Nordson introduces SELECT Synchro selective soldering system

The SELECT Synchro is a multi-station selective soldering system (patent pending) that uses a synchronous motion to increase throughput, improve cost-of-ownership, and provide flexibility for electronics manufacturers.

The SELECT Synchro system can replace existing selective soldering operations to improve yield and save space for many through-hole and SMT mixed-technology soldering applications. Furthermore, the Synchro system can help electronics manufacturers to step away from wave soldering with its faster, flexible, and efficient operations, compared to typical selective soldering solutions.

Key benefits of SELECT Synchro:

• Increased throughput – Eliminates board conveyance time by as much as 25% while delivering outstanding solder joint reliability, boosting throughput 20-40% for most applications.
• Improved cost-of-ownership – The space-efficient system is as much as 4x shorter than typical selective soldering equipment, resulting in 60% reduction in footprint.
• Smart – Automatically balances the process to broaden flux and soldering flexibility, increasing throughput while providing traceability.
• Flexible – Configured with five solder pots to match manufacturing needs for different alloys, and different or singular nozzles. Handles long boards up to 460mm wide and 2500mm long in the standard model and boards up to 680 x 2500mm in the Synchro XL model. 
• Enhanced quality – Improved process controls are available for closed-loop wave height check and automatic adjustment, fluxing process controls, process camera for viewing nozzles, and board warpage control.

How it works: Inside the innovative SELECT Synchro system, a board is pulled at a constant speed through the fluxing, pre-heating, and soldering process steps. The flux and solder applicators are programmed to follow and treat boards as they travel through the equipment to deliver synchronous-motion selective soldering. Multiple solder pots and different nozzle sizes are available to provide flexibility with solder quantities, solder alloys, and board designs. 

“People are amazed by the technology of synchronous soldering. By moving the target board as well as the flux and soldering applicators, the operations are sped up, and the system is reduced in size," explained Florian Strohmayer, Product Line Manager, Nordson Electronics Solutions. "In terms of throughput, the SELECT Synchro concept can replace wave soldering equipment while increasing the soldering quality and reducing the cost of ownership.”

The design inside the SELECT Synchro system increases throughput by reducing the time spent conveying boards as much as 25%. Multiple solder pots can be configured, and the system balances the whole process for efficiency and flexibility to deliver solder joint reliability. In addition, the machine’s size can be as much as 4x shorter than a typical selective soldering system, for example, shrinking in length from 10 to 2.5 meters. Cost-of-ownership is improved while still accommodating long boards as large as 680 x 2500mm.