Altus Group, a leading distributor of electronics manufacturing equipment in the UK and Ireland, has added the new ASSCON VP320 to its vapour phase soldering portfolio. Designed for prototypes, small production batches and high-mix, low-volume applications, the compact top-loading system builds on its predecessor, the VP310, with greater automation and simpler operation.
The addition comes as Altus reports growing demand from customers producing high-technology, high-reliability electronics, particularly for RF applications. The company is also seeing OEMs bring manufacturing capabilities in-house and laboratories establish their own facilities to improve response times and accelerate new product introduction.
Joe Booth, CEO of Altus Group, said: “ASSCON are a great supplier whose continued investment in research and development supports our customers and gives us a strong product range to promote. They recently responded to customer demand by creating a higher-volume inline platform. Now they are addressing another common requirement at the other end of the spectrum: a capable lab-style machine for customers working within a smaller budget. The VP320 can be a valuable addition to a laboratory, a university or a busy production environment that needs to solder complex electronic assemblies.”
The VP320 supports soldering trials, process qualification and small-series production, with fully automatic process control. Its 370 × 330 mm workpiece carrier accommodates single-sided and double-sided PCB assemblies up to 60 mm high.
Integrated air cooling, a standard single-phase power supply and no requirement for an external exhaust system simplify installation in existing facilities.
Vapour phase technology provides uniform heating in an oxygen-free environment. The boiling point of the selected process fluid limits the maximum soldering temperature, helping protect assemblies from overheating.
Tobias Tuffentsammer, Head of Sales at ASSCON, said: “We have had a lot of success over the years with the smaller, low-throughput laboratory platforms and the VP510 is one of our strongest sellers. We wanted to bring that same level of automation and simplicity to the new model that has made the VP510 so popular and we are really excited with the outcome.
“This is a very capable lab system which we can see will be very popular in that setting and provide users a very simple way to effectively solder complex assemblies with vapour phase technology within a small budget.”
The VP320 adds to the options available through Altus for companies developing in-house soldering capabilities, with a compact system that can support both development work and small-batch production.
