Problem measuring parallelism wave

Hello everyone, I have a question regarding wavesoldering and measuring if a proces/machine is in control.

I made a custom carrier for measuring contact time, parallelism, solder temperature, coveyorspeed and some data of the preheat section. The strange thing is that is almost never have an acceptable parallelism... One time it says -0,6sec, an other time it say's +0,4 sec. My conveyor speed is 95cm/min. Just a normal wave, no "smartwave/chipwave" of whatever. For measuring I use the SlimKIC 2000 with a custom made carrier.

In the company I work we have two soldermachine's , both are showing these strange measurements. To be sure that my machines are not the problem, I did also measure contacttime and parallelism with a glassplate. The conclusion was that both machine are ok..

The problem must be in the carrier I guess? But what am I doing wrong...?

I used the SlimKIC manual as a reference for making my carrier. TC1 is the air sensor and is 1" before the carrier. TC2 and TC3 are in one line on the plate. The other TC's I use for measuring preheats on a PCB wich is also mounted in the carrier.

My questions: - What are normal values for parallism?

- Can I make a reliable measurement on a "chipwave"?

- What is the best way to mount the thermocouples on the carrier?

- Has anyone some other good ideas?

If it's necessary I can make some pictures of my carrier...

Thanks in advance :)

reply »