Technical Library | 2020-03-09 10:50:17.0
A customer called the Helpline seeking advice for cleaning no-clean fluxes prior to applying a conformal coating. The customer's assemblies were manufactured with a no-clean rosin based solder paste (ROL0) and were cleaned with an isopropyl alcohol (IPA) wash. After cleaning, a white residue was sometimes found in areas with high paste concentrations and was interfering with the adhesion of the conformal coating (Figure 1). For conformal coatings to adhere properly, the printed circuit board (PCB) surface must be clean of fluxes and other residues. In addition, ionic contamination left by flux residues can lead to corrosion and dendrite growth, two common causes of electronic opens and shorts. Other residues can lead to unwanted impedance and physical interference with moving parts.
Technical Library | 2019-05-23 10:42:00.0
Why identify flux residues? The primary purpose of flux is to reduce species of metal oxides from solderable surfaces, and to act as a mechanism for lifting and removing debris. If the assembly is not properly cleaned after manufacturing, flux may continue to reduce metals and may eventually corrode the assembly. When the assembly is powered, the metal ions may precipitate along electromagnetic field lines and form dendritic shorts. In addition, the presence of residue can alter the insulation properties of a board, affect the adhesion of the conformal coating, or interfere with the moving parts of the assembly. In radio frequency (RF) applications, flux may change the RF properties on the surface of the printed circuit board (PCB) such as the dielectric strength, surface resistance, and Q-resonance.
Technical Library | 2021-09-02 08:17:07.0
We are a professional manufacturer of PCB depaneling machines, which is workable for all boards, including flex and regid boards, v-scored boards and routed boards. Laser pcb depaneling is non-contact way without mechanical stress,this solution is good for modern precision PCB depaneling. It has below advantages: 1. No dust The production environment of the circuit board industry is carried out in the dust-free workshop. The traditional pcb depaneling equipment, such as blade moving type machine, will inevitably produce residues and micro powder, which will pollute the 10000 and 1000 class dust-free workshops and affect the conductivity of products. The UV laser PCB cutting machine is a vaporization processing process, which will not produce dust and is conducive to the conductivity of the product. 2. High cutting precision The processing gap of high-precision traditional processing equipment can not reach the gap width of less than 100 microns, which will cause certain damage to the lines on the edge or PCBA circuit board containing components. The focus spot of the laser cutting machine is small, and the ultraviolet cold processing mode has little thermal impact on the edge of the circuit board. The cutting position accuracy is less than 50 microns, and the cutting size accuracy is less than 30 microns, which will not affect the edge of the circuit board, and the precision is high. 3. No stress Traditional processing methods generally have V-grooves, which will cause certain damage to the board in the manufacturing process. The UV laser PCB cutting machine can directly cut the bare board without making V-grooves. In addition, the traditional processing methods directly use tools to act on the circuit board, especially the stamping method has a great impact on the circuit board, which is easy to cause board deformation. The laser cutting machine is a non-contact processing mode, which acts on the surface of the material through the high-energy beam, which will not cause the influence of stress and the deformation and damage of the circuit board. 4. For special-shaped cutting, it is easy to automate The UV laser PCB cutting machine can cut for any shape without replacing any props and fixtures, and without steel mesh. The same equipment can meet special-shaped and straight-line cutting, which is easy to realize assembly line automatic production and high flexibility. It is easy to improve production efficiency and save production process and production cycle. In particular, it can quickly and efficiently meet the needs of rapid proofing, directly import the drawing, and then locate the cutting. 5. High compatibility The UV laser PCB cutting machine can process the materials around the circuit board, such as PCB, FPC, covering film, pet, reinforcing board, IC, ultra-thin metal cutting, etc. it has strong practicability, is compatible with the processing of a variety of materials, is easy to operate, can be imported into the drawing, does not need to adjust any mechanical parts, and is easy to operate and maintain. 6. Good cutting edge effect The cutting edge is smooth and neat without burr. It can be processed and formed directly according to the size of the drawing, which is conducive to improving the yield of the product. It can be directly installed into the subsequent process without further processing. For more details about UV laser depaneling, please feel free to contact us. www.pcbdepanelingrouter.com
Technical Library | 1999-05-07 10:47:00.0
White residue remaining after cleaning circuit board assemblies can be caused by a variety of chemicals and reactions. Rosin and water-soluble fluxes, circuit board resins and epoxies, component materials and other contamination all contribute to this complex chemistry. This paper discusses many of the sources of the residues that seem to be an ever-increasing occurrence.
