As the former Global Final Finishes Business Manager for Rohm&Haas (formerly
Shipley), I can tell you process control is everything using ENIG. I was
responsible for ENIG, as well as other finishes. I was also around during
the time when there was litigation involving ENIG field failures. We
established a program insisting our customers employ "best practice" process
control or we would not sell them the product. We went from several failures
every month to almost zero. After insuring our customers process was in
control and then setting up a program that insured it stayed that way.

There are several choices for final finishes and ENIG has it's place and I
believe will continue to. Is it the best finish for all
applications......no. As you can see from the responses, there are many fans
of silver and silver and I believe it is a great finish for many
applications.

Bob Metcalf
Circuit Solutions
949-709-2544

-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Steve Hodge
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 11:37 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [TN] <Misc>Re: [TN] <Misc>Re: [TN] RoHs board surface
recommendations.


Yes Richard, you are right on with the process control part. Every process
has to be controlled. The BGA and blackpad thing. I do not understand the
correllation. I have many thousands of heavily populated BGA designs out
there in serviceland--no black pad problem--ever --in house or at the
customer. It is not just luck either. LOL


At 12:22 PM 08/11/2005, you wrote:
>Steve and John,
>I think it is safe to say that ENIG is a good finish, but it
>depends......(sorry, Doug).
>It depends on the fab house or plater, how well they control the plating
>process to prevent the issues. It also depends on the type of assembly
>and its use. However, it is such a difficult process to control that it
>is hard to say when the issues will appear. But eventually they probably
>will, for any user, from any vendor. It is still very much a viable
>option for those who are afraid of potential problems with immersion
>silver or any other surface finish.
>But on the other hand I myself hesitate to re-qualify something if it
>isn't broken. If you have an assembly with ENIG, and you get it from a
>board vendor who seems to be able to do it consistently without
>problems, it would certainly not be wise to change.
>I just know that I would not recommend ENIG for an assembly populated
>with BGA's. Especially if the assembly is going to see a service life
>exposed to high thermal cycling. This is where the dreaded Black Pad
>problem seems to thrive.
>I know that the aerospace industry has not accepted immersion silver,
>but it is only a matter of time.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Hodge
>Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 12:44 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [TN] <Misc>Re: [TN] RoHs board surface recommendations.
>
>John, come on now. Anything can happen at any time. I have seen some
>reservations from the IS users as to silver migration possibilities and
>shelf life/handling issues --you might say they have not seen them
>--"yet".
>I have had more problems with HASL, OSP and IT than I have with ENIG.
>ENIG has longer data history than IS, so both shoes have already dropped
>so to speak. Three years without problems, is an eternity in this
>business, especially when we are expected to build  custom products in
>24 hours.
>
>
>At 11:00 AM 08/11/2005, you wrote:
> >with it............YET..........
> >
> >------------------------------------
> >Avanex
> >John Burke
> >Senior Manager RoHS Compliance
> >[log in to unmask]
> >40919 Encyclopedia Circle
> >Fremont
> >CA 94538
> >tel: 510 897 4250
> >fax: 510 979 0189
> >mobile: 510 676 6312
> >------------------------------------
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Edwin Louis
> >Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 4:48 AM
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: [TN] RoHs board surface recommendations.
> >
> >
> >We have been using ENIG now for about three years and have had no bad
> >experiences with it. NASA for one does not allow the use of silver .
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Werner Engelmaier
> >Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2005 4:57 PM
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: [TN] RoHs board surface recommendations.
> >
> >Hi Steve,
> >I do not know about "bad-mouth ENIG"--I am a reliability consultant,
> >and have had plenty of calls because of ENIG related failures, but not
> >a one about iAg. On the other hand, I do not know about their
> >respective environmental implications.
> >
> >Regards,
> >Werner Engelmaier
> >Engelmaier Associates, L.C.
> >Electronic Packaging, Interconnection and Reliability Consulting
> >7 Jasmine Run
> >Ormond Beach, FL 32174 USA
> >Phone: 386-437-8747, Fax: 386-437-8737, Cell: 386-316-5904
> >E-mail: [log in to unmask], Website: www.engelmaier.com
> >
> >
> >---------------------------------------------------
> >Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To
> >unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
> >the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt
> >or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to
> >[log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing
> >per day of all the posts: send e-mail to
> >[log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest
> >Search the archives of previous posts at:
> >http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site
> >http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16
> >for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask]
>
> >or 847-615-7100 ext.2815
> >-----------------------------------------------------
> >
> >---------------------------------------------------
> >Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To
> >unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
> >the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt
> >or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to
> >[log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing
> >per day of all the posts: send e-mail to
> >[log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest
> >Search the archives of previous posts at:
> >http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site
> >http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16
> >for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask]
>
> >or 847-615-7100 ext.2815
> >-----------------------------------------------------
> >
> >---------------------------------------------------
> >Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To
> >unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
> >the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt
> >or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to
> >[log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing
> >per day of all the posts: send e-mail to
> >[log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest
> >Search the archives of previous posts at:
> >http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site
> >http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16
> >for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask]
>
> >or 847-615-7100 ext.2815
> >-----------------------------------------------------
>
>---------------------------------------------------
>Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To
>unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
>the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or
>(re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET
>Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the
>posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the
>archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please
>visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for
>additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or
>847-615-7100 ext.2815
>-----------------------------------------------------
>
>---------------------------------------------------
>Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e
>To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
>the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet
>To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to
>[log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL)
>To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to
>[log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest
>Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives
>Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16
>for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or
>847-615-7100 ext.2815
>-----------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------
Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e
To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet
To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to
[log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL)
To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to
[log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest
Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives
Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16
for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or
847-615-7100 ext.2815
-----------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------
Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e
To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet
To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL)
To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest
Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives
Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815
-----------------------------------------------------