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United Electronics Corporation (UEC), a domestic manufacturer of printed circuit boards, today announced the installation of a new automated pumice scrubbing line with a 50-panel automatic unloader at its Franklin Park facility, both manufactured by Circuit-Tech Machinery. The line prepares the copper surface of every panel immediately before solder mask coating — the step that determines how well the mask bonds to the board and how that board holds up through assembly and in the field.
Why Surface Preparation Matters
Solder mask is only as reliable as the surface beneath it. Oxidation, fingerprints, and process residues left on the copper can cause mask to lift or peel during reflow and wave soldering, or blister under final-finish chemistry. Pumice scrubbing remains the industry's preferred method for preventing these failures, removing contamination and leaving a uniform, micro-roughened copper surface that gives solder mask far more to grip.
What It Means for Your Boards
The right treatment for every panel, automatically. A built-in thickness measurement system reads each panel as it enters the line and automatically adjusts the brushes to match. Thin cores are protected from over-brushing, thick multilayer panels receive full, even contact, and every panel receives the same optimized treatment without depending on manual setup.
Clean, dry, and ready to coat. After scrubbing, panels pass through high-pressure, ultrasonic, and cascade rinsing that flush pumice and debris from the surface and out of drilled holes and vias, then a heated air dryer that protects the freshly prepared copper from water spotting and re-oxidation.
Hands-off unloading. The automatic unloader stacks up to 50 finished panels, so prepared surfaces go to coating without being handled — eliminating fingerprints at the point where cleanliness matters most — while keeping the line running continuously.
Continued Investment in Domestic Manufacturing
"Solder mask problems rarely show up at our door — they show up on our customers' assembly lines, and that's the most expensive place to find them," said Ramesh Patel, president of United Electronics Corporation. "This line measures every panel, adjusts itself to it, and delivers clean, dry copper to coating without anyone touching it. It's another investment in giving our customers better boards, faster, right here in Illinois."
The new pumice line and unloader are installed and fully operational at UEC's Franklin Park facility, serving customers across the automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, and industrial electronics markets.
