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Laser etching onto PCBs

Laser etching onto PCBs

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Hello people. We have a Nutek LMC-S3 laser etcher that we u... - Jun 03, 2021 by Karl

From what I figured, machine is as good as the understanding... - Jun 03, 2021 by Evtimov

What about the bar code reader? The ability of them vary a l... - Jun 04, 2021 by Stephen

Is the variation between markings human-detectable, or does ... - Jul 13, 2021 by jseewald

Are you using a regular barcode scanner, or a smartphone app... - Jul 26, 2021 by ProcEng1

Place a label and etch that instead of the PCB. Too many var... - Jul 26, 2021 by Sr. Tech

Software makes a huge difference. Try a different barcode re... - Jul 26, 2021 by Stephen

Karl

#86728

Laser etching onto PCBs | 3 June, 2021

Hello people.

We have a Nutek LMC-S3 laser etcher that we use for etching 2D datamatrix codes onto our PCBs. The system has been in use for some time, but seems to constantly need tweaking to get reliable results.

There are a lot of variables that affect the readability of the etched codes, and it is difficult to make any standardised etching templates.

The programming and machine software make it very time consuming and laborious to do any decent amount of testing with different settings.

I was just wondered if anyone else has any experience with laser etching that they may be willing to share? In particular, best laser settings to use for Laser Power (%), Frequency (kHz), Mark Speed (mm/s) and Pulse Width (us) and their relationship to each other, although I expect these settings are very much application specific.

Also any other tips or general advise is always appreciated. Thanks.

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Evtimov

#86731

Laser etching onto PCBs | 3 June, 2021

From what I figured, machine is as good as the understanding we have about it. I have heard people complaining about machines I know for a fact are great. Manuals and training are there with a reason. There is no universal recipe for anything out there.

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Stephen

#86733

Laser etching onto PCBs | 4 June, 2021

What about the bar code reader? The ability of them vary a lot. One machine had problems reading clearly printed barcodes. But after new software it would read them well. And later we got boards with the datamatrix barcodes silk screened on. They were a bunch of little blobs and I thought that there was no way that they could work. But the machine could read them.

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jseewald

#86858

Laser etching onto PCBs | 13 July, 2021

Is the variation between markings human-detectable, or does the issue only crop up when you use a scanner? Different scanners can definitely have different results. Try a few models, and make sure you aren't using any damaged scanners. When you set up a job, make sure whatever scanner you are using to validate the markings is the same as what is used during production.

If there is any height variation in your PCBs and your laser settings aren't robust, you will certainly see variation. Look into pallets to remove height variation, or simply do more test marks to ensure you have the best settings possible.

Barcode setup can be very time-consuming, and may not always be the best solution for you application. Maybe look into laser-markable labels. They produce some really nice contrast and may be more forgiving than solder mask.

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ProcEng1

#86882

Laser etching onto PCBs | 26 July, 2021

Are you using a regular barcode scanner, or a smartphone app? When I print QR style codes on labels, I often use my phone to verify the print, but I've found that sometimes, especially when I print very small, or a very dense barcode, my phone won't scan, but our barcode readers still can. I've often wondered if it's because the camera resolution is so high that it's "too picky" about the smaller or more dense patterns.

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Sr. Tech

#86884

Laser etching onto PCBs | 26 July, 2021

Place a label and etch that instead of the PCB. Too many variances in solder mask

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Stephen

#86885

Laser etching onto PCBs | 26 July, 2021

Software makes a huge difference. Try a different barcode reader app and see if you can find a better one. With data matrix the bar code can be mostly a bunch of blobs as long as the outside is reasonable good. Then the reader only needs a few pixels in the centre of each square. Having the barcodes silk screened on works well for us even though they look really bad.

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