A placement nozzle can be clean and still be worn, damaged, or unsuitable for its assigned package. Cleaning removes one potential source of trouble; release requires checking the conditions that affect pickup, transport, and placement. Track the nozzle as an individual item when the equipment permits it.
Keep identity through the service loop
ASMPT’s nozzle-management description separates cleaning, inspection, and a deployable or blocked status. That separation is useful even in a manual maintenance system. It does not mean every placement machine has the same identification or inspection features.
Record nozzle type, individual identifier where available, machine/head position, removal reason, and the authorized cleaning procedure. If individual marking is impossible, define the traceable carrier or set and acknowledge its lower resolution. Avoid an unmarked common bin that loses the relationship between a failed placement and the serviced hardware.
Check the condition relevant to the package
| Concern | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| Contact-face damage | Inspection result against the nozzle manufacturer’s criteria. |
| Vacuum-path restriction or leakage | Equipment-approved condition check and result. |
| Incorrect nozzle assignment | Package-to-nozzle setup verification. |
| Recurring pickup failures | Placement-event history after return to production. |
Use the component maker’s restrictions when the pickup surface is delicate. The LED pickup-contact review is an example where a mechanically intact nozzle may still contact the wrong surface. Cleaning cannot resolve an incorrect contact design.
Verify the return in a controlled way
For example, if failures follow one nozzle across several feeder positions, nozzle condition deserves attention. If they stay with a particular reel pocket or feeder, repeatedly cleaning the nozzle may waste time. Retain enough event detail to distinguish these patterns, including empty-pocket and component-presence indications where the machine supports them.
After maintenance, review pickup and placement behavior for the assigned package under the normal program. Avoid masking a hardware problem by broadly relaxing detection settings. The component-detection stage map can show which observation actually improved.
Close the record with a release, continued hold, or replacement disposition. Record recurring failures separately from successful cleaning cycles so the maintenance metric does not reward repeated treatment of the same failing item. Replacement decisions should follow condition and approved criteria, not an invented universal nozzle lifetime.
Move from reading to a build-ready project
Use the fabrication and assembly checklists to prepare drawings, production files and test requirements.
Open the DFM checklist