What Are the Benefits of Choosing MicroWipe™ FP Paper Over Ordinary Stencil Rolls?
MicroWipe™ FP stencil rolls from MicroCare will reduce your stencil printing costs, improve yield and speed throughput. Here’s how:
The standard stencil printing procedure involves wetting the stencil roll with solvent before the cleaning cycle. But the solvent contaminates the solder paste, which reduces yields. Stronger and more absorbent papers can clean stencils without using solvents. This saves time, money and improves yield.
The differences can be huge. Here are some specifics about the benefits of MicroWipe™ FP rolls:
Less Cleaning, More Printing
FP stencil rolls reduce the number of time-wasting cleaning cycles. Each cleaning cycle avoided MicroWipe FP stencil rolls creates time for five printing cycles (~30 secs. vs. ~150 secs.). In addition, since the cleaning cycles are more effective there are fewer stoppages for manual stencil wiping. This produces stunning improvements in productivity. At a major PCB subcontractor, MicroWipe™ FP rolls helped engineers move from 14 minutes of cleaning cycles per hour to nine minutes per hour. Overall, MicroWipe™ FP rolls boosted hourly production from 32 to 55 boards – a 60% increase in productivity.
Eliminate Solvents
MicroWipe™ FP rolls can, in many (but not all) applications eliminate the need to wet the paper with solvents. This results in improved yield and reduced defects. It turns out that the solvents contaminate the solder paste on the stencil. The solvent can dilute the solder paste, resulting in slumping and shorts. The solvent also weakens ordinary stencil rolls, increasing linting and misprints. Get rid of the solvents and you get rid of all these problems. This is the single most important benefit of switching toMicroWipe™ FP rolls.
Stronger Solder Joints
A cleaner stencil allows more paste to flow onto the board, resulting in taller solder pads and stronger solder joints. In one prolonged test, Micro•Wipe FP rolls increased pad height an average of 11%. More solder means stronger joints.
Fewer Defects and Misprints
Defective printing is a huge waste of time and money. In a large-scale trial with five SMT lines the switch to MicroWipe™ FP rolls improved the defect-free yield up to 99.55% from an average of 97.25% — an 83% reduction in defects.
Reduced Indexing Extends Roll Life
There is no argument that MicroWipe™ FP rolls are more expensive than standard rolls. But MicroWipe™ FP rolls last longer because cleaning is less frequent, which saves money. Since the rolls are used dry, not wet, the indexing of the roll can be reduced to the printer’s minimum. This saves enormous amounts of stencil roll fabric. These rolls also minimize the cost of solvents and other consumables.
In short, the cost savings, productivity gains and quality improvements allow companies using Micro•Wipe FP rolls to cut their total printing costs significantly.
Standard understencil wiping rolls are used with solvent. The roll must be “indexed” several centimeters after each cleaning. Wiping dry means the indexing can be greatly reduced, which makes rolls last longer and saves money.