| | | Is feasible to have an electronic manufacturing company near the beach? How affect the corrosion the electronic components? | | | | | I guess it depends what you mean by 'near'. Will the building be a custom design or an existing one? What kind of product reliability are you seeking? Where is the beach? What is the prevailing weather? | | | | I documented in one of my books the case of a factory in Rennes which was having intermittent excessive ionic contamination. Checking the onset of this against weather, we found that it coincided with violent onshore Atlantic windstorms. Yet Rennes is at the base of the Brittany peninsula, about 50 km from both the North and South shores. Sufficient salt spray was carried this distance to cause problems. On the other hand, perhaps 25% or more electronics mfg cos. are within 50 km of the sea and they don't have problems. So what's the difference? It is that the factory in Rennes (in a prehistoric building) was producing space equipment and had to be more royalist than the king. | | | | For the record, I have also recorded much more serious salt spray in Switzerland, 700 km from the sea, but due to what vehicles kick up on salted icy roads in winter. This produced anomalous ionic contamination on boards left on a bench within hours of the roads being salted. | | | | In both cases, a small quantity of the water in the finer droplets can evaporate (very large surface area:mass ratio), leaving sub-micron crystals of NaCl floating as a suspension in the air. Until they are rained out (i.e. a drop of rain actually hits them) they will remain in suspension, at the vagaries of any wind or air current. Only a class 100 clean room would be reasonably proof against them. | | | | If ionic contamination on your assemblies is likely to be a serious problem, my advice is to go inshore at least a few km, especially if the place is noted for very strong onshore winds. | | | | Hope this helps. | | | | Brian | | | Awfully good, serious answer Brian. By the way, nice job on your last book review. Were it not for the price, I'd buy it. | | Just a question: Do you get to try out books, like Betas, for review or do you pay for them. I know your a great teacher, therefore a great student of the tech game, so it seems only fitting. | | Another thought occurred. Maybe, we could have a column on equipment and tool reviews - at one of your beautiful European beaches, or even the one being discussed. | | Earl Moon | Thanks for the compliment, Earl. I like it when I can't get my head thru' the door!
Book reviews: I'm one of the official book reviewers for the journal "Soldering and Surface Mount Technology", as well as being the Internet Editor for the same one and for "Circuit World" and "Microelectronics International" (incidentally, to blow my trumpet, I received the Internet Editor of the Year award this year). I've been in part-time professional technical writing and journalism more years than most of the readers of this forum have been alive, starting in the 1950s. As an official book reviewer for the journal, I receive the books for review free-of-charge: and I'm allowed to keep them afterwards! That is how I have quite a reasonable library, as I'm darned if I'd buy them all, especially when the prices of most of them up the hundred bucks mark. My policy when reviewing books and internet sites has been always one of subjective honesty. If I don't like something, I say so, even if it is a personal opinion -- and I've never been famous for diplomacy :-) On the other hand, if I like it, I say so as well. As there is rarely anything black or white, I'm now a past master in shades of grey, I think roughly a 16 bit grey scale.
Good idea to have equipment/tool reviews, but I'm no longer sufficiently in touch with the real manufacturing world, so I nominate that guy called Earl Moon. He seems about right for the job. So, equipment manufacturers, if you have a large machine you would like reviewed, wrap it up in paper and string and send it to him, free-of-charge. Whether you ask for it back again afterwards is up to you. (I'm sure, Earl, you will be inundated).
One review I could do is the Vutrax CAD/CAM system which I know fairly intimately. I know it has never caught on in the USA, but it is a best seller in the UK and parts of Europe. It is not a run-of-the-mill software, but quite unique in its manner of working.
If you like, I can also do a review of the beaches in Cyprus, where I have now elected domicile, in my euphoric state of semi-retirement, just doing enough consultancy to keep the wolf from the door.
Brian
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