Until the release of our CV-5210 power station, Metcal soldering stations have not featured a tip temperature display. Many customers, especially Contract Manufacturers have lamented this, because of their need to provide documentation and support for their customers and ISO or other process control requirements.
Most conventional soldering systems have provided temperature displays on their power units. Systems that use an internal temperature sensor will periodically require calibration to ensure the unit is performing to specification, which introduces an additional process control requirement.
In some soldering stations, the display is an indication of the operator set point, not the actual temperature measured by the internal temperature sensor. The actual temperature at the tip will differ from the heater temperature by an amount that is dependent upon the thermal resistance and thermal losses of the solder tip.
Metcal’s Connection Validation® SmartHeat® soldering systems feature a new solder tip temperature display. The tip temperature display is enabled by the combination of two technologies. SmartHeat soldering systems sense the thermal load and instantly deliver the right amount of power directly to the joint. Power-on-Demand allows the user to solder and rework varying thermal loads, and only the power needed will be applied to the joint, preventing harm to sensitive components. Metcal has combined this Power-on-Demand technology with a globally patented intelligent soldering cartridge technology to provide a new soldering temperature display experience.
Metcal’s heating technology incorporates different alloys to achieve multiple temperature series heaters. The Curie temperature of the heater alloys establish the heater temperature. Our large selection of heaters enables a customer to select the correct soldering temperature range for the job. By balancing performance versus risk factors like maximum board or component temperature, flux activation temperature, etc. Selecting the right solder tip for the job will also help maximize your tip life.
During solder cartridge (tip) construction, each intelligent cartridge is programmed with its unique data related to tip mass, thermal resistance, thermal efficiency, temperature, and serial number. Sensing the power requirements of the load and armed with the key solder cartridge information, the Connection Validation power supply calculates and displays the solder tip temperature. In fact, our system achieves an accuracy of ±2% at idle for solder tip temperature.
In addition to the real-time solder tip temperature display, the Connection Validation power supply does not require calibration as the temperature is calculated rather than relying on an embedded sensor. Metcal continues to lead the industry by providing a fast, safe and repeatable process with no manual adjustments required.
Looking for more information? Check out the full white paper here.
