Surface mount on the solder side-a modified process compatible with standard wave soldering

A modified surface-mount (SM) process suitable for the solder side is described. This process permits wave soldering with standard wave soldering equipment eliminating the problems of solder skips and eliminating the special handling precautions necessary to avoid knocking off glued SM components before wave soldering. The process consists in reflow soldering and adhesive curing simultaneously the solder-side components. This is done prior to conventional mixed-technology assembly (SM and leaded component on the primary side). As the solder-side SM components are already soldered a conventional wave-soldering machine can be used with no solder skips. An added benefit is that the soldered and glued solder-side SM components are so solidly attached that there is no fear of knocking them off in board handling prior to wave soldering. Advantages, disadvantages, and concerns of the modified adhesive process are reviewed. Experimental results comparing the process with the conventional adhesive process are presented.<>