Re: Proflow of DEK screen printer

Dear sirs,

If you have experienced Proflow of DEK screen printer, please let me know the details of it.

Best regards,

Jame Bond

reply »

| Dear sirs, | | If you have experienced Proflow of DEK screen printer, please let me know the details of it. | | Best regards, | | Jame Bond | | James,

Stir, don't shake is not good advice for cleaning proflo heads. This thing works great, but cleaning the head can be difficult with no clean solder pastes. We used ultrasonics (Smartsonic) to do the job with improvements expected. Other than that, DEK really has a product eliminating paste handling and improving printing efficiency (speed to 100mm/sec instead of 25 or so) and great print profiles. This thing's a winner notwithstanding not having dirty machines and pissed off operators having to knead and "handle" paste.

Earl Moon

reply »

| | Dear sirs, | | | | If you have experienced Proflow of DEK screen printer, please let me know the details of it. | | | | Best regards, | | | | Jame Bond | | | | | James, | | Stir, don't shake is not good advice for cleaning proflo heads. This thing works great, but cleaning the head can be difficult with no clean solder pastes. We used ultrasonics (Smartsonic) to do the job with improvements expected. Other than that, DEK really has a product eliminating paste handling and improving printing efficiency (speed to 100mm/sec instead of 25 or so) and great print profiles. This thing's a winner notwithstanding not having dirty machines and pissed off operators having to knead and "handle" paste. | | Earl Moon | James, Earl,

I'm sure DEk have come up with a complete replacement pack so you no longer have to clean the thing ?

By the way Earl...did you really post you note at 6am???

JohnW

reply »

| | | Dear sirs, | | | | | | If you have experienced Proflow of DEK screen printer, please let me know the details of it. | | | | | | Best regards, | | | | | | Jame Bond | | | | | | | | James, | | | | Stir, don't shake is not good advice for cleaning proflo heads. This thing works great, but cleaning the head can be difficult with no clean solder pastes. We used ultrasonics (Smartsonic) to do the job with improvements expected. Other than that, DEK really has a product eliminating paste handling and improving printing efficiency (speed to 100mm/sec instead of 25 or so) and great print profiles. This thing's a winner notwithstanding not having dirty machines and pissed off operators having to knead and "handle" paste. | | | | Earl Moon | | | James, Earl, | | I'm sure DEk have come up with a complete replacement pack so you no longer have to clean the thing ? | | By the way Earl...did you really post you note at 6am??? | | JohnW | John,

Ain't it a bitch. I got in the habit working out West where we put in 60 to 80 hour weeks so I was getting up at 0400.

Good to see from you,

Earl

reply »

| Dear sirs, | | If you have experienced Proflow of DEK screen printer, please let me know the details of it. | | Best regards, | | Jame Bond | | I have had Proflow for about 8 weeks now. I have had my fair share of problems with it. It does print great and with good speed. But we are running it in very high volume, running a board every 9.5 seconds. With the metal blades on Proflow, the paste started to harden to the blades and actually form solid metal balls attached to the edge of the blade and them cause the blade not to wipe the stencil well. We tried plastic blades, the started to nick on the edges. We tried plastic with a metal edge, the metal edge peeled off the plastic. Another problem is air pockets in the paste cassettes. This is not a DEK problem, but a problem with the way Alpha is packaging it. We do get some paste squeeze out past the skis on the ends of Proflow. If we turn the pressure down so this does not happen, we get skips due to not enough pressure to push the paste through the stencil. Just have to find a happy medium there.

As I say, when it is printing right with new blades and good paste, prints great. But there seems to be many nagging little problems yet. DEK is aware of them and hopefully is going to address them.

