Rapid Prototyping on PCBs' with 0402 - 50 sqmm BGAs

At all the various stages during the product life cycle of an electronic system, from Prototyping to Disposal, our customers have the assurance of 100% commitment from us at Power Action Ltd in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

It is however at the prototyping stage that our involvement and experience can add so much extra value to the potential of your product especially when complexities such as Ball Grid Array (BGA) , pressfit and 0402 are involved.

Power Action Ltd's Design for Manufacture and Project Management team will work closely with you to ensure rapid and high quality prototyping using even the most testing of micro Ball Grid Array (BGA) devices. This ensures that new designs are released smoothly into production and delivered to schedule.

Areas where our Prototyping can yield advantage

Rapid / Fast turnaround
Excellent build quality - reduced debug time
Layout for Thermal Distribution
Component clearances advice
BGA placement
Component orientation planning
Stage build
X-ray analysis
Component layout suggestions for rework
Pressfit assembly with minimal tooling costs

Fast turn around time is of considerable importance in most development cycles and for this reason our Prototyping is unrelated to our main factory schedule. These jobs are started IMMEDIATELY it is prudent to do so.

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BGA Placement / Rework

Using the highly advanced Airvac DRS24C BGA / SMT rework station, removal and replacement of Ball Grid Array (BGA) devices right down to micro BGA format is carried out with precision and repeatability. The primary strength of the Airvac BGA / SMT station is the fully self profiling software - taking away operator error and producing a thermal profile for the specific BGA /SMT area under assembly.

This station particularly proves its worth when it comes to the assembly of prototypes stage by stage. For highly complex designs incorporating multiple BGA devices the design engineer can 'isolate and verify' that different sections of complex circuits function as they should before building up the next section. This method of assembly has been used to full effect by us for the pre-production, NPI and prototyping of boards of up to 42 BGAs'.

Located as we are, close to the main road routes in Ireland and within 20 mins of two UK international airports, rapid turnaround of a project in-house, is paired with excellent logistics to give the customer full advantage. Indeed the Interlink depot in Lisburn is 2 mins walk from our factory enabling us to deliver by hand up to 6.00pm and have the product with the customer anywhere in Ireland the next day.

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X-Ray and Visual Inspection Systems

For those not prepared to make the substantial investment required for X-ray equipment various half hearted budget alternatives are now available in the market place. As a customer of Power Action Ltd we will not be asking you to settle for second best!

We have many years of expertise interpreting x-ray images. Using our in-house equipment we carry out 100% X-ray inspection on ALL BGA devices and fine pitch SMT connectors using an Xtec HMX-ST 160 Real Time 5-axis X-ray.

X-ray inspection specification

5 µm Focal Spot Reflection Target X-Ray Source, 160 kV
15kg Capacity 5 axis fully programmable manipulator
Maximum scan area 480 x 510mm (480 x 680mm in 2 scans)
Geometric Magnification up to: 160x
System Magnification up to: 400x
Feature recognition: down to 1 micron
External Cabinet Dimensions: 2030mm L, 1360mm D, 2000mm H
Click Here to see a demonstration of Real Time X-Ray image (664K)

For visual inspection of fine assembly work and SMT devices we have 3 Lynx Stereo Dynascopes. These have variable magnification and give an excellent method of visual process validation.

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Functional Test

We can carry out a wide range of Functional Test to customer's specification, including programming on or off line. For medium volume applications we have In-Circuit Test capability offered at a competitive cost with fixtures and programming.

We have a highly experienced team of test/repair engineers with a vast knowledge of many types of electronic systems. We combine this expertise with the latest repair and rework facilities to make a very competent combination.

1 X DRS 24C Airvac BGA / SMT rework system with Nitrogen reflow
1 X HMX-ST 160 real time X-Ray inspection system
3 X Lynx Stereo Dynascope Inspection systems
4 X Advanced AM 6000 JBC Surface Mount rework Stations
6 X MX500 Metcal SMT rework Stations

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Volume circuit and system production

We have a fully automated high-speed surface mount line with placement capabilities ranging from 0402 and 0603 chip components to 50mm square fine pitched (0.3mm) QFP's and BGA devices.

Universal Flexjet, DEK Printing and Soltec Nitrogen convection reflow machines.

0402 up to 50mm square devices
1 X Universal FlexJet Placement ( 20,000 placements per Hour )
1 X Dek Horizon Automatic Screen Printer
PTF placement for waffle tray supplied components
7 Zone convection reflow with Nitrogen option
4 Zone IR convection reflow for conventional product

Flow Solder processes utilise Electrovert Wave Solder with either Foam or Spray Fluxing for either No Clean or aqueous processing .

The use of a Barcode Tracking System specifically designed for the electronics industry not only records the position of individual circuits through the SMT processes but also logs the process parameters used at each stage for each individual circuit. This enables excellent qualitative analysis and in process improvement.

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