NeoPixel RGB 5050 LED SK6812 (#3094) Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

[jmons]

Hi,

I am interested in the NeoPixel RGB 5050 LED, but there is a comment in the description that they may not be suitable for pick & place and reflow. Can you please expand upon this comment. Is this due to the temperature during reflow? Do the parts tend to fall off the reel?

Thanks!

[adafruit_support_mike]

It mostly means you aren't guaranteed a continuous tape that you can feed into a pick and place machine. You might get short cuts of tape, or you might get them loose.

We have found that it's tricky to get the reflow profile for those right. The temperature that makes a good joint is fairly close to the temperature that melts the package. If you're willing to hand-place them for reflow, don't stuff all your boards, put them in the oven at once, and hope for the best. Do some test boards to find the boundaries for your setup.

[jmons]

Could you provide the specs on the part - especially the temperature in which it begins to melt? I'm wondering if we could use a different solder paste than you used (with a different composition) that wouldn't require such a high temperature.

Also, we require that these are on tape and reel. Is Adafruit willing to work with us to ensure that the LEDs come that way?


Thanks!

[adafruit_support_mike]

The plastic doesn't have a clear liquid/solid transition temperature. It starts to soften below the melting point of any solder, but can hold its shape for short periods above the melting point of most solder. You have to work out the preheat time, ramp, and dwell for each board and layout, with heavy emphasis on the performance of the oven you're using. We have to use different values for different kinds of boards.

WRT making sure the LEDs come on a continuous tape, we can't afford to do that unless you're talking about minimum order quantities of full reels, and I don't remember how many chips are in a reel off the top of my head.. a few thousand at least. Too many people want something specially picked, packaged, or tested, and we just don't have the free staff hours to do it.

[jmons]

Thanks for the response. The reason for all of the questions is that I work for a contract manufacturer who has a potential order that would require this component. The quantities are anticipated to reach hundreds of thousands per year. In this case, we would need one million piece pricing. Would it be possible for you to put me in contact with your supplier to get into the nitty gritty details regarding the feasibility of using this component in a manufacturing setting using pick and place and reflow technology? Hand soldering for this application is not an option for us at such high volumes.

Thanks again for all of your help so far.

[adafruit_support_mike]

Let me forward this to our people on the business team.

Send a note containing a link to this thread and FOR PHIL in the subject line. The folks there will work with you.