Brad Kendall Hella Electronics Corp.

reply »

| | Dear sirs, | | | | If you have experienced Proflow of DEK screen printer, please let me know the details of it. | | | | Best regards, | | | | Jame Bond | | | | | I have had Proflow for about 8 weeks now. I have had my fair share of problems with it. It does print great and with good speed. But we are running it in very high volume, running a board every 9.5 seconds. With the metal blades on Proflow, the paste started to harden to the blades and actually form solid metal balls attached to the edge of the blade and them cause the blade not to wipe the stencil well. We tried plastic blades, the started to nick on the edges. We tried plastic with a metal edge, the metal edge peeled off the plastic. Another problem is air pockets in the paste cassettes. This is not a DEK problem, but a problem with the way Alpha is packaging it. We do get some paste squeeze out past the skis on the ends of Proflow. If we turn the pressure down so this does not happen, we get skips due to not enough pressure to push the paste through the stencil. Just have to find a happy medium there. | | As I say, when it is printing right with new blades and good paste, prints great. But there seems to be many nagging little problems yet. DEK is aware of them and hopefully is going to address them. | | Brad Kendall | Hella Electronics Corp. | Brad and all interested in ProFlo

The following is somewhat self explanatory and started me down a path of mostly ProFlo satisfaction. Kathy, tell your story.

MEMORANDUM

TO: Scott Riegle FROM: Kathy S. Palumbo, Bruce Spencer, John Wilson and Yogesh Doshi SUBJECT: Update to DEK Proflow Issues Cc: Jason Kim, Michael Jogan, Simon Clasper > Listed below are the issues Viking has been experiencing since the installation of the Proflow Head: 1. After installing new 350mm Wiper foil with metal strip glued on it, It worked for about a week and suddenly metal strip started peeling off from wiper foil. 2. End retainers (SKIS) has hard plastic piece glued on rubber piece. That plastic piece comes off from End retainer. So far, we have changed 4 End retainers. 3. In transfer head you have removable grid between paste cassette and conditioning chamber. This removable grid has `O' Ring . This O ring is larger than it's slot on removable grid. After placing O ring on the grid, when you invert the grid to fit on conditioning chamber O ring comes off. We had to glue the O ring in slot. 4. Removable grid on transfer head doesn't stay flat on conditioning chamber. After you tighten the screws, it becomes convex. 5. Holes on removable grid and holes on metal grid do not match. 6. Solder paste come out from ski area on stencil. 7. After print, it leaves streak of solder on stencil. 8. Lots of solder paste oozes out from gap between paste cassette and conditioning chamber. Making transfer head very messy. 9. After printing about 10 panels, next panel has insufficient solder. We prime 3 times solder paste at this time. But half of the time it still has insufficient solder on panel, at time we increase pneumatic pressure and it comes out O.K. 10. We do not have sensor for `Paste cassette empty.' The one we had was bad and service man took it with him saying they will mail us new one. It's about 3 weeks now, and we haven't heard anything about it from any one at DEK. 11. Paste cassette has 1.2kg solder paste in it and we can use only half of it, other half goes to waste. 12. We spent about $ 30,000.00 for Proflow compare to $300.00 for squeegee blades expecting much better print results, no solder paste waste, cutting down on stencil cleaning time and worry free printing . But that's not the case. The DEK USA Field Service and Support in Milpitas, California was not able to provide timely and accurate support on these issues. However, this was not because of their incompetence or inability to provide proper support, but more a result of DEK Management not providing their Field Service personnel timely training on the Proflow system. We understand this is currently being rectified, and should no longer be an issue. As a result of all the issues stated above Scott Riegle, an Applications Engineer, was finally sent out to Viking to assist in finding adequate resolutions. The results of his visit are shown below:

