasingly advanced functions.

You can download a copy of the latest Practical Components catalogue from our website, or request a printed copy through the mail.

Other new products:

• tsMLF Thin Substrate Micro LeadFrame (previously named TAPP) - Amkor Technology


• CVBGA Very Thin ChipArray® BGA - Amkor Technology


• DRMLF Dual Row MLF® - Amkor Technology


• PoP Package on Package - Amkor Technology


• Flip Chip Test Die Offering - FlipChip International


• PC2006 AIM Print Test Board & Kit - AIM


• PC200 PoP Drop Test Board & Kit - Amkor Technology


• PC049 SMT/PTH Mxed Tech. Pb-Free Kit - Indium Corp.