Dec 30, 2011 SMART Group, Europe’s largest technical trade association focusing on surface mount and related technologies, announces that it will host a workshop titled Handling Moisture-Sensitive Components & PCBs Without Failure on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK. Coffee will be served and the tabletop exhibition will begin at 9:30 a.m. The workshop will take place from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Fine-pitch surface mount components and printed circuit boards (PCBs) all absorb moisture at different rates. During soldering, moisture turns to water vapour and can generate considerable internal stress that may lead to premature failure. In the case of quad flat packs (QFPs) and plastic ball grid arrays (PBGAs), the resulting defect often is referred to as “popcorning” because of the sound of steam escaping from the package. When PCBs outgas, minor soldering faults, full delamination, board blistering or very subtle via-hole failure result.
Considerable research into the correct procedures to minimize problems with bare boards and components has culminated in IPC standards to help guide engineers to reduce the possibility of failure. This SMART Group event focuses on each of the issues associated with the prevention of failure, correct onsite operating procedures, and the equipment than can be used to store products and eliminate failures of this type. Attendees will receive a free set of wall charts on handling moisture-sensitive devices.
The workshop is designed for those involved in SMT assembly as a line manager, process engineer or QA, and will provide insight about improving end-of-line defect levels. It will focus on component and PCB failures, baking components and PCBs, moisture absorption rate and loss, impact of baking on solderability, methods of moisture absorption, benefits of dry storage, baking assemblies prior to rework, and storage methods and failure analysis. Additionally, a question/answer period will be provided. For analysis, attendees should email their failure photos to technical@smartgroup.org before the day of the event.
The cost to attend is £85 SMART Group members/£175 Nonmembers + VAT. For more information or to register for the event, contact the SMART Group at +44 (0) 1494 465217; info@smartgroup.org; www.smartgroup.org. To reserve tabletop space, contact Tony Gordon at the SMART Group or visit http://www.smartgroup.org/images/stories/events/TableTop2008.pdf
