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Interested in Learning More About Stress-Free PCB Depaneling? Register for Quarantech Tuesday!

Keep up with industry trends by registering for our technical webinar series, Quarantech Tuesday! The webinar episodes, co-hosted by BlueRing Stencils and FCT Solder have SMT Experts on the show to share their knowledge and answer any questions you may have in real-time. Tune in every other week as we discuss common assembly defects, yield issues, and simple solutions to enhance every assembly process. 

Don’t miss out on the third webinar!
WHERE: Zoom
WHEN: November 3, 2020
TIME: 2:00 PM EST
TOPIC: Take Advantage of Design Versatility & Cut Costs with Laser Depaneling
SIGN UP - SPACE IS LIMITED!
Join us as Joe Azevedo from A-Laser discusses numerous advantages for using Laser Depaneling during the SMT Assembly process. Achieve high accuracy cutting and minimize board stress with Laser Depaneling especially for demanding jobs.
 

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PRESENTER:

Find Joe Azevedo on LinkedIn

Look for more information about future topics, including:

 –  Unique printing technologies
 – High-reliability alloys
 –  Tooling and fixture advancements
 –  …and MORE!!!

Get the next webinar on your calendar!

SMT Nano-Coatings, Breaking the Longevity Barrier on November 17th:

PRE-REGISTER TODAY

Keep Up with Industry Trends! Register for Quarantech Tuesdays

Keep up with industry trends by registering for our technical webinar series, Quarantech Tuesday! The webinar episodes, co-hosted by BlueRing Stencils and FCT Solder have SMT Experts on the show to share their knowledge and answer any questions you may have in real-time. Tune in every other week as we discuss common assembly defects, yield issues, and simple solutions to enhance every assembly process. 

Don’t miss out on the second webinar!
WHERE: Zoom
WHEN: October 20, 2020
TIME: 2:00 PM EST
TOPIC: Root Cause Workshop – Stencil Design for SMT Component Thermal Lands
SIGN UP - SPACE IS LIMITED!
Join us as BlueRing Stencils’ Greg Smith and Tony Lentz from FCT Solder discuss their paper, originally presented at SMTAI.
 
ABSTRACT Recent studies on stencil design to minimize voiding on quad flat no lead (QFN) thermal lands suggest higher paste volumes create lower voiding percentages. However, volume must be reduced to eliminate the possibility of float during reflow. Thermal land stencil designs on components other than QFN’s must also reflect a reduction in printed volume to eliminate float while minimizing void percentages. The IPC 7525B Stencil Design Guideline [1] recommends a 20% to 50% reduction in the printed area of the thermal/ground plane for leadless chip carrier (LCC) / bottom terminated component (BTC) devices which is a very broad window. This guideline also recommends the window pane design for printing these thermal lands but does not specify the size of the gaps between panes. It also does not specify how close these panes can be printed to the edge of the thermal land without creating shorts to the perimeter leads or creating solder balls on components such as Decawat Packages (D-Pak). This window pane stencil design remains the most used design for the reduction of paste on thermal pads as many other designs such as rounds, diamonds, diagonal pads etc. have not been shown to dramatically impact voiding percentages. This paper specifically explores the effect of the window pane design on void area percentage after reflow for surface mount technology (SMT) component thermal pads without introducing float to the component. Specific window pane gap sizes, total area printed and distance of the outer pane edges to the copper thermal land edge will be varied to determine guidelines for thermal pad stencil design.
 

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PRESENTERS:

Find Tony Lentz on LinkedIn
Find Greg Smith on LinkedIn 

Look for more information about future topics, including:

 –  Unique printing technologies
 –  High reliability alloys
 –  Tooling and fixture advancements
 –  …and MORE!!!

Get the next webinar on your calendar!

Take Advantage of Design Versatility & Cut Costs with Laser Depaneling on November 3rd

PRE-REGISTER TODAY

Quarantech Tuesday: FREE Technical Webinar Series

We are excited to announce a new technical webinar series, Quarantech Tuesday! The webinar episodes, co-hosted by BlueRing Stencils and FCT Solder have SMT Experts on the show to share their knowledge and answer any questions you may have in real-time. Tune in every other week as we discuss common assembly defects, yield issues, and simple solutions to enhance every assembly process. 

Don’t miss out on the first webinar!
WHERE: Zoom
WHEN: October 6, 2020
TIME: 2:00 PM EST
TOPIC:  How to Fill the Void – Mitigation of Voiding For Bottom Terminated Components
SIGN UP - SPACE IS LIMITED!
Join us as BlueRing Stencils’ Greg Smith and Tony Lentz from FCT Solder discuss their 2020 APEX paper. 
 
ABSTRACT Voiding in solder joints has been studied extensively, and the effects of many variables compared and contrasted with respect to voiding performance. Solder paste flux, solder powder size, stencil design, circuit board design, via-in-pad design, surface finish, component size, reflow profile, vacuum reflow, nitrogen reflow and other parameters have been varied and voiding quantified for each. The results show some differences in voiding performance with respect to most of these variables but these variables are not independent of each other. Voiding in solder joints is a complex issue that often requires multiple approaches to reduce voiding below required limits. This paper focuses on solutions to voiding for commonly used bottom terminated components (BTCs). When voiding is an issue, it is often not possible to change the solder paste or circuit board design due to end user requirements and time constraints. It is much easier to change the stencil design and the reflow profile in an effort to reduce voiding, and this can be done in a timely manner. Stencil design and reflow profile can be used to minimize voiding for BTCs like Quad Flat No Lead (QFN) components. Optimization of the window pane size and web width can help with voiding. Changing the volume of solder paste on the I/O perimeter pads of QFNs also has an effect on voiding. Use of linear ramp-to-spike (RTS) reflow profiles reduces voiding with some solder pastes, while ramp-soak-spike (RSS) profiles work better for other solder pastes. Stencil design and reflow profile were optimized for a variety of QFN components in order to minimize voiding. The results of this testing were quantified, summarized and recommendations given for ideal voiding performance.
 

