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To the Windy City and Back Again

Posted by Adam Murling on Monday, November 24, 2014

This is an account of my trip to Indium's Chicago facility. If you didn't get a chance to read my previous post, the link is right here.  Both flights were flawless which made me happy as this was my first time flying by myself. I was a little nervous but was relieved when the weather was nice both days. Other than having to de-ice the plane leaving Syracuse, everything was great. I learned a lot working out of Indium Corporation's Chicago facility. I learned about the day-to-day activities - along with the activities of the extraordinary people. I worked on the manufacturing floor and met some very interesting individuals. They showed me how to make flux, extrude both flux-cored and solid wire, cast ingots, and refine the wire down to specific lengths for final sale. The most interesting aspect, to me, was making the flux.  I experienced both large and small batch operations. I have always enjoyed chemistry and it was nice to look at something from that perspective. Also, I worked with a wave soldering machine for the first time. It was pretty interesting; a lot different than stencil printing, and reflowing. There are so many different variables, such as: flux deposition, wave height, conveyor speed, preheat temperature, and wave temperature. I would consider it an art to run one of these machines. Each one has its own personality and quirks that makes it unique. The way the metal flowed was amazing in its own right. Profiling a wave solder machine can be more difficult than a traditional reflow oven. If you want to read more on wave solder flux, please read Eric Bastow's, blog. This particular post is about an inappropriate method that is sometimes used in wave solder flux evaluation. A diagram of the basic mechanisms of a wave solder machine is pictured below (source).