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February 10, 2012
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September 18, 2006

Removing oxidation from partially assembled boards

Is there a way to remove the tarnish formed on white tin finished PCB's? We perform SMT assembly on some low-volume boards then store them for up to three months before applying through-hole components to order. We have seen a few orders with poor solderability due to oxidation on the white tin finish. I know how our board supplier can refinish bare boards but how can I save these partially assembled items?

Jay Bosserman

Experts Comments

Tarnishing is caused by contact with the air that we breathe, or more specially oxygen. Although I am not sure of a simple way to remove it after it has occurred, I do know how to prevent it. If you put the assemblies into sealed bags and fill the bags with nitrogen prior to sealing that should stop the tarnish from forming in the first place. Use a standard ESD safe bag that can be heat sealed.

There are off the shelf inexpensive systems for doing this, contact your local supplies distributor. When you are ready to assemble the board simply remove the bag.

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Ken Bliss
President & CEO
Bliss Industries, Inc.
Mr. Bliss has 20+ years experience creating process methods that improve profitability by maximizing hidden unused capacity and throughput. Ken has expertise in all areas of manufacturing specializing in electronics assembly.

You may have to use a higher solids flux that is more active to remove the oxides. This could also require that you clean the boards after wavesoldering.

Kenneth Kirby
Applications Engineer
Speedline Technologies
Mr. Kirby has been in the electronics manufacturing industry for 18 plus years. Over the years Ken has been in roles such as Equipment and Process trainer, Senior Process Engineer, R&D Application Development Engineer and currently Process Application Engineer.

Try increasing solder pot temperature and going to a more aggressive flux formulation (maybe moving from a no-clean to an aqueous). This might be an easier approach than attempting some type of rework process.

image
Dr. Craig D. Hillman
CEO & Managing Partner
DfR Solutions
Dr. Hillman's specialties include best practices in Design for Reliability, strategies for transitioning to Pb-free, supplier qualification, passive component technology and printed board failure mechanisms.
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