1. We now have the new improved full metal wipes and composites. Wiper blade foils will have a fixed position from now on due to a predetermined thickness. This will aid in eliminating variations in its' installation. As of yet this has not been verified by Viking. This has now been verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. 2. We now have the new improved black PDFE End retainers (SKIS). As of yet this has not been verified by Viking. This has now been verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. 3. We were informed that the O-Rings can not withstand solvents, and we should be careful when cleaning. However, we used pure DI water when cleaning the O-Ring and there was still a stretching problem (approximately 1"). Scott stated he would recommend a change in the O-Ring composition to rectify this problem. We were informed to use Parker O-Ring grease to hold the O-Ring in place so you can turn the unit upside down when putting the grid in place. As of yet this has not been completely resolved by DEK. 4. It is suppose to move a little so it can make a tighter seal. 5. We now have the new improved grid holes which now match. All sizes will have the new improved grids which will match one to one. 6. One of the End retainers (SKIS) was reversed. There is a vent hole on one side of the End retainer (SKI) which must be facing outward (not pointing into the paste area). As of yet this has not been verified by Viking. This has now been verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. 7. The Paste Pressure setting was too high. The new improved black PDFE End retainers (SKIS) will eliminate this as well. As of yet this has not been verified by Viking. This has now been verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. 8. The Thumb Wheels were being tightened in the wrong direction. The correct direction is now scribed onto the unit. As of yet this has not been verified by Viking. This has now been verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. 9. We were informed that the insufficient prints are directly correlated to "change of force". The Proflow head must be supported across the entire length of the head or you will have air gaps in the roll of paste and this air gap will move all across the roll of solder paste. DEK has mushroom supports (at an additional cost of $300 each) they can supply which should eliminate this issue. In addition, it was discovered that the pressure regulator for the plunger was not staying constant. Initially, it was thought there was an air leak. However, after adding Teflon tape to the regulator the pressure still does not remain constant. Scott recommended that this regulator be replaced. Scott also recommended we evaluate the rechargeable 350mm unit Transfer Head when it is available. As of yet this has not been completely resolved by DEK or verified by Viking. This has now been verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. We were also informed that the Proflow head should not be stored in an open environment. The cover should be put on the head and the entire head should be stored in a ZIP LOCK baggy in a refrigerator. As of yet this has not been verified by Viking. This has now been verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. 10. A new `Paste cassette empty' sensor was finally sent to us, but it was not the new design. The new sensor has been installed. As of yet this has not this has not been verified by Viking. This has now been verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. 11. We were informed that there is a new improved 'Paste cassette empty' sensor (not shipped/installed yet) which will allow us to use 85% of our cartridge. This has now been installed and verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. We were also informed that there is a new improved design in the works which will allow us to use 100% of the solder paste in the cartridge. In the new improved design the plunger size will be improved by increasing its' size, as well as the bladder walls will be made more rigid. As of yet this has not been completely resolved by DEK. 12. DEK agrees.

At the conclusion of our meeting we were informed that the outstanding issues would be handled promptly, and Viking agreed to verify all resolutions which as of yet have not been verified. We also agreed to keep one another informed on the progress of all unverified and unresolved issues.

Viking would like to thank Scott Riegle in his outstanding application support and service which he provided Viking. Viking would also like to thank Michael Jogan in providing the necessary Field Service Support personnel so that we may complete the verification process of all unverified resolutions.

Sincerely, The Viking Manufacturing Engineering Team

In addition to the above memo, I a would also like to inform everyone that the Proflow head is working so well for us that we have since added two more high speed lines which include two DEK GSX265 systems with the Proflow head option. Using the proflow head we are able to run the stroke of the head about 2.5 (40mm/sec to 100mm/sec) times faster than when using the conventional squeegee blade printing method. This enables our screen print machine to keep up with our chip shooters speed, thereby eliminating a bottleneck at screen print.

In addition we have performed some 3D analysis with a solder paste scanning system and have found that the solder paste deposits made by the proflow head system are perfectly flat and even. When working with fine pitch product this has proven to be extrememly helpful in reducing the most common defects. We have compared these deposits with deposits made by regular metal squeege blades and found a significant difference in the shape of these deposits. We have found that this difference in shape eventually leads to some of the more common defects found in SMT fine pitch manufacturing.

If you have any questions regarding any of the above, feel free to contact me at (949) 643-7255 ext. 352 and I will be happy to share any analysis data with you.

Kathy Palumbo Manufacturing Engineer Viking Components, Inc.

reply »

