Hi Jeff!

When you said you needed some pictures, that was my cue...hehe. I took a
scrap board and flexed it until I saw a crack, and then took a picture. Go to:

http://stevezeva.homestead.com/index.html

You can see the crack pretty clearly in the picture. This is a 1206 cap
mounted on a .062" thick board. I don't know what the dielectric is..It
really suprised me how much flex it required to produce a visible crack...and
I emphasize visible. There probably was a crack there before I could see it.

In this picture, the capacitor is definately history...the termination has
fractured as you can see...

Just thought you might like a picture...

-Steve Gregory-


> Kathy, et al,
>
> Thank you for your detailed input. In regards to your first paragraph, I am
> actually looking for some good quality photos of cracked solder joints on
> capacitors. We are getting some cracks along the solder joint of an 0805 SMT
> capacitor, probably due to board flex (these capacitors are located along
> the board edge). Do you have any photos you could share with me so I can
> show our inspectors what is acceptable/not acceptable.
>
> Anything would be of help, I do not have the capabilities/equipment to take
> photos of these defects in house.
>
> Rgds,
> John
>
> John Fahey
> Manufacturing Engineer
> Echelon Corp
>
> 415 Oakmead Parkway
> Sunnyvale
> CA 94085
> [log in to unmask]
> Phone: 408 938 5330
> Fax:     408 328 3804
>