Questions tagged [stencil]
31 questions
14
votes
1 answer
Why order a laser stencil?
Quick two part question on PCB manufacturing. I am looking to order a prototype PCB and all the manufactures I've gotten a quote from all offer to include a Laser stencil, some charge for the stencil some are given free with the board. After looking…

Jack
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2 answers
How to clean solder stencils?
I have had great success in the past using the reflow soldering method, using a syringe and needle to apply the paste to the board. Since I found myself repeatedly making the same boards, I decided to purchase some stencils.
I purchased a framed…

sa_leinad
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8
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1 answer
Solder paste stencil application
I am trying to do reflow soldering with a stencil for the first time. I have done some reflow soldering before, but every time I manually applied the paste using a small syringe + needle. These attempts went well and I was able to solder some QFN…

svUser
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6
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1 answer
Why do I have shorts/bridges on QFN packages on PCBA during assembly? Stencil Printing problem
I am trying to do a home assembly of PCB but I have issues after reflow soldering. Especially I have bridges/shorts on the pins of QFN packages. I have assembled multiple boards other joins are okay but each time I have randomly bridged pins on…

D_Dog
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1 answer
How to apply solder paste with stencil in a 2 sided PCB?
I have seen lots of tutorials about how to apply solder paste using a stencil, but all of them only show how to apply the stencil to one side of the PCB. My current project is 2 sided and I would like to make 2 stencils (one for the top and one for…

mFeinstein
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2 answers
Good practice when designing a PCB and stencil?
While I generally use nothing smaller that SOIC chips or 0603 passive components, I have to design a PCB with a WSON-14 IC with tiny 0.5mm pin spacing and with an exposed pad.
While I generally use a syringe to apply solder paste I thought that, for…

user2233709
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What's a good plastic for self-cutting solder paste stencils on a laser?
I've tried making my own solder paste stencil using 4 mil polyester (for overhead projection slides) on a 45W Epilog laser cutter at the local TechShop maker space.
I could not "cut" the stencil cleanly, because the edges charred and became…

Jon Watte
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Is there a pitch limit to applying solder paste through a PCB stencil by hand?
I've ordered two stencils from two different companies, two different materials. Both times I've been completely unable to effectively apply solder paste to the pads of a QFP-64. I end up with a mess of solder all along one side, instead of a…

Stephen Collings
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3
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4 answers
Solder bridging when reflowing QFP
Today I attempted to reflow solder a board using a solder paste mask and a hot air station but for a QFP chip, I got a of solder bridging. This has generally been my experience with trying to solder QFP chips with hot air - I can't seem to prevent…

Emil Eriksson
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3
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1 answer
SMD Stencil Material Choice
We are planning to purchase a stencil for our LED boards. This will be my first stencil purchase so I don't have much idea about a good or bad one.
The inquiries I received typically suggest two materials: Phosphor Bronze or Steel. Steel ones are…

C K
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3
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2 answers
Applying solder paste through stencil and with a machine dispenser
I am trying to apply soldering paste to a PCB using stencil but I am having issues with S-PQFP-G80 package with 0.5mm pitch.
Whenever I try to apply the paste through the stencil I end up with paste being smeared all over the pads on the PCB. I am…

MarkoP
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2
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What is etched half fiducial in PCB stencil ? How to use it?
On pcb manufacturer website, it is possible to opt for "etched half fiducial".
Here is how it is explained :
Fiducial Mark is an alignment mark for surface mount assembly
machines.In General,machine assembly must have Fiducial marks.Fiducial
marks…

doom
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2
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How do you prevent solder paste from bleeding to nearby pads when using a solder stencil?
This is the first time I've done this but I've tried about ten times now:
That particular image is of the pads for an ESP-32. It's not a perfectly representative picture because the bridging isn't always that bad.
I followed this guide and in fact…

user875234
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2
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1 answer
Is it possible to manufactrure a stencil for this paste-mask using the usual stencil making methods?
I have this footprint from the KI-CAD footprint library (LFCSP-32-1EP_5x5mm_P0.5mm_EP3.1x3.1mm_ThermalVias).
The paste-mask shows several circular paste areas under the thermal pad. The separation between the paste areas is only 1-mil.
The areas…

user4574
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Dual fixture ( Stencil, SMT carrier...)
I have an output upgrade project on SMT, part of which is dual fixture (2 sides BOT & TOP on the same side).
So is there anyone here with experience with this? Can u give me some advice on this?

Jonathan Chu UHAN
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