EKRA E4 consistency issues

I started a new job about 6 months ago, and the screen printer is an Ekra E4. I have never used one before, but have used a variety of them and I have 13 years experience mainly in surface mount. I cannot seem to get consistency out of this machine no matter what I try.

After having this problem on more complex boards, I tried a simple board, nothing smaller than an 0805 package. It is flat, nothing out of the ordinary on it. My board supports are sufficient. I will get several good prints in a row, then all of a sudden I will get a bad print. Usually the next print is a good one. I have tried both synthetic fiducials and using pads for the alignment.

Anyone have experience with this printer? I can't seem to grasp why I am having such differences between prints. It feels like it is catching fiducials wrong intermittently. I read the manual, it didn't really help.

The downside to working for a smaller company is I don't have the budget to throw money at the problem, but even if I did, I don't know who to even call for support on one of these printers!

reply »