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SMT Caddy MTI
Mounting
The MTI clips onto standard 35 mm DIN rail (TS35, also called top-hat rail), sold by most electrical suppliers. Fix the rail to your bench or fixture plate, then clip feeders on side by side.
Grounding
The housing is electrically conductive and makes contact with the rail at its mounting points. Connect the rail to your bench ground. Steel rail works as is. On anodized aluminum rail, remove the anodizing at one contact point (for example, sand one edge of the rail lip), because anodizing is an insulator.
Loading and indexing
Load a strip of cut tape, any length, paper or embossed plastic, pocket depth up to 13 mm. Press the plunger with a fingertip, or with a pickup stylus pushed by the needle's plastic body, or with the needle tip if it is large enough. Don't press with a fine needle tip. Each press advances the tape and peels the cover tape back, clear of the pick zone.
If the tape jams
Stop and clear it; never force the plunger. To keep each feeder only 2 mm wider than its tape, the MTI is molded with very thin walls. They are stiff and durable in normal use, but not made to take force. On a clear tape path a light press is enough, so resistance means something is in the way, usually a kinked strip or a snagged cover tape. Free the tape, reload it and carry on.
Changing tape width
Every MTI comes configured for 8 mm tape. Add a 4 mm kit for 12 mm, or stack 8 mm kits for 16, 24 and 32 mm. It takes a screwdriver, a few small press-fit components and a minute or two. Kits are reusable. See extension kits. More answers are in the MTI FAQ.
SMT Caddy Model A
System details and operation notes are on the Model A page; common questions are in the Model A FAQ. The user documentation is preloaded on the system: tap the Documentation icon in the SMT Caddy application. Email us if you need a copy.
Model A feeder banks take Model A Tape Feeder Kits only. The SMT Caddy MTI is a separate DIN-rail product and does not fit Model A feeder banks.
Model A spare parts
Listed parts are under Spare parts; styli, PCB locators, feeder kits, trays and fixtures are under Accessories. For a part that isn't listed, email the part name, your system's handedness (righty or lefty) and your shipping address, and we'll quote it.
Paste, placement and reflow
Do I need a stencil?
For anything beyond a few coarse parts, yes. Most PCB fabs make a stencil from your Gerber paste layer for a small charge, and an unframed stencil is fine for prototypes. Locate the board on a flat plate, hinge the stencil with tape on a spacer of the same thickness as the board, and print in one pass with a hard squeegee at about 45°. If the print misses, clean both and reprint; a second pass smears the pads.
Can I dispense paste instead?
For a coarse proof-of-concept board, yes, with a time-pressure dispenser. It's slow, and impractical for fine-pitch or leadless parts.
What should I use for reflow?
A convection toaster oven works well for prototypes, ideally with a controller kit for the temperature profile. Follow the profile on your paste's datasheet; the peak is typically 20 to 30 °C above the melting point. Leaded Sn63/Pb37 paste melts at 183 °C, against about 217 °C for lead-free SAC305, so leaded paste is much easier on a basic oven. Never use the oven for food afterwards.
Orders, shipping and purchasing
Pricing, shipping, quotes, invoices and purchase orders: see Ordering, shipping and POs. For a problem with an order, email us with the order number.