IR Rework

INS AND OUTS

Setting Up

Mount PCB

Position component to be reworked over center of PCB heater

Center component under IR spotlight

Press the IR foot pedal to turn it on temporarily

Spotlight size can be adjusted by turning the large collar on the

spotlight

The V pedal turns on the suction for the vacuum tool.

Press to turn on, press again to turn off.

Check alignment of IR thermocouple (the tool is in the drawer)

After changing component heater height

When reworking odd-shaped parts

Be sure to rotate laser alignment tool as the laser is not perfectly

centered.

Remember PCB thermocouple

The fabric tape shown (in the drawer) works best. Replace after
second use as the adhesive tends to fail after that.

Adding a little thermal paste can improve temperature accuracy. It

should be in the drawer. Please return it there after you use it.

Choose a profile

P04: Lead-free

P03: Leaded

These are unofficial. There are many profiles and youre welcome to just pick some highernumbered profile and claim it as your own. Otherwise, youre off to a good start with P03 or P04.

Check the profile settings

Press Set to access

The first setting displayed is the power

available to the top-heater for doing its
job. Leave this at 100%.

Next

is the component reflow soak

temperature. The top-heater will use the
aforementioned power to bring the component
up to this temperature.

The next setting is the power available to

the board heater for bringing the board up
to its first temperature set-point (80% is
plenty).

Followed by the first board temperature

set-point. The component heater will not
turn on until the board reaches this
temperature. You probably wont ever
need to change this.

Next is the board heater power for the

temperature ramp from the first set-point
to the final set-point. Again, 80% is
plenty.

Followed by the final board temperature.

Once this temperature is reached, the
board heater will maintain this board
temperature until completion of the
profile. For leaded rework, avoid going
above 170 to prevent reflowing the
whole board.

The first 0 is a manual time

setting for the first ramp of the
profile. Leaving this at zero will
cause it to rely on the board
thermocouple and temperature
set-point.

The second 0 is a manual time

setting for the final ramp of the
profile. 0 means relying on
thermocouples and temperature
set-points.

This setting is the rate at which the

component heater will raise the
component temperature. The
pictured 15 translates to
1.5C/Second. This is a limit, not a
guarantee.

The last setting is the component

reflow soak time in seconds. Once it
hits the temperature set-point, it
soaks for this amount of time before
shutting off. The picture shows 15
seconds.

Run the profile

Press Start

Wait

Monitor component temperature near peak to know

when to observe joint reflow

Verify that visible joints reflow

Cool Down

Heat will shut off automatically after component reflow

Using the fan speeds up the cool-down process

Check component

Use microscope to check visible joints

Congratulations!

Youve (hopefully) successfully reworked a difficult component!

Tips

Remove any metallic shields that may be present on the underside of the board
as these reflect IR and will slow down the board heating process as well as
create unwanted temperature gradients instead of even board heating.

After removing a component (unless its a BGA), you can usually just apply noclean gel flux (PN: 293-00011-00, available at the far-left solder station or you
can get it from production) to the pads and use it to hold the new component in
place. Check with a microscope to be sure all pads have some solder remaining
on them first, but you usually wont have to add much/any.

The new part will likely sit crooked due to differently shaped solder lumps on the
pads, but as long as it is centered over the pads, it should sink straight down
during reflow, with solder surface-tension pulling the part into final position. Be
sure to check joints under a microscope after rework for bridges or cold joints.

Metallic tape can be used to shield heavier components on the underside from
direct heat and prevent them from falling off during lead-free rework.

Metallic components like crystals and some processors will need some thermal
paste on them to absorb IR and enable them to hit temperature targets.