During vapor phase reflow soldering used in electronics manufacturing, the process control of ovens is usually based on temperature measurements, which can be insufficient due to the saturation differences in the temperature and the vapour concentration. Therefore, the ovens use extended cycle times for process identification to ensure the proper formation of solder joints.
Our work offers a solution to eliminate the idle time by investigating the hydrostatic pressure conditions in the process zone. A pressure measurement system was developed for vapour phase soldering ovens, which can monitor the vapour pressure changes by a gauge-type pressure sensor with fused temperature measurement. It works as an IoT-enabled node for data logging and subsequent control.
Thermocouples were placed at different points of the VPS tank. The measuring points were located in the heat transfer fluid (TC1), and above the soldering level (TC”). TC1 in the Galden liquid gives status about the temperature of the Galden during the preheating of the oven for soldering. TC2 is used to define the start and the end of the soldering cycle. A measurement probe (tube) was placed in the vapour space and the upper end is connected to a sensor, then the vapour generation causes gauge pressure in the system. This additional pressure is proportional to density and the height of the vapour space.
The fusion of the hydrostatic pressure values with the temperature values allowed us to identify and reduce the idle time by approximately 60 s, which is 15–20% of the total soldering cycle time. This increases the oven's yield by 15-20%, reduces the system's power consumption by 15–20%, and reduces time above liquidus of the solder by ~35%.
The dataset consists:
· the published figures in the article in vectorial format
· the original source files of the measurements (temperature and pressure) and the published figures (in SVG format)
(2025-09-24)
