FAQ: Does the machine apply solder paste? Why not?

[JuKu]

No, LitePlacer does not apply solder paste, for several reasons.

First, applying paste with a syringe requires very precise control of paste amount for reliable results. If there is a bit more paste on one side of a small passive than the other, we might get tombstoning. Using a stencil is far more precise.

Second, the machine is already on the slow side. Applying paste pad by pad would make the process untolerably slow.

And finally, in my opinion, it does not make much sense to develop a machine to do a job that is very easy to do by hand and takes only two minutes, including the time to clean the stencil. See the video on this page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gFVkOptv-c (no sound on video). The process is actually just as easy as it looks like, and he even had to align the stencil manually. (I haven't used this yet, but for reference, this system looks really nice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBWtqZro_fg).

[WayOutWest]

The process is actually just as easy as it looks like, and he even had to align the stencil manually. (I haven't used this yet, but for reference, this system looks really nice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBWtqZro_fg).

I use a system called Stencil8 and recommend it very highly.

I've pasted over a thousand boards with it.

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