Youtube Tutorials
Frequently Asked Questions:
You can find the full list of our FAQs by clicking here
Product and Sales
What service do you ship with?
We use UPS for domestic shipments and ship internationally with FedEx
Is the SV2 similar to other 3D printers like the FDM regarding setup and expertise required?
Yes, but if you would like a demo please contact us at contact@botfactory.co
Does the machine come with consumables (conductive ink, insulating ink, and paste/glue) and all the heads?
The Print, Paste, and Pick-and-Place heads are all included if you selected one of our 3 standard models (Starter, Enhanced, Professional). Consumables (Inks and Paste) are sold separately from the machine
Is the SV2 software in the cloud or on the machine?
The software does not live in the cloud but on the machine itself and is accessible by your computer's browser. You don't need an internet connection to use our machine, but you will need one to update the software
How high are customs taxes?
Customs taxes are country-dependent (from 0 to 30% of your purchase cost). VAT is not included in the sticker price. Please speak to our sales department for more information by emailing sales@botfactory.co
Are there any other installation, operating, or maintenance costs?
The only recurring costs you should expect are for consumables and any optional specialized training. Your specific needs and machine use will determine your maintenance costs. Here is a breakdown of what to expect:
Installation Costs: There are no additional costs for installation; the SV2 PCBA printer is designed for easy setup
Operating Costs: Consumables such as ink cartridges and printing materials will be your primary recurring expenses. The frequency of these costs will depend on your usage
Maintenance Costs: Periodic maintenance is recommended for optimal performance. The frequency could be quarterly or semi-annually, depending on usage. Costs will vary based on the level of service required and if you are within warranty or not
Software Updates: All software upgrades are included at no additional cost
Warranty: A 1-year warranty is included with the purchase, covering parts and labor
Training: Specialized training for your team is available at an additional cost
What is the cost of the conductive and insulating layers per area?
A layer of conductive ink costs $0.53 per square inch [$0.08/ (cm2 * layer)]
A layer of insulating ink costs $0.88 per square inch [$0.14/ (cm2 * layer)]
Assuming a conductive coverage of ~30%, a typical circuit will cost around $1 per square inch per layer [$0.16/ (cm2 * layer)]
How long does it take to make a circuit?
The length of time it takes to make a circuit is variable depending on what you are printing, but a basic guideline you can use for estimation follows:
Printing for a ~4x4"
Print: 16min, Cure: 10.5min, Insulating: 36min, Via filling: 16min
Layer 1: 26min (Print + Cure)
Layer 1 with solder mask: 62min (Layer 1 + Insulating)
Layer 2: 105min (Layer 1 with solder mask + Via filling + Print + Cure)
Layer 2 with solder mask: 141min (Layer 2 + Insulating)
Layer 3: 183min (Layer 2 with solder mask + Via filling + Print + Cure)
Paste: 10 pads/minute (most components have 2)
Pick and Place: Roughly 2-4 parts per minute
Final Cure: Default final cure is 15 minutes. The heat profile can be adjusted according to the material and process.
What is learned in remote training?
Our remote training is a set of three training sessions done over video calls, and includes a maximum of 12-hours one-on-one with an expert. The training is divided into three segments and includes:
Segment 1:
Introduction
Multilayer Printing
Segment 2:
Extrusion System
Soldering Process and recommendations
PNP System
Segment 3:
Substrate selection
Substrate-less printing
Care and maintenance
Additional tips: This is a brief outline of training and depending on your needs we can go slightly more or less in depth on any given section.
Operational
How can the SV2 control layer thickness, as sometimes we need to calculate wire impedance.
How To update software without internet?
If your machine is not able to be connected to the internet you should click the "Check Software Version" button from the Admin page to locate the offline update options. We use your machine's encryption key to generate its update file, so you'll need to click the "Download Key" button and download the key from the machine. Then on any computer with an internet connection navigate to the address shown, upload the key, and download the update file. Please be aware it can take up to an hour to update. If things don't work correctly after doing that please let us know and we can help generate the update file for you. It will be unique for each machine so keep track of which machine generates which key and update file
What is the difference between Glue and Paste. When to use what?
We only recommend glue with low temperature materials like PET. The material has to be able to reach 100C in any case. We avoid using glue in any other case. Solder paste is much easier to work with, it improves connections through reflow, and provides a good attachment between components and the board
Do paste and epoxy have different pre-extrusion pressure requirements?
How to clean paste tips?
Where to place components in the PNP tray? We find the PnP picks the component at the edge rather than at the center.
