During the PCB processing, the coating of the electroplating process immediately endangers the subsequent etching process, and the quality of the coating is particularly important for the overall quality of the circuit board.
Electroplating equipment accounts for a significant proportion in various PCB manufacturing enterprises. In order to ensure the normal operation of electroplating equipment, the reliability throughout the operation process, and the service life of electroplating equipment, proper maintenance and upkeep of machinery and equipment are crucial. So, what is the most critical aspect of maintenance and upkeep?
The key point of the article is to provide a detailed introduction to the maintenance and upkeep of common electroplating equipment in PCB manufacturing enterprises.
1、 Classification of Equipment Types in PCB Production Process
There are two main types of electroplating equipment, one is horizontal electroplating line and the other is vertical electroplating line.
These two types of electroplating equipment with different structures mainly have different transportation methods for circuit boards and different transportation board equipment structures, so maintenance is slightly different.
2、 Daily maintenance and upkeep methods
1. The key difference between the vertical electroplating process line and the horizontal electroplating process line for the maintenance and upkeep of the tank body depends on the different transportation methods of the circuit board, and the maintenance and upkeep methods for the tank body are essentially not much different.
Within 7 days, multiple cleaning operations should be carried out on each hand washing tank. For acid washing tanks, multiple cleaning operations should be carried out and the tank solution should be replaced; Conduct multiple inspections on the self spraying equipment of the tank body to check for any blockages. If blockages occur, immediately initiate transportation;
Wipe the contact position between the conductive bracket and the anode and the live wire on the copper plating solution and tin plating solution once with a cloth and sandpaper.
Multiple inspections shall be conducted on the titanium baskets and tin strip baskets of the rolling plating tank and tin plating purple tank. Damaged titanium basket bags and tin strip baskets shall be removed and replaced, and copper balls and tin strips shall be added. After adding copper balls and tin strips within 7 days, titanium electrodes shall be carried out on the electroplated copper tank and electroplated tin tank.
After 7 days, trial production will be carried out using high and low current modes, so that the newly added copper balls and tin bars can be produced with stable production performance. Copper balls and anode bags should be cleaned every 90 days.
Every 120-150 days, activated carbon is used to filter and clean the plating solution, remove impurities from the plating solution, and clean the tin bath once.
The maintenance and upkeep of the vibration mechanism of the vertical electroplating production line should be carried out on the vertical electroplating. In order to ensure the uniformity of surface copper and the effectiveness of hole copper during the electroplating process, the plate will vibrate and shake, and the tank will be equipped with vibration and shaking mechanisms.
Within 30 days, the reducer needs to be inspected to see if it is operating normally and to verify its tightness;
Check the tightness of the foundation bolts of the vibration installation motor; Check the damage condition of the vibration vulcanized rubber, and for those with severe damage, immediate replacement should be carried out.
Inspect the contact of the power plug inside the wiring terminal at 180d, and immediately tighten the connector in multiple ways if it becomes loose. For power plugs with melted or brittle cable sheaths, immediately replace the power plug to ensure the dielectric strength in the middle of the power plug;
All bearings on the vibration mechanism should be inspected once, and severely worn bearings should be replaced in a timely manner for the last lubrication.
3. The maintenance of the vertical electroplating line crane and the use of cranes and lifting equipment to transport substrates for the maintenance of the vertical electroplating line.
Crane and hanging equipment should be cleaned multiple times a week (without disassembly and assembly) to maintain a clean and tidy appearance. During cleaning, towels can be used to wipe and sandpaper can be used to polish.
Inspect the hanger within 30 days to check for any damage. Inspect and maintain the driving motor and reducer, check the entire transmission system to ensure its normal operation.
Thoroughly clean and maintain the driving and suspension tools for 180 days. Remove the suspension tool from the vehicle for cleaning.
4. Maintenance and upkeep of the conveyor in the horizontal electroplating production line. The conveying device used in the horizontal electroplating production line is a drum, which uses the rotation of the drum to continuously feed the circuit board into each slot. Therefore, the maintenance of the horizontal electroplating production line conveyor is different from that of the vertical electroplating production line.
The drum of the horizontal electroplating production line should be cleaned once for 7 days to remove foreign objects adhered to the drum and ensure the cleanliness of the conveyor plate surface. Check if the connecting rod is loose.
Check the cylinder every 180 days for wear and replace the worn cylinder promptly to ensure that the printing plate does not get stuck during transportation. The transmission gear, transmission shaft, and the entire transmission system should be inspected once, and any problems should be repaired in a timely manner.
5. Maintenance and upkeep of the circulating filtration system for 7 days. Check the filter cartridge of the circulating filtration system once to see if there is any leakage.
The filter cotton core should be cleaned or replaced every 10-15 days. Replace the filter element within 30 days to ensure filtration quality and flow rate; The filter pump should be cleaned once, and the filter cover and filter screen of the air pump should be cleaned once.
Check the contact condition of the power line connector of the main pump motor after 30 days. If looseness is found, tighten it promptly. If the wires are aging, please replace them with new ones to ensure good contact and safe insulation, and protect the motor.
6. The maintenance of other parts requires checking the output power of the power supply twice every 7 days;
It is necessary to inspect, remove dust, and clean the heat pipe heat sink of the switch power supply and electrical control system to avoid its harm to heat pipe heat dissipation.
Inspect the electrical components of the electrical equipment module within 30 days, and immediately replace them if there is any damage or corrosion;
Check all connectors, repair them promptly if there is poor contact, virtual connection, or virtual soldering, and replace them promptly if there is corrosion damage. Check all contactors and relays. If there is poor contact or adhesion, replace it promptly.
Check the main parameters of capacitors, reactors, resistors and other components, and replace them as soon as possible if there are any abnormalities.
The automatic feeding system should be checked and calibrated every 7 days. Clean the dirt and waste on the electric heating device within 7 days to avoid excessive internal temperature.
Multiple inspections will be conducted on the software of various water and gas pipeline systems within 7 days to check for any steam or liquid leakage. For pipelines with steam or liquid leakage, immediate maintenance and replacement should be carried out.
3、 Discussion on maintenance before long-term shutdown
If the machine equipment is shut down for a long time, maintenance should be carried out to ensure that it is not easily corroded or brittle during the entire shutdown process. It is necessary to ensure:
Clean the ground, wipe off the water on the ground, keep the ground dry, and keep the machines, water tanks, cranes, and hanging tools clean and dry.
It is best to wrap all motors in plastic wrap for maintenance; All rolling bearings are injected with lubricating grease for rust prevention treatment; All liquid medicines in the pipeline should be cleaned and placed neatly;
Clean the medicine in the filter cartridge of the filter. Remove the filter element from the filter and clean it.
All electric heaters in the tank must be cleaned and tidy, free of stains, and maintained dry and agitated.
The electroplating equipment used in PCB production and manufacturing varies due to different processing techniques and commonly used PCB manufacturers, resulting in necessary differences in machine equipment and maintenance methods
However, timely and accurate maintenance of the equipment is necessary, and the maintenance and upkeep of the equipment cannot be ignored due to production progress and output. Only with correct and timely maintenance can the normal operation, stable performance, production output, and quality of the equipment be guaranteed.
Suyuan Electroplating Equipment Factory specializes in providing electroplating automatic equipment such as copper production lines and chemical nickel gold production lines. Welcome to consult!