| | | Dear sirs, | | | | | | If you have experienced Proflow of DEK screen printer, please let me know the details of it. | | | | | | Best regards, | | | | | | Jame Bond | | | | | | | | I have had Proflow for about 8 weeks now. I have had my fair share of problems with it. It does print great and with good speed. But we are running it in very high volume, running a board every 9.5 seconds. With the metal blades on Proflow, the paste started to harden to the blades and actually form solid metal balls attached to the edge of the blade and them cause the blade not to wipe the stencil well. We tried plastic blades, the started to nick on the edges. We tried plastic with a metal edge, the metal edge peeled off the plastic. Another problem is air pockets in the paste cassettes. This is not a DEK problem, but a problem with the way Alpha is packaging it. We do get some paste squeeze out past the skis on the ends of Proflow. If we turn the pressure down so this does not happen, we get skips due to not enough pressure to push the paste through the stencil. Just have to find a happy medium there. | | | | As I say, when it is printing right with new blades and good paste, prints great. But there seems to be many nagging little problems yet. DEK is aware of them and hopefully is going to address them. | | | | Brad Kendall | | Hella Electronics Corp. | | | Brad and all interested in ProFlo | | The following is somewhat self explanatory and started me down a path of mostly ProFlo satisfaction. Kathy, tell your story. | | MEMORANDUM | | TO: Scott Riegle | FROM: Kathy S. Palumbo, Bruce Spencer, John Wilson and Yogesh Doshi | SUBJECT: Update to DEK Proflow Issues | Cc: Jason Kim, Michael Jogan, Simon Clasper | > Listed below are the issues Viking has been experiencing since the | installation of the Proflow Head: | 1. After installing new 350mm Wiper foil with metal | strip glued on it, It worked for about a week and suddenly metal | strip started peeling off from wiper foil. | 2. End retainers (SKIS) has hard plastic piece glued on | rubber piece. That plastic piece comes off from End retainer. So far, | we have changed 4 End retainers. | 3. In transfer head you have removable grid between | paste cassette and conditioning chamber. This removable grid has `O' Ring . | This O ring is larger than it's slot on removable grid. After placing O | ring on the grid, when you invert the grid to fit on conditioning chamber O | ring comes off. We had to glue the O ring in slot. | 4. Removable grid on transfer head doesn't stay flat on | conditioning chamber. After you tighten the screws, it becomes | convex. | 5. Holes on removable grid and holes on metal grid do | not match. | 6. Solder paste come out from ski area on stencil. | 7. After print, it leaves streak of solder on stencil. | 8. Lots of solder paste oozes out from gap between | paste cassette and conditioning chamber. Making transfer head very | messy. | 9. After printing about 10 panels, next panel has | insufficient solder. We prime 3 times solder paste at this time. But | half of the time it still has insufficient | solder on panel, at time we increase pneumatic pressure and it comes | out O.K. | 10. We do not have sensor for `Paste cassette empty.' The | one we had was bad and service man took it with him saying they will mail | us new one. It's about 3 weeks now, and we haven't heard anything | about it from any one at DEK. | 11. Paste cassette has 1.2kg solder paste in it and we | can use only half of it, other half goes to waste. | 12. We spent about $ 30,000.00 for Proflow compare to | $300.00 for squeegee blades expecting much better print results, no solder | paste waste, cutting down on stencil cleaning time and worry free printing . | But that's not the case. | The DEK USA Field Service and Support in Milpitas, | California was not able to provide timely and accurate support on these | issues. However, this was not because of their incompetence or inability to | provide proper support, but more a result of DEK Management not providing | their Field Service personnel timely training on the Proflow system. We | understand this is currently being rectified, and should no longer be an | issue. | As a result of all the issues stated above Scott Riegle, an | Applications Engineer, was finally sent out to Viking to assist in finding | adequate resolutions. The results of his visit are shown below: | | 1. We now have the new improved full metal wipes and | composites. Wiper blade foils will have a fixed position from now on due to | a predetermined thickness. This will aid in eliminating variations in its' | installation. As of yet this has not been verified by Viking. This has now | been verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. | 2. We now have the new improved black PDFE End | retainers (SKIS). As of yet this has not been verified by Viking. This has | now been verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. | 3. We were informed that the O-Rings can not withstand | solvents, and we should be careful when cleaning. However, we used pure DI | water when cleaning the O-Ring and there was still a stretching problem | (approximately 1"). Scott stated he would recommend a change in the O-Ring | composition to rectify this problem. We were informed to use Parker O-Ring | grease to hold the O-Ring in place so you can turn the unit upside down when | putting the grid in place. As of yet this has not been completely resolved | by DEK. | 4. It is suppose to move a little so it can make a | tighter seal. | 5. We now have the new improved grid holes which now | match. All sizes will have the new improved grids which will match one to | one. | 6. One