General Consumables Information
There are a variety of materials you can use with our printer. There are three categories of materials to consider: substrates, inkjet printed materials, and syringe extruded materials.
We offer two different substrates: Kapton (flexible, aka Polyimide) and FR-4 (rigid, industry standard material for PCB manufacturing). This is the material you will be printing and assembling your boards onto.
Substrate Kapton (or Meldin, Vespel): Our supplier lists the temperature range for Kapton as -267°C to 400°C. In our experience, it begins bending/stretching/warping around 100 C. We have never seen it melt. It has a dielectric strength of 3,900 V/mil and a coefficient of thermal expansion of 1.78 × 10^-5 in./in./°F.
We offer two kinds of inks: These will make up the majority of the printed circuit board.
Inkjet Materials Conductive Ink: The conductive ink is made of silver. The curing process is basically evaporating solvents so you should be left with just silver after. Silver has a melting point of about 960°C. We have never had it get that hot. The sheet resistance is 0.04 ohm/sq (or 40 mOhm/sq).
Inkjet Materials Insulating Ink: The insulating ink is made of polymers that are UV cured. It has a maximum temperature of 160°C. It will not cure if exposed to temperatures in excess of 160°C. It will break down (after cured) if exposed to temperatures in excess of 160°C. We find that it can break in multiple ways if heated, ranging from simple scorch marks to stretching and warping.
We offer two kinds of syringe extruded materials: These are used to attach components to the board that you printed. We can offer advice on additional materials in this area as well (for example two-part epoxies).
Syringe Extruded Solder Paste: We use a low temperature solder paste (a Tin Bismuth Silver alloy). It reflows around 150°C. It will melt at temperatures above that.
Syringe Extruded Conductive Glue: In addition to solder paste we also offer conductive glue. It is made of silver. Heat is only required to cure it faster. After curing we have never seen it melt.
You can combine those in various ways. For example: print conductive ink on FR-4 to get good rigidity and temperature resistance; or extrude conductive glue on FR-4 if you need your connectors to be inserted and removed a lot.
If you would like to go into more details about your application or ask other more specific questions we can help give additional guidance.
At what weight are the cartridges “dying”?
A cartridge is nearing empty when it weighs around 80g with the clip off.
We received the ink cartridges about 6 months ago and they come with an expiration date of 6 months. How long after this date are these cartridges still usable and what are the issues when continuing to use them?
They may still function but you most likely get bad results. Traces with just 10 mil (0.010” or 250 micron) clearance have a chance of shorting with a 6 month old cartridge but will be fine with a new cartridge. Besides lower print quality, you may also see gaps or significantly reduced conductivity.
Which concentration of IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) do you suggest for cleaning? Any recommendations on lint free wipes?
The highest proof IPA, 99%, is generally considered the best option. However, any concentration above 70% should suffice for cleaning purposes. For the wipes, we recommend Kimtech
How to deal with clogged nozzles?
With print cartridge nozzles that seem clogged the order of attempting to get them working is
1 Flick the cartridge down into a folded lint free wipe. The cartridges can be flicked hard and this is usually enough.
2 Use either IPA for insulating cartridges or deionized water for conductive cartridges on a wipe, allow a little to soak on the nozzles for a few seconds, then repeat step one.
Can we choose the print location (the location of the print process starting)?
You can not adjust it. We may add it in a future software update.
What is the suggested number of passes for insulating/conductive?
In general, the defaults on the interface are the recommended settings. We aim to update settings in the software so users do not need to constantly refer to our website for better settings.
How thick can the conductive and insulation layers be?
With our current inks, you can get 4/15 microns per pass for the conductive/insulating. You can print as many passes as you need.
If I want to use Altium design, how should I save or export the file? Do you have any resources to recommend?
People mostly use Gerber files for working with our printer. Altium definitely can export Gerber files. We use KiCAD for our electronics and have a guide for what you need to consider when exporting files in KiCAD:
KiCad Design Guide - some of the concepts may apply to Altium as well.
If for some reason you cannot export Gerber files then you can also use .png images (or .jpg, or any raster format) at 600dpi. We have a guide for that:
PNG/JPEG Design Guide. We recommend using a CAD (like KiCAD or Altium) tool instead of drawing things in a graphics program because CAD tools were made for electronics but understanding how to make (or adjust) things in an image editor can help you do things that you cannot do in your CAD tool.
How to Put the SV2 back in Easy Connect Mode?
Please follow the this guide to put the SV2 back in Easy connect mode.