Technical Library | 2023-12-26 17:50:54.0
In this white paper, we discuss the pros and cons of five analytical techniques when applied to residue analysis on electronic assemblies. We evaluate the following for their application and limitations for analyzing both visible and invisible residues: FITR, SEM/EDX, XRF, Ion Chromatography, and ROSE
Technical Library | 2014-03-27 14:50:01.0
Because of the phase out of CFC's and HCFC's, standard solder pastes and fluxes evolved from RA and RMA fluxes, to No-Clean, to low residue No-Clean, to very low residue No-Clean. Many companies came out with their cleaning solutions, aqueous and semi-aqueous, with each product release being more innovative than the previous one. Unfortunately for most of the suppliers of cleaners, two other trends appeared; lead-free soldering and the progressive miniaturization of electronic devices.
Technical Library | 2013-04-11 15:43:17.0
With the explosion of growth in handheld electronics devices, manufacturers have been forced to look for ways to reinforce their assemblies against the inevitable bumps and drops that their products experience in the field. One method of reinforcement has been the utilization of underfills to "glue" certain SMDs to the PCB. Bumped SMDs attached to the PCB with a no-clean soldering process offer the unavoidable scenario of the underfill coming in contact with a flux residue. This may or may not create a reliability issue... First published in the 2012 IPC APEX EXPO technical conference proceedings
Technical Library | 2016-12-29 15:37:51.0
The reliabilities of the flux residue of electronic assemblies and semiconductor packages are attracting more and more attention with the adoption of no-clean fluxes by majority of the industry. In recent years, the concern of "partially activated" flux residue and their influence on reliability have been significantly raised due to the miniaturization along with high density design trend, selective soldering process adoption, and the expanded use of pallets in wave soldering process. When flux residue becomes trapped under low stand-off devices, pallets or unsoldered areas (e.g. selective process), it may contain unevaporated solvent, "live" activators and metal complex intermediates with different chemical composition and concentration levels depending on the thermal profiles. These partially-activated residues can directly impact the corrosion, surface insulation and electrochemical migration of the final assembly. In this study, a few application tests were developed internally to understand this issue. Two traditional liquid flux and two newly developed fluxes were selected to build up the basic models. The preliminary results also provide a scientific approach to design highly reliable products with the goal to minimize the reliability risk for the complex PCB designs and assembly processes. This paper was originally published by SMTA in the Proceedings of SMTA International
Technical Library | 2019-08-14 22:20:55.0
Cleanliness is a product of design, including component density, standoff height and the cleaning equipment’s ability to deliver the cleaning agent to the source of residue. The presence of manufacturing process soil, such as flux residue, incompletely activated flux, incompletely cured solder masks, debris from handling and processing fixtures, and incomplete removal of cleaning fluids can hinder the functional lifetime of the product. Contaminates trapped under a component are more problematic to failure. Advanced test methods are needed to obtain "objective evidence" for removing flux residues under leadless components.Cleaning process performance is a function of cleaning capacity and defined cleanliness. Cleaning performance can be influenced by the PCB design, cleaning material, cleaning machine, reflow conditions and a wide range of process parameters.This research project is designed to study visual flux residues trapped under the bottom termination of leadless components. This paper will research a non-destructive visual method that can be used to study the cleanability of solder pastes, cleaning material effectiveness for the soil, cleaning machine effectiveness and process parameters needed to render a clean part.
Technical Library | 2022-12-19 18:59:51.0
Material and Process Characterization studies can be used to quantify the harmful effects that might arise from solder flux and other process residues left on external surfaces after soldering. Residues present on an electronic assembly can cause unwanted electrochemical reactions leading to intermittent performance and total failure. Components with terminations that extend underneath the package can trap flux residue. These bottom terminated components are flush with the bottom of the device and can have small solderable terminations located along the perimeter sides of the package. The clearance between power and ground render high electrical forces, which can propagate electrochemical interactions when exposed to atmospheric moisture (harsh environments). The purpose of this research is to predict and understand the functional performance of residues present under single row QFN component packages. The objective of the research study is to develop and collect a set of guidelines for understanding the relationship between ionic contamination and electrical performance of a BTC component when exposed to atmospheric moisture and the trade-offs between electrical, ionic contamination levels, and cleanliness. Utilizing the knowledge gained from undertaking the testing of QFN components and associated DOE, the team will establish a reference Test Suite and Test Spec for cleanliness.
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