of the End retainers (SKIS) was reversed. There | is a vent hole on one side of the End retainer (SKI) which must be facing | outward (not pointing into the paste area). As of yet this has not been | verified by Viking. This has now been verified by Viking and is no longer an | issue. | 7. The Paste Pressure setting was too high. The new | improved black PDFE End retainers (SKIS) will eliminate this as well. As of | yet this has not been verified by Viking. This has now been verified by | Viking and is no longer an issue. | 8. The Thumb Wheels were being tightened in the wrong | direction. The correct direction is now scribed onto the unit. As of yet | this has not been verified by Viking. This has now been verified by Viking | and is no longer an issue. | 9. We were informed that the insufficient prints are | directly correlated to "change of force". The Proflow head must be | supported across the entire length of the head or you will have air gaps in | the roll of paste and this air gap will move all across the roll of solder | paste. DEK has mushroom supports (at an additional cost of $300 each) they | can supply which should eliminate this issue. In addition, it was | discovered that the pressure regulator for the plunger was not staying | constant. Initially, it was thought there was an air leak. However, after | adding Teflon tape to the regulator the pressure still does not remain | constant. Scott recommended that this regulator be replaced. Scott also | recommended we evaluate the rechargeable 350mm unit Transfer Head when it is | available. As of yet this has not been completely resolved by DEK or | verified by Viking. This has now been verified by Viking and is no longer an | issue. | We were also informed that the Proflow head should not be | stored in an open environment. The cover should be put on the head | and the entire head should be stored in a ZIP LOCK baggy in a | refrigerator. As of yet this has not been verified by Viking. This has now | been verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. | 10. A new `Paste cassette empty' sensor was finally sent | to us, but it was not the new design. The new sensor has been installed. As | of yet this has not this has not been verified by Viking. This has now been | verified by Viking and is no longer an issue. | 11. We were informed that there is a new improved 'Paste | cassette empty' sensor (not shipped/installed yet) which will allow us to | use 85% of our cartridge. This has now been installed and verified by Viking | and is no longer an issue. | We were also informed that there is a new improved design in | the works which will allow us to use 100% of the solder paste in the | cartridge. In the new improved design the plunger size will be | improved by increasing its' size, as well as the bladder walls will be made | more rigid. As of yet this has not been completely resolved by DEK. | 12. DEK agrees. | | At the conclusion of our meeting we were informed that the | outstanding issues would be handled promptly, and Viking agreed to verify | all resolutions which as of yet have not been verified. We also agreed to | keep one another informed on the progress of all unverified and unresolved | issues. | | Viking would like to thank Scott Riegle in his outstanding | application support and service which he provided Viking. Viking would also | like to thank Michael Jogan in providing the necessary Field Service Support | personnel so that we may complete the verification process of all unverified | resolutions. | | Sincerely, | The Viking Manufacturing Engineering Team | | In addition to the above memo, I a would also like to inform | everyone that the Proflow head is working so well for us that we have since | added two more high speed lines which include two DEK GSX265 systems with | the Proflow head option. Using the proflow head we are able to run the | stroke of the head about 2.5 (40mm/sec to 100mm/sec) times faster than when | using the conventional squeegee blade printing method. This enables our | screen print machine to keep up with our chip shooters speed, thereby | eliminating a bottleneck at screen print. | | In addition we have performed some 3D analysis with a solder | paste scanning system and have found that the solder paste deposits made by | the proflow head system are perfectly flat and even. When working with fine | pitch product this has proven to be extrememly helpful in reducing the most | common defects. We have compared these deposits with deposits made by | regular metal squeege blades and found a significant difference in the shape | of these deposits. We have found that this difference in shape eventually | leads to some of the more common defects found in SMT fine pitch | manufacturing. | | If you have any questions regarding any of the above, feel | free to contact me at (949) 643-7255 ext. 352 and I will be happy to share | any analysis data with you. | | Kathy Palumbo | Manufacturing Engineer | Viking Components, Inc. | | As I stated, I have no problem with the performance of the Proflo when it comes to print quality and speed. I have the memo Kathy put on Technet many months ago and I have referred to it when having problems with mine. Even with all the recommendations in it, we have problems with paste squeezing past the skis, flux puddles forming at each end of the stroke and with the blades. We are now running the plastic blades with some decent success until they get nicked up. The speed improvement was a must with the line running under 10 seconds per board. The metal blades at that speed compacted the past onto the blades, DEK also has seen this problem in high speed tests.

Brad Kendall

reply »