Phil.... you are of course correct that Gold does not tarnish... however, the Nickel does, and the Gold may be (read as "almost certainly is") porous....
  I have to believe that re-sealing the boards in an airtight package SHOULD be adequate protection, but then this might not give the vendor a way to get off the hook
  ;-)
  Rudy Sedlak
  RD Chemical Company

Phil Nutting <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  Good Friday Morning All,

This topic may have been previously discussed, but let me try to phrase
my "problem" completely so the answer can be simpler.

I have a board vendor (Fab house) stating that for my ENIG boards the
plating only has a 6 month shelf life if the package is opened. Did I
miss something here? I thought Gold doesn't tarnish.

If this is true, then Immersion Tin, Immersion Silver and ENIG all have
storage issues.

OK, so I open a sealed package and take out half of the boards in the
package. I may not need the rest of the boards for many months. So how
do I protect the unused boards? Should I vacuum seal them? Add a
desiccant? If I add a desiccant, are there different desiccants which
might damage the boards?

I'm sure I'll have more questions right after I send this.

Phil

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