Print Volume Verification for Solder Paste Deposits The print volume of each solder paste deposit is the single number that predicts most assembly defects, because it carries both the flux and the alloy that form the joint. A deposit that is 30 percent low produces an open joint or a…
Magazine: Design Rules and Process Limits A magazine is the standard carrier that moves panels between machines, and it is also one of the most common sources of the damage that appears much later as a routing defect, a mask scratch or a plated hole that fails a pull test.…
Ionizer Balance Verification on the Assembly Floor An ionizer exists to neutralise static charge on surfaces that cannot be grounded, and its usefulness depends on two numbers that are measured rather than assumed: balance, which is the residual voltage it leaves on a surface, and decay time, which is how…
Immersion Tin Bath Control and Deposit Thickness Immersion tin deposits a thin layer of tin on copper by a chemical displacement reaction rather than by electroplating, and it is used where a flat, solderable finish is needed on fine pitch features and press fit holes. Because the reaction consumes copper…
OSP Film Thickness Control on Copper Surfaces An organic solderability preservative is a thin organic film applied to bare copper so that the copper stays solderable through storage and through the assembly process. The film is only a few tenths of a micrometre thick, it protects the copper from oxidation,…
BGA Package Warpage Through the Reflow Profile Package warpage is the change in shape of a ball grid array package as it passes through the reflow profile, and it is the reason a joint can fail on a package that was measured as flat before assembly. The package is a…
Wave Solder Contact Length and Dwell Control Contact length is the distance a board travels through the solder wave, and it decides how long every joint stays in contact with molten solder. It is set by the conveyor speed, the width of the wave at the board surface and the…
Drag Out Reduction: 5 Steps to Cut Chemical Carryover Drag out reduction is the cheapest chemistry saving available to any wet process line, and it is usually ignored because the losses are invisible. Every panel leaving a tank carries a film of solution on both surfaces, inside holes and on…
Rinse Flow Rate Control: 5 Checks for Water-Efficient Cleaning Rinse flow rate control is where water use and cleaning quality meet. Too little flow and panels leave with residue; too much and the plant pays for water twice, once to purify it and again to treat it as waste. The…
Hull Cell Test in Plating: Reading the Panel and Acting on It A Hull cell test plates a small angled cathode in a sample of the working bath and produces a panel whose appearance varies from one end to the other. That variation is a map of how the plating…












