Yamaha CL Feeder 8×2mm

The Yamaha CL 8mm Feeder is a tape-and-reel component feeder designed for use on Yamaha and Philips/Assembleon SMT pick-and-place machines. It is the workhorse 8 mm-class feeder of the long-running CL ("Compact Loader") platform, which has served as a standard across multiple generations of Yamaha YV- and YG-series mounters and remains in widespread use today on both production lines and second-hand machines.

The feeder handles 8 mm-wide carrier tape in standard plastic and paper formats, and is built to advance the tape one component pitch every time the pick-and-place head triggers the feeder's actuator. Depending on the variant, it supports either a 2 mm pitch (for the smallest passive packages) or a 4 mm pitch (for a broad range of mid-sized SMD passives):

• CL 8×2 mm — for 0201 and 0402 chips (resistors, capacitors, small LEDs)
• CL 8×4 mm — for 0603, 0805, 1206 passives, small SOT packages (SOT-23, SOT-323), MELFs, LED beads (3014, 3528), small diodes, and similar 8 mm-tape components

Reels up to roughly 15″ / 382 mm in diameter can be loaded on the integrated reel holder, and tape thickness is supported up to about 1 mm.

The CL feeder uses a ratcheted sprocket-and-pawl indexing mechanism with a manual feed button, a press cover (clamp) that holds the carrier tape on the sprocket teeth, and a take-up wheel that handles spent cover tape. Pickup actuation is pneumatic, driven by the host machine's compressed-air supply — there is no internal motor or electronics, which makes the feeder mechanically simple, lightweight, and inexpensive to maintain. Each unit occupies one feeder slot on the machine bank, so an 8 mm CL feeder is the densest option for maximizing the number of part numbers loaded on a single machine.

The CL 8 mm feeder is the native feeder format for legacy Yamaha YV-series and YG-series surface mounters, including (among others) the YV100II, YV100X, YV100XG, YV180XG, YV88XG, and YG100/YG200/YG300 lines. Because Philips/Assembleon machines from the same era share the CL feeder bank standard, these feeders are also commonly used on those platforms. Newer Yamaha YS- and YSM-series machines use the more modern SS, ZS, and ALF electric feeder families rather than CL, but many shops still operate CL-compatible equipment and rely on the 8 mm CL as the bread-and-butter feeder for small passive components.

Yamaha-original CL 8 mm feeders are identified by part numbers in the KW1-M1xxx series — the most common being:

• KW1-M1100-000 / -030 — CL 8×4 mm (standard 4 mm pitch, mainstream variant)
• KW1-M1200-00X / KW1-M1300-00X / KW1-M1400-00X — CL 8×2 mm for 0402
• KW1-M1500-030 / KW1-M1500-110 — CL 8×2 mm for 0201 (often distinguished by a coloured handle, e.g. green)

Both original Yamaha units and high-quality compatible clones (manufactured by various Chinese SMT-parts specialists) are available on the market, generally interchangeable on the machine.

The 8 mm CL feeder is the most-used feeder type on any line running standard SMD passives — a typical mid-sized Yamaha YV/YG-class machine will be populated with anywhere from a few dozen to over a hundred 8 mm CL feeders, supplying the bulk of the resistor, capacitor, small-IC, and LED placements on a board. Its simple, robust pneumatic design means properly maintained units routinely give many years of service; the most common wear items are the press cover, the feed-pawl/bird-beak assembly, and the take-up reel mechanism.