Hi eevblog forumers
I'm new here and basically just signed up to write a review on Neoden, in order to say "thank-you" to them for excellent service received. I have not read through the previous ~55 pages of this thread.
We purchased a Neoden4 around 4 months ago. The machine has been running well since then, and I think we've pushed around 300 x ~65 component boards through it so far (with another 170 going through at the moment). At this stage we are placing 0805s up to largeish modules (15x30mm), finest pitch 0.5mm. In that time we have had a few support queries with Neoden, and the response has always been fast and accurate; where they have even suspected that there might be something wrong with the machine (turned out not to be the case, just an incorrect setting in the software) they have immediately offered to send replacement parts (for free).
"Issues" we have had so far are:
Placement AccuracyNeoden sent us a detailed document regarding recommended methods to improve placement accuracy. We littered a few more fiducials around our boards (especially around the fine-pitch components) and this helped a lot. Overall, for a belt drive machine, the accuracy is not bad. We do go over the boards as they come out the machine, and tweak placement slightly if necessary (we wouldn't take them straight out the machine and into the oven without checking them at this stage), but once again if you want super-accuracy then you probably need to be spending $$$ - the machine has very good
value considering it's price point.
Feeder Not Feeding CorrectlyTurned out to be an incorrect feed value setting (must be a multiple of 4[mm], and we somehow got it set to 6 - granted 6 should not really be a selectable value in the software if it's not valid, but really not serious). In this case Neoden immediately offered to ship us a replacement feeder, and there was actually nothing wrong with the feeder (software issue, as mentioned).
Blown FuseMain fuse on the machine blew, probably due to a bad plug-point connection on our side, and we initially missed the location of the fuse (built into the IEC connector at the back) due to having the machine packed into a tight space and being decoyed by a different fuse elsewhere on the machine.
Nozzles 1 & 2 Not Travelling FullyTurned out to be two grub screws on the nozzle 1 & 2 rocker arm which had come loose - quick and easy fix. After explaining the symptoms Neoden quickly identified the exact cause of the issue and sent us a document with pictures explaining how to fix it.
Of all of the above cases, only the nozzle travel one was actually an issue with the machine itself, and this was once again a simple fix (tighten two grub screws).The main point of this review is that Neoden's support (in our experience so far) is excellent, which I think makes a big difference versus buying a machine and then being completely stuck and on your own if something goes wrong with it.
In terms of review of the actual machine itself, and besides for what has already been mentioned; we do not have a huge amount of experience in the SMT industry and so can't "compare" that much, but overall are (again, as mentioned) very happy with the
value of the machine. I will try to provide some further review of the machine itself below:
We have built up from scratch, assembling our first boards by hand and "reflowing" them on a stovetop. From there we got a LitePlacer and pizza/toaster oven, and from there the Neoden4 and a desktop automated batch oven. Compared to assembling by hand, the Neoden4 is obviously a huge improvement
.
SpeedThe machine is more than fast enough for what we need, and it stands waiting for us to complete pasting / reflow / etc (rather than the other processes waiting for it).
VisionThe vision is overall very good, and does not need tweaking / calibration for different light conditions - it "just works" out of the box.
FeedersHaving feeders makes a huge difference, compared to working with strips. It seems like the feeders might not
always get the component to exactly the same position for pickup, requiring a re-alignment, but this might be something to do with us (further investigation necessary). We do waste some components due to mis-pick, but I think that is standard in the industry (especially at this price level). The feeders are not particularly difficult to load. In terms of trays; there is space for 1 JEDEC tray, but we just chop our trays up if we need to fit more than one in - we actually have a few strips (e.g. 48mm) in the tray area as well (for e.g. wide FPC connectors).
AccuracyAs mentioned above, considering belt-drive / open-loop / not-$$$-servos, the accuracy seems very good for the price point of the machine.
Overall BuildOverall build-quality is good / sturdy, and the machine is nice and compact. It can go on a benchtop, or on the Neoden stand (we currently have ours on the stand). Having all the pumps etc built-in is nice - just hook up a screen / keyboard / mouse and it's good to go.
Neoden have targeted a specific market with this machine, and for us the machine is a good fit - we do not currently have the volumes or $$$ to justify a machine from Essemtec/Samsung/Europlacer/Mycronic/etc/etc, so it is just what we needed.
Cheers
Dane