Camdenton, Missouri, March 14, 2025 – ITW EAE proudly announces that it has earned a 2025 New Product Introduction (NPI) Award for Electrovert’s innovative Tunnel Heater option for wave soldering machines. This cutting-edge solution is designed to extend the heated length within a full N2 tunnel without increasing the machine’s overall length.

NPI Awards has recognized leading new products for electronics assembly during the past 12 months, with recipients selected by an independent panel of industry engineers. ITW EAE will be showcasing the Tunnel Heater option on the Electrovert Wave Soldering Machine at IPC APEX booth 2400 through Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Anaheim.

As demand grows for advanced thermal PCB designs in electric vehicles (EVs), solar energy, data infrastructure, and industrial markets, manufacturers face challenges with complex plated through-hole (PTH) board designs. Dense components requiring higher heat often coexist with temperature-sensitive parts, necessitating precise thermal management. To address this, PCB manufacturers need extended preheat capabilities to minimize ramp-up slopes without compromising line efficiency or increasing equipment size.

Electrovert’s patent-pending Tunnel Heater technology increases the heated length to 2.4 meters within a full N₂ tunnel, all without altering the machine's footprint. This is achieved by integrating flexible silicone heating elements into the existing space of the N₂ tunnel atmosphere isolation zone, maintaining exceptional inerting performance.

Benefits of the Tunnel Heater option include improved temperature control and profile ramp rates, increased heated length without expanding machine size, enhanced production line efficiencies, and potential reductions in N₂ consumption compared to other inerting technologies.

ITW EAE, a division of Illinois Tool Works, Inc., is the global leader in process knowledge, services and manufacture of capital equipment used in the printed circuit board assembly and semiconductor industries. The group brings together the world’s leading brands of electronics assembly equipment: MPM Printers, Camalot Dispensers, Electrovert Cleaners and Soldering Solutions, Vitronics Soltec Soldering Solutions and Despatch Thermal Processing Technology. For more information visit www.itweae.com