MYC50 selectively coats assembled printed circuit boards

"We can use the high-tech system to demonstrate to customers how the coating process works in their production," explains application technologist Hartmut Giesen. Peters' partner Axxon Mycronic has provided the production machine on permanent loan. The Swedish company delivered the machine weighing almost one ton, from the Stockholm region by sea via the port of Hamburg to Peters' headquarters in Kempen on the Lower Rhine.

At the PCIF, the MYC50 attracted the attention of Peters' in-house exhibition visitors

during the practical demonstrations in the conformal coating technical showroom. "The trade visitors were able to see the benefits of the machine in the customer/manufacturer/Peters triangle," explains Project Manager Hartmut Giesen.

"The advantage of using the MYC50 is that components can be selectively coated in one single pour," reports Arjen Koppens, Director of Sales at Axxon Mycronic. "Selective" means that the conformal coating is not applied to the entire surface of assembled PCBs, but only where it is actually needed - in one single process. This saves resources and time, is environmentally friendly and less energy-intensive than the usual coating processes in industrial plants. "Customers can visualise the added value they are buying for their company when they rely on the MYC50," says Detlef Paschke, Head of Technical Service at Peters Research.

The user controls via a software-supported coating program how and where the conformal coating is applied. The process is also monitored digitally, so that the machine operator has great flexibility to initiate the desired production processes individually and automatically. The programs on how to perform the final coating process in the end can also be written offline and uploaded to the on-site computer of the coating unit in the second step.

The prototype of the MYC50 was developed by Axxon Mycronic five years ago, reports Arjen Koppens. The Scandinavian manufacturer then continuously optimised the system, which measures 120 cm wide, 165 cm high and 150 cm deep, and adapted it to the requirements of the European and US markets. According to the Director of Sales, the production machine is not only interesting for sectors such as automotive, medical and aerospace, but also for other industrial sectors. The Dutchman, who is based at Axxon Mycronic's EU coating centre in Eindhoven, also points out the sustainability aspect: "Maintenance is extremely low-threshold, there are virtually no chemicals involved in the cleaning process and the energy consumption of electricity and compressed air is kept as low as possible."