Jun 23, 2010 
The assembly of printed circuit cards requires the joining of metallic alloys. Solder flux is needed to remove oxides and surface tarnish to facilitate coalescence of soldering alloys and wetting of component pads and leads. White residue is often observed on the surfaces of assemblies soldered with water soluble fluxes. White residue is also observed from inadequate cleaning.
Several industry trends elevate this problem including lead-free soldering, halide-free solder flux, and low VOC water-based flux materials. The purpose of this paper is to define the cause and effects of white residue formation and solutions for preventing white residue as it relates to inline, batch, or bench-top cleaning.
Debbie Alavezos-Carboni has specialized in the cleaning sector of the electronics industry for the past 15 years. After attending Northern Arizona University for a degree in Business Management, Debbie joined the electronics industry. Today, Debbie is an active participant for the IPC Cleaning Standards Handbook, as well as one of the team leaders for the upcoming IPC Cleaning Symposium in November. She has authored technical papers focused both on cleaning and wave soldering, and presented at various forums and workshops across North America.
Kyzen is a leading supplier of precision cleaning chemistries to the worldwide electronics, metal finishing, medical, semiconductor, and optical industries. Founded in 1990, Kyzen offers superior cleaning chemistries, technical support, application and analytical services throughout the world. Kyzen has won numerous industry awards for their exceptional products and all products are RoHS compliant. For more information, visit http://www.kyzen.com
