Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/699765
July 2016 • SMT Magazine 87 SELECTING A SELECTIVE SOLDERING SYSTEM, PART 4 separately. That flexibility is key if it's important for your board production. After the board has been configured, the file is sent to the machine to begin processing. Most software programs have a menu option that al- lows for easy download of the saved program to the machine controller, usually via a serial, USB or Ethernet connection. How to Evaluate Software The selective soldering machine you buy will always offer its own software; however, if you like the machine but its software isn't ex- actly what you want, you can often purchase a third-party program which can also export the formatted board back to the machine. Any respectable machine manufacturer will offer a free demo version of their software for you to evaluate before purchase. It will allow you to see how easy (or difficult) it is to import graphics files, configure them, and program special circumstances that may arise in your production routines. A good software package will be intuitive and easy to use. And while many of these deci- sions can be made by a thoughtful and expe- rienced board programmer, some sophisticated software packages offer optimization tools to achieve the best pattern for complex board ge- ometries. Such software packages will, along with the judgment of the operator, be capable of deciding whether changing a nozzle would be advantageous or not. NOTE: If nozzle changes are dictated, they must be done manually. The machine interface will alert the operator any time there's a manual operation to be performed. As the operator defines how the board will be processed, the software will prompt the user to instruct the machine what to do at each point or drag selection. Typically, the default com- mand is to flux, preheat and solder each contact at one time, then change the nozzle height and move on to another selection; however, there may be special cases where the board design may require handling some of the operations Figure 3: PCB data file example.