Measurement Device for Pressure Monitoring in Vapour Phase Soldering Reflow Processes

In vapour phase soldering, the equipment and process control are usually based on temperature. Heat sensors are placed at different heights in the vapour area and the equipment makes decisions based on their values. The disadvantage of this method is that due to the physical parameters of the heat sensors, they may give different results in the same process. Due to the saturation nature of the temperature characteristics, idle times occur during the operation of the equipment. The aim of this research was to characterize the hydrostatic pressure conditions in the saturated vapour space to improve process control. A solution to the problems of pressure measurement was found, and the pressure response of an industrial vapour phase equipment was investigated. By comparing the results obtained with the temperature results, it was possible to establish the aforementioned idle time. The paper focuses on the development of the measurement device too, which serves as an IoT-enabled node for data logging.