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PRESENTERS:

Find Tony Lentz on LinkedIn
Find Greg Smith on LinkedIn 

Look for more information about future topics, including:

 –  Unique printing technologies
 –  High reliability alloys
 –  Tooling and fixture advancements
 –  Stress-free depaneling solutions
 –  …and MORE!!!

Get the next webinar on your calendar!
Root Cause Workshop – Stencil Design for SMT Component Thermal Lands on October 20th

PRE-REGISTER TODAY

COVID-19 Update

COVID-19 Update – March 18th, 2020

At BlueRing Stencils, the safety and well-being of our employees and our customers is always our priority, and we recognize the important role we play in providing our customers with supplies and services during this critical time. We are actively monitoring the COVID-19/Coronavirus situation and taking steps to help keep our communities safe. We wanted to share with you some steps we are taking.

Aligning with public health authorities

Due to the “Shelter in Place” order given by 6 bay area counties in California (including Santa Clara county), BlueRing Stencils has halted operations in its Milpitas California facility. We will continue to supply product to “essential” businesses in this region and the surrounding areas via our other 5 manufacturing locations. There will be no anticipated interruption in service. We are closely monitoring updates from the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization regarding COVID-19. We will continue to seek guidance from these agencies, public health officials and government agencies on an ongoing basis.

Protecting our employees and customers

As our employees interact with customers and the general public, we have taken steps to limit exposure to the virus. We have put restrictions on travel, postponed large-scale events, limited the size of meetings, provided remote-work solutions, and continue to reinforce safe behavior in every work environment. Additionally, we have protocols in place for increased cleaning, disinfecting and appropriate quarantine procedures based on recommendations by government and health agencies.

Our commitment to our customers

The role our company plays within your supply chain is incredibly important to us. We have been developing manufacturing measures and proper contingency plans to ensure minimal disruption in the supply of products and services for our customers during this time. As developments happen across the country in within our company, we will notify our customers immediately about any changes.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us immediately. As always, thank you for being a customer and for your continued trust as we manage through this time together.

Thank you,
BlueRing Stencils

Say Hello to Our New Stone Mountain Tool Logo

Say Hello to Our New Stone Mountain Tool Logo

Our recent acquisition of Stone Mountain Tool has inspired us to redesign the logo to portray the incorporation of this company into the BlueRing Stencils family. Stone Mountain Tool prides itself on leading the industry with over 35 years in supplying tooling for the electronic manufacturing industry. We want to assure customers that the high-quality products and service will not change.  Check out the key elements of our new logo below:

Say Hello to Our New Stone Mountain Tool Logo

As we phase our new logo into our digital and physical assets, we want to reassure you that our new look will not change our energetic approach to engineering the best tooling available. We are committed to delivering innovative solutions to the ever-changing world of the electronic manufacturing industry.

As always, please reach out to us with any questions or concerns and we look forward to our continued partnership.

www.blueringstencils.com/tooling

Reliability Matters: A Podcast Discussing Reliability of Circuit Assemblies

Listen to “Episode 32: A Conversation with Greg Smith and Tony Lentz About Stencil Design and Void Reduction” on Spreaker.

Tune in to Episode 32 of Mike Konrad’s podcast Reliability Matters! FCT Assembly Field Application Engineer, Tony Lentz, and BlueRing Stencils Manager of Stencil Technology, Greg Smith, were recently featured as special guests on this podcast which focuses on the Reliability of Circuit Assemblies.

As stated in the title, Mike Konrad airs A Conversation with Greg Smith and Tony Lentz About Stencil Design and Void Reduction. Voiding is a key concern in specific electronic applications including automotive and LED electronic manufacturing. Greg and Tony published a paper entitled “Root Cause Stencil Design for SMT Component Thermal Lands”. 

Reliability Matters: A Podcast Discussing Reliability of Circuit Assemblies

Greg was the owner and President of a stencil manufacturing company for 23 years prior to joining FineLine Stencil (FLS). Since the merger of FLS and MET, Greg has been utilizing his decades of experience to help customers. He writes and presents white papers, works with customers on stencil design and performs root cause analysis to improve customer yields.

Tony has extensive experience doing research and development, quality control, and technical services with products used to manufacture and assemble printed circuit boards. He has published and presented many papers at industry events and is a Speaker of Distinction with SMTA.

Listen to this informative podcast to find out what strategies Greg and Tony suggest in order to alleviate problems in electronics assembly. Learn more about low-voiding solder pastes, stencil design, best practices, and other practical approaches to void reduction. Low-voiding solder paste is a great place to start when experiencing voiding issues, but there are numerous other factors to take into consideration as well.

Greg and Tony are happy to share their expertise! For more information on this topic, reach out to our industry experts!

Tony Lentz can be reached here: [email protected]

Greg Smith can be reached here: [email protected]