Preventing fading and smearing in solder paste printing | Causes of unstable quality in mass production and solutions
Home > Solutions > Preventing fading and smearing in solder paste printing | Causes of unstable quality in mass production and solutions
Why do print defects increase in mass production even though there are no problems during test printing?
"There are no problems during ramp-up, but when mass production begins, fading and smearing increase."
This is a common issue on SMT lines.
When a printing defect occurs, the first thing you want to do is question the printing conditions. However, in reality, there are various other factors besides these conditions that have an impact.
For example:
- Changes in condition due to the amount of solder paste and temperature changes
- Contamination on the stencil and clogged apertures
- Panel warpage and insufficient contact with the stencil
- Human errors during setup
- Failure to detect quality degradation
Quality is determined by a variety of factors
Even if there are no problems in test printing, changes in these factors during mass production can lead to defects such as fading, missing solder paste, smearing, and bridging.
In recent years, miniaturization and high-mix production have advanced, and in order to maintain quality, it is important to take measures before quality deteriorates, rather than dealing with defects after they occur.
To do this, it is necessary to review the printing process from the following perspectives.
- Managing solder paste conditions
- Proper cleaning of stencils
- Maintaining panel support and contact
- Preventing operator errors
- Stopping potential defects before they occur
Typical requirements to maintain print quality
Explanation of improvement key points for stabilizing printing quality
In the material, "For improving solder paste printing quality," the following points are explained clearly along with practical improvement methods.
- Causes of unstable printing quality
- Measures for smearing and fading
- Methods for preventing human mistakes
- Preventing issues through linking data between machines
If you are facing challenges such as quality varying in mass production or wanting to reduce printing defects, take a look at these materials.
