Grant,
In the "Old School" the belief was that even though solder solidifies in a
few seconds, it reached its cure in about 150 hours.  don't know what the
new breed of solder experts and/or metallurgists say it is now.
Pete

-----Original Message-----
From: Grant Emandien [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 1999 8:18 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] Solder joint curing


Hi all out there,

What is the average period for a solder joint (reflow and wave) to 'cure'? I
also state that I don't quite know what cure means in this instant - but the
general problem we have is the minimum period (if there is such a thing!)
required for a solder joint to cure before introducing it to ICT under
reasonable conditions of stability.

Our test guys are complaining that the assemblies reach there machines too
late (hours later), resulting in hardened flux which the test pins have
difficulty in penetrating, causing damaged pins, retesting and hence
unnecessary wear of the test fixtures and reduction in throughput.
Introducing the assemblies too early while the joints are still in
'transition' may also result in retesting (true or false?).

As you may have guessed, we don't clean boards as a norm however, this may
be the way to go in future as will be experimenting with a cleaner shortly.

Cheers
Grant

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