Summary

The repair of defective components, connectors or pins is essential for expensive, high-performance or safety-critical electronic components. However, functional components must be protected against the temperature impact during the repair (rework). For a safe and reliable process, we have developed special rework protection caps and shields, which can be manufactured quickly and individually according to your needs.

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Rework protective caps for temperatures up to 300°C

Elimination of component preparation

There is no need for time-consuming preparation of the circuit boards (e.g. with polyimide tape) before the repair. The caps or labels are attached directly and thus protect the underlying components from temperature.

Left: Polyimid tape for protection of PCB components; Right: AHMT rework shield for protection

Protection against thermal shock

In addition, the surrounding components are protected against thermal shock and excessive temperature swings. Therefore accidental melting of other components can be prevented. Thus, lower thermal stresses are induced into the board.

Process monitoring by integrated thermocouples

Thanks to the integrated thermocouples, the temperature of the components under the protective caps can be precisely monitored. Thereby, a too high or fast temperature change can be prevented.

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Rework station with AHMT protective caps including thermocouple for temperature monitoring

Controlled cooling

Another advantage is that the cooling process can be slowed down with the rework protection. Thanks to the innovative onion system (patent pending), the outer skins cool down quickly, but the temperature is maintained in the inner layers. The result is a fast cooling of the outer skin to avoid the danger of burns on contact. However, the inner layers cool down slowly due to the good insulation and prevent thermal shock of the components and solder layers.

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Thermal protection cap with 3 thermocouples for temperature monitoring

When reworking manually with a soldering iron, inadvertent heating-up / damage to other components can be ruled out. The caps can withstand a temperature of 350°C for a short time and 300°C permanently. Typical preheating temperatures of 150°C or soldering temperatures of 250°C can be realized without problems.

Increase cleanliness – avoid carryover

Thanks to the protective shields, solder splashes or solder carry-over are also a thing of the past. Our designers adapt the protection optimally to your board. Thus the shield lies on sensitive components like a surgical drape and only gives access to the open wound.

Rework without a second melting

This technology also allows rework in vacuum reflow systems. With appropriate protection, the solder melts only at the desired points and vacuum can remove voids, pores, flux residues or air inclusions from the solder.

Further Information

Further information about our repair solutions can be found here.

Interested? – please contact our technical experts.