Iron Man™
www.credencetech.com
Workstation Monitors
Protect your sensitive boards from overvoltage
and electrostatic discharge
Soldering irons touch the most sensitive components in your electronics assemblies. Yet, if
the soldering iron is not grounded properly, these components may be exposed to significant
overvoltage that can cause severe damage and affect reliability of the product. According to
some studies, soldering iron with poor grounding can inject current in excess of several
amperes into the circuit.
Poor grounding may be caused by many factors, including ground failure in electrical outlet to
which most soldering irons are grounded, internal failures of soldering iron, oxidations of the
tip and other factors.
Iron Man workstation monitors measure voltage directly on the circuit board during assembly.
If there is any electrical overstress (EOS) on the board, Iron Man™ will provide both an auidio
and a visual alarm to the operator.
Soldering irons are not the only threat -- metal tools such as tweezers and screwdriver bits,
can also induce significant overvoltage to the circuit. Iron Man™ will detect every such
occurrence so that the corrective action can be immediately applied.
Iron Man™ Plus adds complete monitoring of the entire workbench: wriststrap and dissipative
mat monitoring. Operator is monitored for proper connectivity and for excessive body
voltage. Dissipative mat is monitored for its proper connectivity. Iron Man™ Plus provides
complete coverage of the entire workbench for ESD and EOS.
Applications
Electronics Assembly
Repair and Service
Medical Environment
Military
Aerospace
Wherever sensitive components are
being handled
Features
Overvoltage monitoring of electronics
assemblies
Soldering iron overvoltage failure
alarm
Operator wriststrap monitoring
Operator body voltage monitoring
Patented replaceable wriststrap jack
Dissipative mat ground monitoring
Audio and visual alarms
Key Advantages
Electric Overstress Monitoring
on Each Board
Iron Man™ indicates every instance of electric
overstress that each of your assemblies
experiences
Instant Feedback
Iron Man™ enables your operators to
immediately react to instances of electric
overstress. This way the causes of EOS can
be identified and further damage to the
assemblies prevented
Iron ManTM
Iron ManTM Plus
Workstation Monitors
Models CTC330
CTC331
Isolation of Exposed Assemblies
If a particular board experienced electric
overstress, operator can now set it aside for a
thorough examnation
Complete Workbench Coverage
Iron Man™ Plus provides complete coverage
of a workbench for ESD and EOS. With Iron
Man Plus you would cover an operator, a
dissipative mat, and most importantly, every
board assembly in process
Down to Earth™ Family
Iron Man™ and Iron Man™ Plus are members
of the new Down to Earth™ monitor family -a practical and cost-effective solution to ESD
and EOS in electronics assembly
Formerly
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Specification
Small and Inobtrusive
Pa r a m e t e r
Iron Man monitors are small enough to fit on
each workbench where assembly and service
occurs. Connect the overvoltage input to any
ground plane connection of the board with the
supplied alligator connector and every time
there is a dangerous EOS exposure, the operator will be instantly informed. Additionally, the
board itself will be reliably grounded via 1M
resistor inside Iron Man.
Iron Man Plus features a patented jack for the
wriststrap which does not require soldering for its
replacement improving reliability and reducing
cost of ownership.
Iron Man
Iron Man Plus
Alarm Thresholds
0...+/-5V; 0...+/-50V
0...+/-5V; 0...+/-50V
Threshold Adjustment
Potentiomerer
Potentiometer
Threshold Range
Jumper
Jumper
Overvoltage
Alarm
Operator Grounding
Wristrstrap
Operator’s resistance alarm
Operator body voltage alarm
Dual, 3.5mm plug
Yes
Yes
Mat
Resistance to ground
Yes
Alarm
Visual
Audio
LED
Buzzer
LED
Buzzer
External adapter
2.4”W x 0.85”Hx1.63”L
61mm x 22mm x 42mm
External adapter
2.4”W x 0.85”Lx2.5”L
61mm x 22 mm x 63mm
Power
Dimensions
Why Overvoltage?
Soldering iron provides metal-to-metal contact with the most
sensitive components on the circuit board. If a soldering iron
tip has any voltage, there is a possibility of an electrostatic
discharge (ESD Event) to the circuit board and of an electrical
overstress (EOS). If a soldering iron is not grounded properly,
the voltage on the tip can reach as high as the AC line
voltage (i.e. 110 to 220V AC) due to capacitive coupling with
power line cables. Studies* show that the current to the boards
from such contact can exceed several amperes damaging the
components.
Even simply touching the board with the tweezers when the
operator is not grounded can generate a damaging discharge.
Monitoring of overvoltage on the board itself can provide
assurance that there was no significant exposure to the board.
“EOS from Soldering Irons Connected to Faulty 120VAC Receptacles”
W. Farwell et.al., Raytheon Corporation. Presented at 2005 ESD Symposium
CTC-33X-Y
Ordering
Information
Model
Iron Man
Iron Man Plus
Iron Man™ and Iron Man™ Plus come with:
q Monitor lead with alligator clip
q Ground connection hardware (Iron Man™ only)
q Power adapter
q User’s guide.
Please contact factory for other options and
accessories.
Accessories
©2007, 3M Iron Man is trademark of 3M U.S. Patents 6,930,612; 7,118,380, other patents pending. QFA03001
General
Formerly
0
1
U.S. Power Adapter
US
Universal Power Adapter
WW
Ground Cord for Dissipative Surfaces (1 ea.) AWD006
Ground Cord for Metal Surfaces (2 ea.)
ATD018
Replacement Terminal Board w/Jacks
CTA251
Professional dual wriststrap w/10' (3m) cord
CTA472-10
3601-A Caldwell Dr.
Soquel, CA 95073 U.S.A.
Tel. 831-459-7488
FAX 831-427-3513
www.credencetech.com
info@credencetech.com
All specifications are subject to change without notice.