Rick,

If it's really gold plating, our experience has been that you will
definitely get a 'grayish' dull finish due to dissolution of the gold into
the solder. The bigger concern should probably be the brittleness of the
joint due to the tin/gold intermetallics that are formed.  While immersion
gold may exhibit some of this behavior, the fact that it's an extremely thin
layer should minimize the 'dulling' visual effects you see.  If you really
have immersion gold boards it might be wise to check the thickness of the
gold if you're seeing significant dulling.

Regards,

Rick Thompson
Ventura Electronics Assembly
2655 Park Center Dr.
Simi Valley, CA 93065

+1 (805) 584-9858   x-304  voice
+1 (805) 584-1529 fax
[log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Rick Howieson
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2001 1:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] Gold/Paste


We are seeing cloudy/grayish smt solder joints on boards with immersion gold
or soft body gold plating. Is this common???
Thanks,
Rick

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