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1996 "Vision Award" Awarded to Zephyrtronics in Recognition of Its Breakthrough
"AirBath Device"
 for Preheating at
 the Benchtop



The Zephyrtronics
 AirBath is Featured
in Ray Prasad's
 Definitive Text
"Surface Mount Technology"

"Innovative...simpler, safer way to remove and repair sensitive devices" The Editorial Staff, SMT MAGAZINE

The Zephyrtronics AirBath “bathes the circuit board in warm air to reduce thermal stresses to the board and its components.”-- NASA Report, Jan, '04

The ZT-1-BGS-DPU BigGrid™ AirBath features an ample 16-square inch (110 sq. cm) pre-heating grid with 1,500 watts of power and 50 CFM (1,415 liters per minute) of air supply of pre-heating and cooling at the bench. This is our second largest AirBath™ and was first introduced in 1998 by Zephyrtronics, the recognized pioneer and world leader in PCB preheating technology.

Indeed, this is the very same BigGrid™ AirBath used by NASA and JPL for dependable preheating of the PCB's on the two Mars Rovers that were so successful on the Red Planet!

The BigGrid™ AirBath, manufactured in our state-of-art factory in California, is available to all our customers around the world with large PCB's in size or with high copper content, heat-sinks, large ground or back planes. What a workhorse!

The patented protected technology within the BigGrid™ AirBath™ presents the most effective solution for PCB pre-heating during prototyping or rework at the bench for thru-hole and surface mount technology including Ball Grid Arrays. Far more than just a preheater, this is a Zephyrtronics AirBath™.

The  BigGrid™ AirBath (Shown Above) Was Chosen By NASA & JPL for Processing PCB's on the Successful Mars Rovers Program.

More Details:

Preheat Power: Our BigGrid™ AirBath with its powerful 50 CFM (1,415 liters/min) of air supply and its 4.13" x 3.81" (12.2cm x 9.7cm) extra-large heating grid delivers its forced-convection preheating power as needed for those "boards from hell" -- as many engineers like to say. Beware of imitative pre-heaters with less than 13CFM (360 liters/minute) that crudely attempt to compensate for their lack of preheat air volume with higher temp settings. Remember: the glass transition of a FR-4 PCB is only 170°C. You don't want higher preheat temps, you want a higher volume of safe preheated (100°C to 170°C) air for your PCB's.

Loaded With Premium Features: The BigGrid™ gets into all the nooks and crannies of the PCB assembly where hot plates and IR pre-heaters can't go (more below).  It is ESD-safe; features illuminated indicator lights (blue: cooling; red: preheating); it is self-contained with an internal air supply (no hookups); all inside a  durable, steel housing for industrial use and long production life.

Critical Thermal Ramping: The BigGrid™ AirBath has the industry standard, built-in temperature ramping at 2° to 4°C per second preventing thermal shock to sensitive chips, ceramic caps and glass diodes. The ramp is "built in" by design into every Zephyrtronics AirBath™ Preheating System.

The Many Benefits of Preheating Your PCB: The benefits from preheating are multiple and compounding. 1.) Preheating or "soaking" the assembly prior to initiating reflow helps to activate the flux, removing oxides and surface films from the leads and pads to be soldered, thereby enhancing the wetting process and solder joint quality.  2.) Preheating the board permits lower soldering reflow temperatures.  3.) Preheating reduces the final "dwell time" during the final reflow stage.  4.) Preheating reduces thermal stresses to the PCB substrate and its components when localized reflow is made with soldering irons, de-soldering tools and hot air systems. 5.) Preheating provides the thermal boost needed when working with RoHS lead-free solders without damaging the work!

For Thru-Hole, SMT & BGA Preheating Tasks: The BigGrid™ AirBath is ideal for all PCB challenges from low-volume production runs, prototyping during design or during rework with all component packages such as BGA, CSP, QFP, QFN, TSOP, PLCC, SOIC, SOL, LCC, Flip Chip and Glob Top components. And it easily handles all substrates including FR-4, polyimide, composites, flex circuits and ceramic boards.

Two BigGrid™ AirBath Models: Our BigGrid™ AirBath is available in two models: analog and digital. Both models feature variable temperature selection between ambient (room temp) and up to 205°C. Both models feature closed-loop feedback temperature sensing control. The analog model has a dial for temp selection on the front panel. The digital model incorporates a digital set/read lighted display that permits single digit/degree incremental temperature selection in the "set" mode and tracks real time temperature at the air exit point above the grids.

Comparing The 4 Methods of Preheating:  Pre-heating PCB assemblies falls into four categories: Use of hot plates, use of ovens, IR systems, and the use of forced convection (warm air) up under the PCB:. While any preheating of your PCB's prior to solder reflow is certainly better than none, an objective analysis of the various methods of preheating quickly reveals that all preheating methods are not equally effective or beneficial:

The Oven: The use of an oven to pre-heat the substrate before reworking and initiating solder reflow for either removal and/or replacement of components can yield the most uniform temperature profile as it warms both the top and bottom of the PCB assembly as ovens also do in high volume production equipment such as conveyor ovens and wave solder machines. It's just a little problematic to crawl inside an oven with your PCB to preheat while your perform selective soldering or desoldering tasks on one side of the board. Of course, one can preheat in an oven and then race with it in your high-gloved hands back to the bench, but it's hardly a solution either.

The Hot Plate: The obvious limitation to the hot plate is that not all PCB assemblies are single sided. In fact, in today's world of hybrid and mixed technologies, the PCB that is entirely flat or plane on one side is an exotic and rare creature indeed. PCB's typically can carry heat sinks, connectors, jumpers and transformers on both sides of the substrate. These uneven surfaces on the board present an indirect path of heat conduction from the hot plate to the board assembly.

The IR Plate Preheater: There are many drawbacks to IR which is why it really never completely caught on. That is not to say that, as with hot plates,  there are some applications that work with IR pre-heaters.  Some of drawbacks which have been enumerated in articles in SMT Magazine, Circuits Assembly and in white papers at electronic conventions are the difficulty in ramping temps (some are better than others); shadowing caused by high profile components on PCB's; and if the IR preheat grid is very large it can make working on small PCB's very uncomfortable for the technician (this is a very common complaint).  Still another great disadvantage to IR preheaters is that they can not ever truly be "temperature controlled" without the technician having to always pre-assemble an external thermocouple into every board before working on it. And that's a continuous hassle and headache replete with quality pitfalls and problems with inconsistent results. There are more, but these are some of the key setbacks.

Forced Convection Preheat, The AirBath™:  The market has long spoken with regards to the distinct advantages and superiority of a warm air bath in the pre-heating process. Forced convection completely disregards the topography (or bottomography) of the PCB, allowing immediate, direct access of the warm air into all of the nooks and crannies of the PCB assembly. And much like the newer, popular forced convection commercial ovens, the circulating warmed air is far more effective than static warm air.

The Picture Tells the Story:
 A Comparison of Two Popular PCB Preheating Methods